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Nava R. Silton

Nava Silton, Ph.D.

Nava Silton, Ph.D.

Title

Director of the Center for Health, Human Development, and Creativity; Professor of Psychology

Department

Center for Health, Human Development, and Creativity

Email

nsilton@mmm.edu

Phone

212-774-4883

About

Nava R. Silton, Ph.D., a developmental psychologist, received her BS from Cornell University in 2002 and her MA and Ph.D. from Fordham University in 2009. Dr. Silton has worked at Nickelodeon, Sesame Workshop, and Mediakidz, and has consulted for Netflix, Blue’s Clues & You!, and the Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment. She appears regularly on Fox 5 News as a psychological correspondent and has appeared on Good Day New York, Good Day Street Talk, and NBC.

Dr. Silton has written over three dozen peer-reviewed journal articles, over 20 chapters, book reviews, and encyclopedia entries, and has edited six full textbooks. Her first two textbooks discuss innovative technologies for individuals with autism and other disabilities, while her third delves into creativity. Her fourth examines family dynamics and romantic relationships; her fifth explores the constructs of happiness, gratitude, kindness, empathy, and well-being; and her sixth discusses best parenting and child development practices for the 21st century.

Dr. Silton created The Realabilities Educational Comic Book Series Curriculum, which offers 17 comics (12 on disabilities and five on mental health disorders) and two instructional manuals for use in classrooms across the world. The disabilities-based series, which received The Reader’s Favorite Award, has been translated into Hebrew and Spanish and is currently being translated into Chinese and French. Due to the popularity of the Realabilities Educational Series in schools, Silton created Addy & Uno, The First Family Musical about Disabilities, Bullying, and Kindness. Addy & Uno ran Off-Broadway for over 18 months at Theatre Row on 42nd Street in Manhattan and was nominated for an Off-Broadway Alliance Award.

Most recently, Dr. Silton created a child development and parenting podcast entitled A Cup of Java with Dr. Nava. She also penned the screenplay Pure, which was a finalist in the Wiki Screenplay Contest; a semi-finalist in the Creative Screenwriting Unique Voices Awards, the NYC Screenplay Awards, the Miami Screenplay Awards, and the Portland Screenplay Awards; and a quarterfinalist in the Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards. Dr. Silton is married to Dr. Ariel Brandwein and has five children, three boys and two little girls.

Realabilities and Addy & Uno

Degree(s)

B.S., Cornell University
M.A., Fordham University
Ph.D., Fordham University

Recent Work

Selected Recent Publications:

  • Silton, N.R. & Riley, P. (In Press). Liking. Encyclopedia of Intimate Relationships and Families.
  • Silton, N.R. & Riley, P. (2018). What if Goodness Ruled the World? Utilizing A Comic Book Series and Puppet Musical to Inspire Empathy and to Promote a Disabilities Awareness and Stop Bullying Platform in and out of the Schools. In Silton (ed.), IGI Global Publishing, Scientific Concepts behind Happiness, Kindness, and Empathy in Contemporary Society.
  • Silton, N.R., Fontanilla, E., Femia, M., & Rouse, K. (2018). Employing Disability Simulations and Preliminary Virtual Reality Technology to Foster Cognitive and Affective Empathy towards Individuals with Disabilities. In Silton (ed.), IGI Global Publishing, Scientific Concepts behind Happiness, Kindness, and Empathy in Contemporary Society.

Selected Recent Presentations:

  • Silton, N.R. & Riley, P. (August 2018). Addy and Uno: The Efficacy of an Off-Broadway Musical in Enhancing Sensitivity Toward Peers With Disabilities. Poster presentation at American Psychological Association (APA), San Francisco, CA, August 9-12.
  • Silton, N.R. & Riley, P. (May 2018). The Combination of the Addy & Uno Off Broadway Musical and the Realabilities Comic Book Series Curriculum in Enhancing the Knowledge, Cognitive Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions of Typical Children Towards Children with Disabilities. Poster presentation at Association for Psychological Science (APS), San Francisco, CA, May 24-27.

Research

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications:

  • Silton, N.R. & Ferris, A. (2017). I want to know what love is: The ingredients of liking, attraction, dating and successful marital relationships. In Silton (ed.) Family Dynamics and Romantic Relationships in a Changing Society, IGI Global Publishing.
  • Marmo, J. & Silton, N. (2017). The coming out experience of people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender. In Silton (ed.) Family Dynamics and Romantic Relationships in a Changing Society, IGI Global Publishing.
  • Silton, N.R. & Chera, D. (2017). Fearlessness. In V. Zeigler-Hill & T.K. Shackelford (eds.)’s Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer International Publishing, 1-3.
  • Silton, N.R. & Ferris, A. (2017). Hostility. In V. Zeigler-Hill & T.K. Shackelford (eds.)’s Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer International Publishing.
  • Ferris, A. & Silton, N.R. (2017). Separation Insecurity. In V. Zeigler-Hill & T.K. Shackelford (eds.)’s Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer International Publishing.
  • Silton, N.R. (2016). Realabilities: Opening new creative vistas to stimulate changes in typical students’ attitudes and behavioral intentions towards peers with disabilities. In Exploring the Benefits of Creativity in Education, Media and the Arts, IGI Global Publishing.
  • Silton, N.R. (2016). Enhancing behavioral intentions and cognitive attitudes of typical children towards children with disabilities. Medical Research Archives.
  • Silton, N.R. (2016). Informing our interventions with the wisdom of the sages: Biblical and rabbinic inspiration for enhancing sensitivity towards individuals with disabilities. In M. Ben Avie, Y. Ives, & Lowenthal, C. (Eds.). Applied Jewish Values/Social Science and Psychology.
  • Galek, K., Flannelly, K.J., Ellison, C.G., Silton, N.R., & Jankowski, K.B. (2015). Religion, meaning and purpose in life and mental health. Psychology of Religion and Health, 7(1), 1-12.

Selected Presentations:

  • Silton, N.R. & Riley, P. (May 2018). The Combination of the Addy & Uno Off Broadway Musical and the Realabilities Comic Book Series Curriculum in Enhancing the Knowledge, Cognitive Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions of Typical Children Towards Children with Disabilities. Poster presentation at Marymount Manhattan College Annual Division of Science Conference, Manhattan, NY, May 9.
  • Silton, N.R., Riley, P., & Frossard, R. (March 2018). The Combination of the Addy & Uno Off Broadway Musical and the Realabilities Comic Book Series Curriculum in Enhancing the Knowledge, Cognitive Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions of Typical Children Towards Children with Disabilities. Poster presentation at Marymount Manhattan College Honors Day, Manhattan, New York, March 14.
  • Silton, N.R., Riley, P., & Frossard, R. (March 2018). Evaluating the Efficacy of Addy & Uno, The First Family Musical About Disability, Friendship and Kindness: Enhancing Positive Attitudes and Intentions of Typical Children towards Children with Disabilities. Poster presentation Eastern Psychological Association (EPA), Philadelphia, PA, March 1- 3.
  • Silton, N.R. & Riley, P. (November 2017). “It’s Nice to Be Nice”: Assessing the Efficacy of The Addy & Uno Musical and The Realabilities Educational Comic Book Curriculum. Oral PowerPoint presentation at The Greater New York Conference on Behavior Research, Fordham University, Manhattan, NY, November 19.
  • Silton, N.R.,Villetto, D., Norley, K., Klifi-Amir, S., Riley, P. Untalan, A., Barnwell, C., & Chera, D. (August 2017). It’s Show Time: The Impact of the Realabilities Puppet Show Musical on Children’s Cognitive Atttitudes and Behavioral Intentions towards Children with Disabilities. Poster presentation at American Psychological Association (APA), Washington, D.C., August 3.
  • Silton, N.R.,Villetto, D., Norley, K., Klifi-Amir, S., Riley, P. Untalan, A., Ferris , C., & Chera, D. (March 2017). It’s Nice to Be Nice: The Impact of the Realabilities Puppet Show Musical on Children’s Cognitive Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions towards Children with Disabilities. Poster presentation Eastern Psychological Association (EPA), Boston, MA, March 16- 18.

See Dr. Silton’s website for additional publications

Professional Experience

Sample Press & Media Appearances:

See Dr. Silton’s website(opens in a new tab) for additional media appearances

Location

Nugent Hall, Room Room 053