Antonie Dvorakova


 

Antonie Dvořáková is currently an Exchange Scholar at Stanford University. She also tutors Ph.D. students in Statistics for the Stanford University Office of Accessible Education, and assists her adviser at this university, Dr. LaFromboise, with her research concerning bi-culturalism. Otherwise, Antonie is a Ph.D. Candidate in Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago. She came to the United States as a Fulbright Commission scholar from her home country of the Czech Republic.  Antonie earned her M.A. degree in Indigenous Nations Studies from the University of Kansas in Lawrence, and an M.A. equivalent degree in Clinical Psychology from Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic.

Her research interests lie in the area of cultural psychology, complemented with insights form the fields of minority education, psychological anthropology, and ethnographic sociology. Antonie's research includes issues of academic excellence of high-achieving socio-economically disadvantaged students, life trajectories and experiences of Native American scholars teaching at mainstream universities, conceptualizations of success and honor in different cultures, self-regard among Native American students, and various issues of culturally responsive psychological assessment, research, and theorizing.

 

With several of her BA honors students during the last class of the year.

At the University of Chicago, where Antonie Dvořáková is a Ph.D. Candidate in the department of Comparative Human Development, she works with Drs Richard P. Taub, Richard A. Shweder, Micere I. Keels, and Anne T. Straus. Antonie was also employed for five years as an Instructor/Preceptor teaching Methodology courses and advising honors students writing their B.A. theses in the Department of Comparative Human Development.

Additionally, Antonie Dvořáková served as the Treasurer and Webmaster of the Native American Student Association at the University of Chicago.

 

With NASA members and Dr. Snipp during his visit to speak for the NASA.

Her academic work combines the fields of cultural psychology, psychological anthropology, ethnographic sociology, and ethnic minority education. Antonie's interdisciplinary dissertation research involves ethnic minority integration into the mainstream United States academia, and compares Native American scholars in social sciences and humanities with those who teach hard sciences. This research questions the assumption in existing literature that minority persons experience identity conflicts due to the pressures of living in the “two worlds” of their mainstream professions and their ethnic (home) communities, and explores the strategies of those who succeeded at the highest level on involvement in academia. Native scholars specializing in Native American issues tend to understand their academic skills and roles to be an added repertoire enhancing their personal and communal competencies without threatening their tribal identities. By including scientists whose work does not have direct implications for their communities, the present research explores the applicability of the preliminary results to scholars who cannot easily perceive their academic work as a kind of social action on behalf of their people. Antonie interviewed 42 Native American professors at mainstream universities across the United States in order to explore also the relationships between the ethnic and professional backgrounds, roles, and identities of Native American scholars. 

With her adviser, Dr. Fixico, and a classmate (Jay) at the KU graduation.

 

Antonie Dvořáková came to the U.S. as a Fulbright Commission scholar to the Indigenous Studies department at the University of Kansas (KU) in Lawrence. There, she earned her M.A. in Indigenous Nations Studies under the guidance of her adviser, Dr. Donald L. Fixico. With the advice of also Dr. G. Adams, Antonie researched how self-esteem enhancement and measurement practices could be made more culturally responsive, therefore effective in improving educational attainment among NA college students. 

Antonie's involvment also at the Haskell Indian Nations University enabled her to compare experiences of Native American scholars in a mainstream and an entirely Native American university. While at KU, Antonie was encouraged to become an officer of the local Native American student organization (just as she was asked to do at the University of Chicago by other officers) so she served as a secretary for this student organization.  

 

With some members of the local Native American student organization at KU.

In the Czech Republic, when Antonie was studying for her degree in Clinical Psychology at the Masaryk University, she worked with Romany (Gypsy) populations for the Open Society Fund international quantitative research project entitled “The Encouragement of the Optimal Development of Personality and Intellect of Socioculturally Disadvantaged Children as a Way towards Respecting Human Rights.” This project developed an educational reform enabling Romany children and youth to be meaningfully integrated into the Czech educational system. Antonie was in charge of a section of this project, quantitative research dealing with the Czech standardization of the Boehm Test of Basic Linguistic Concepts. Antonie identified Czech schools that had the greatest concentration of Romany children, and independently organized and carried out research involving students from 10 of these schools, located across the Czech Republic, 

For further professional details, please review Antonie Dvořáková's Bio Sketch.

 


 

In her leisure time, Antonie Dvořáková engages in classical as well as historical swordsmanship, traditional/mounted archery, tall ships as well as yacht sailing, choir as well as  solo singing, "Indian Wars" re-enactments and Native American living history; renaissance and medieval dancing, sports such as cycling, canoeing, horse-riding, skiing, and swimming; crafts such as leatherwork, sewing, beadwork, quillwork, featherwork, arrow-making, basket-making, and gingerbread-making; and finally arts such as photography and drawing.

Click here for pictures and more information.

Two illustrative examples of Antonie's crafts: on the left, a pouch with northern star quillwork decoration, and, on the right, detail of a Lakota style dress with beadwork.