Curriculum Vitae

 

Tammy Nyden

Associate Professor, Philosophy Department, Grinnell College
Philosophy Department, 1120 Park Street, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA 50112-1690
nyden@grinnell.edu • 641.269.4764 (Office) 

Education

Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, CA
Ph.D. in Philosophy, September 2003
Dissertation: Radical Cartesian Politics and Spinoza’s Change of Mind

Baylor University, Waco, Texas
M.A. in Philosophy, August 1995
Thesis: “Nietzsche and the Overcoming of Spinoza.”

University of Nevada, Las Vegas
B.A. in Philosophy, Minor in Biology, December 1993

Areas of Special Competence

  • Children’s Mental Health Justice and Caregiver Justice
  • Early Modern Philosophy, particularly Spinoza and the Dutch Enlightenment
  • History and Philosophy of Science, particularly seventeenth-century physics

Professional Experience 

2005-present   Associate Professor of Philosophy, Grinnell College. Courses taught:

  • PHI 295 Epistemic Injustices as Storywork as Resistance
  • PHI 233 History of Early Modern Philosophy
  • PHI 257 Philosophy of Science
  • PHI 255 History of Scientific Thought
  • PHI 111 Introduction to Philosophy
  • PHI 106 Contemporary Ethical Issues
  • PHI 393 Advanced Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy
    • Spinoza’s Politics (Fall 2006)
    • Spinoza’s Ethics (Fall 2008)
    • Woman in Early Modern Philosophy: A Feminist Approach (Fall 2011)
    • Spinoza and Radical Enlightenment (Fall 2013)
    • Descartes and Cartesianism (Fall 2015)
    • Spinoza and Mental Health (Fall 2017)
    • Women and Cartesianism (Spring 2020)
  • HUM 295 Space, Time, and Motion
  • TUT 100 Tutorial
    • A Woman’s Place
    • What Counts as Philosophy as Why?
    • Joy
  • PHI 499 Mentored Advanced Projects (MAPS), Student Project Titles:
    • Unraveling Dualism
    • Newton’s Sciences
    • Language Thru Metaphysics
    • Moral Certainty
  • Mentored Posse Projects:
    • Feyerabend’s Pluralistic Methodology Through the Study of Native American Science and Philosophy
    • The Spectrum of Bare Life: Biopolitical Productivity, Social Death, and the Case of the Cambodian Refugee

2018 (Fall) Fellow-in-Residence, Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, University of Iowa

2013 (Spring)  Fellow-in-Residence, Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, University of Iowa

2008-2009       Visiting Scholar, Leiden University, The Netherlands

Summer 2008  Reader, Huntington Library, Pasadena, California

2003-2005       Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

July 2004        National Endowment of the Humanities Summer Institute: “The Intersection of Philosophy, Science, and Religion in the Seventeenth Century.”

2001-2002       Member of Research Program: The Early Enlightenment in the Dutch Republic,

1650-1750, Erasmus University of Rotterdam, The Netherlands

2000-2001       Instructor, Victor Valley Community College, Victor Valley, CA

2001                Instructor, Chaffey College, Rancho Cucamonga, CA

2000                Multimedia Teaching Assistant, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA

1999-2000       Instructor, University of Redlands, Redlands, CA

1999-2000       Instructor, California State University, San Bernardino

1997-2000       Instructor, San Bernardino Valley College, San Bernardino, CA

1996                Instructor, McLennon Community College, Waco, TX

1994-1995       Teaching Assistant, Baylor University, Waco, TX

Honors, Grants, and Awards

  • Selected as Keynote Speaker at Iowa City Human Rights Commission Awards Breakfast, 2018.
  • Digital Bridges Fellow at the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, University of Iowa, Fall 2018.
  • Awarded grant from Innovation Fund at Grinnell College, 2018-2019.
  • Digital Bridges Faculty-Student Pedagogical Partnership, Summer 2017, Grinnell College.
  • The Isabel Turner Award from the Iowa City Human Rights Commission, 2016.
  • ID Action (Iowans with Disabilities in Action) 2014 Advocate of the Year.
  • NEH Summer Stipend, 2013.
  • Obermann Fellow-in-Residence, Obermann Center, University of Iowa, Spring 2013.
  • Scaliger Fellow, Scaliger Institute, Leiden University, 2013.
  • Faculty Study Leave, Grinnell College, Spring 2013.
  • Research Grant, Grinnell College, 2005-2014.
  • American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship, Fall 2008.
  • American Philosophical Society Franklin Research Grant, 2008.
  • 8-college Mellon Faculty Career Enhancement Grant 2007.
  • Kristeller-Popkin Travel Fellowship, 2005.
  • Netherland-America Foundation Fellow (Fulbright Program) 2001-2002.
  • Dissertation Grant, Claremont Graduate University, 2002-2003.
  • Tuition Fellowship, Claremont Graduate University, 1996-1999.
  • Tuition Fellowship, Baylor University, 1994-1995.
  • Member of Phi Sigma Tau: International Honor Society for Philosophy, Baylor University, 1994-1995.

Publications

Books

Cartesian Empiricisms. Eds. Tammy Nyden and Mihnea Dobre, (#31 in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Book Series), Dordrecht: Springer, 2013.

Spinoza’s Radical Cartesian Mind, Continuum, 2007.

Articles and Chapters

“Living Force at Leiden: De Volder, ‘s Gravesande and the Reception of Newtonianism,” in Newton and Empiricism. Eds. Zvi Biener and Eric Schliesser, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014, 207-222.

“Chapter 1: Introduction” by Tammy Nyden and Mihnea Dobre. In Cartesian Empiricisms. Eds. Tammy Nyden and Mihnea Dobre. Dordrecht: Springer, 2013, 1-21.

“Chapter 10: De Volder’s Cartesian Physics and Experimental Pedagogy.” In Cartesian Empiricisms. Eds. Tammy Nyden and Mihnea Dobre. Dordrecht: Springer, 2013, 227-250.

Bio-Bibliographical Appendix entry on Buchard de Volder. By Tammy Nyden. In Cartesian Empiricisms. Edited by Tammy Nyden and Mihna Dobre. Dordrecht: Springer, 2013, 313-315.

“Sankara, Śāntarakṣita and Spinoza.” In Studies on Śāntarakṣita’s Yogācāra Madhyamaka. Eds. Marie-Louise Friquegnon and Noé Dinnerstein. New York, Global Scholarly Publications, 2012, 169-178.

“Experiment in Cartesian Courses: The Case of Professor Burchard de Volder.” In The Circulation of Science and Technology: The Proceedings of the 4rth International Conference of the European Society of the History of Science (ESHS), Barcelona, 18-20 November 2010. Ed. A. Roca-Rosell, Barcelona: SCHCT-IEC (Societat Catalana d’Història de la Ciència i de la Tècnica – Institut d’Estudis Catalans), 2012, 384-388.

“Conscientia,” and “Affectus: laetitia, tristitia, and cupiditas,” in Continuum Companion to Spinoza. Eds. W. van Bunge, H. Krop, J.M.M. van den Ven, and P. Steenbakkers. Continuum, 2011, 189-190 and 151-154.

“Radical Cartesian Politics: Van Velthuysen, De la Court, and Spinoza,” Studia Spinozana, Volume 15, 2006 (journal dated 1999), 35-65.

“Salvation in a Naturalized World: The Role of the Will and Intellect in the Philosophies of Nietzsche and Spinoza,” NASS Monograph # 7, ed. Steven Barbone. Baltimore: North American Spinoza Society, 1998, 17-31.

Notes, Reviews, Etc.

Book Review of Feminist Interpretations of Benedict Spinoza. Edited by Moira Gatens. The Pennsylvania University Press, 2009 in Notre Dame Philosophical Review, March 2010.

Book Review of Interpreting Spinoza: Critical Essays. Edited by Charles Huenemann. Cambridge University Press, 2008 in Philosophy in Review, Vol. 29, No. 1 (2009), 35-37.

Bibliographies for Pierre Bayle, Giordano Bruno, Chuang-tzu, Hsun-tzu, Mencius, Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, and Isaac Newton, World Philosophy, rev. ed., Salem Press, 2000.

Papers presented at scholarly and professional meetings

“The New Physics at Leiden.” Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, University of Iowa. April 3, 2012.

“Not Scientia, but Not Nothing: de Volder on the Role of Experiment in Natural Philosophy.” The Battle for Scientia in the 17th Century: 2012 Princeton-Bucharest Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Bran, Romania, June-29-July 4, 2012.

“How Theology in 17th-Century Leiden Influenced the Acceptance and Spread of Experimental Physics.” Science and Religion: A Role for Metaphysics? Bard College, April 16-19, 2012.

“From Moral Certainty to Moral Evidentia: an Epistemological Shift in the Leiden Physics Theatre.” Passionate Minds: Knowledge and the Emotions in Intellectual History. Conference of the International Society for Intellectual History (ISIH), University of Bucharest, Romania, May 26-28, 2011.

“Experiment in Cartesian Courses: The Case of Professor Burchard de Volder.” The Circulation of Science and Technology: 4rth International Conference of the European Society of the History of Science (ESHS), Institut d’Estudis Catalans (IEC), Barcelona, Spain, November 18-20, 2010.

“The Case of Burchard de Volder: Pre-Newtonian, Dutch Cartesian Experiment in the University.” Thought in Science and Fiction: 12th Conference of the International Society for the Study of European Ideas (ISSEI), Çankara University, Ankara, Turkey, 2-6 August 2010.

“De Volder and the Physics Theatre: Experimental Pedagogy, Cartesian Physics.” HOPOS (History of the Philosophy of Science) Biennial Conference, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, June 26, 2010.

“Living Force at Leiden: Burchard de Volder (1643-1709), Willem J. ‘s Gravesande (1688-1742) and the Teaching of Experimental Physics.” Newton and Empiricism Conference, Center for Philosophy of Science, University of Pittsburgh, April 10-11, 2010.

“De Volder’s Introduction of Experimental Physics to the University.” POROI (Project on Rhetoric of Inquiry) Rhetoric Seminar, University of Iowa, January 28, 2010.

“De Volder’s Cartesian Reasons for Bringing Experiment to the Academy.” The Princeton-Bucharest Seminar in Early Modern Philosophy, Bran Romania, July 31, 2009.

“Spinoza’s Passionate Politics.” Passion & Body in Spinoza, University of Leiden, The Netherlands, July 2008.

“How Hobbes Got to Spinoza.” Early Modern Philosophy in Britain and the Netherlands 1500-1800. Conference sponsored by the British Society for the History of Philosophy, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, March 26-28, 2007.

“Parallelism à la Mode.” The North American Spinoza Society, December 2005.

“Spinoza’s Radical Cartesian Roots: De la Court and Dutch Politics.” Iowa Philosophical Society, Simpson College, November 5, 2005.

“Sankara, Spinoza, and Santaraksita.” International Conference on Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, Fordham University, November 1, 2003.

“The Metaphysical Appendix and its Place in the Development of Spinoza’s Theories of Error and Falsity.” International conference: “le contexte intellectuel du spinozisme.” Le Groupe de recherches spinozistes (CERPHI) and l’Association des Amis de Spinoza. Sorbonne, Paris, France, March 30, 2002.

“Individuals and Singular Things: Spinoza’s Unified Account of Individuation and Identity.” Symposium on Spinoza and Leibniz, University of Turku, Finland, November 7, 2001.

“Self-identity in Spinoza.” Claremont Early Modern Studies Graduate Symposium, March 6, 1999.

“Salvation in a Naturalized World: The Role of the Will and Intellect in the Philosophies of Nietzsche and Spinoza.” North American Spinoza Society, May 1998.

“Salvation in a Naturalized World.” Syracuse University Graduate Philosophy Conference, March 7, 1998.

 

Other Presentations, Guest Lectures, and Panels

“The Intersection of Race, Mental Health, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline,” presentation to teachers at the Iowa City School District, April 26, 2021, (virtual presentation).

“Iowa Helping Community Policy Group Presentation to the Iowa Mental Health Planning and Advisory Council,” presented with Charles Bruner, March 17, 2021, (virtual presentation).

“Children’s Mental Health Justice and the School-Prison Nexus,” Presented to the Iowa City School District Equity Advisory Committee, February 10, 2021, (virtual presentation).

“Children’s Mental Health Justice 101:Navigating Fractured Systems and Advocating for Justice,” presented with Angela Riccio and Dionne Bensonsmith at the National Foundation of Families for Children’s Mental Health 2020, , November 12, 2020, (virtual presentation).

“The Cradle-to-Prison Pipeline & the Need for Children’s Mental Health Justice,” #Scholarstrike Virtual Teach-In, September 9. 2020, (virtual presentation).

“Children’s Mental Health Justice” part of panel on Mental Health at South District Neighborhood Association, October 2, 2019, Iowa City.

“The Disproportionate use of School Discipline on Children with Autism,” Family and Autism: An Honest Conversation with Andrew Yang, December 14, 2019.

Keynote, “The Cradle to Prison Pipeline,” IJAN (Iowa Justice Action Network) Annual Conference, Coralville, November 7, 2019.

Guest Lecture (teleconference) Claremont Graduate University in Dionne Bensonsmith’s Feminist Research Methods Graduate Seminar, October 22, 2019.

“Children’s Mental Health Justice: What Would it Look Like?” NAMI Johnson County Children’s Mental Health Justice Summit, June 7, Coralville Public Library, June 7, 2019.

Panel member after film screening of, “The Kids We Lose”, Iowa City Public Library, April 10, 2019.

“Getting a Conversation Started: Advocating for Change When No One Seems to Be Listening,” Webinar Presentation for the Iowa Family Leadership Program, University of Iowa, March 28, 2019.

Presented on our work on the Digital Story Archive and Data Archive for the Innovation Grant on the School-to-Prison Pipeline at the Obermann Center “Archievs & Social Justice” Working Group, University of Iowa, March 28. 2019.

“NAMI Johnson County Children’s Coalition,” Obermann Conversation on Local Disability Initiatives, Iowa City Public Library, March 27, 2019.

“Talking About Mental Health Justice,” co-presented with Dionne Bensonsmith at the Civil Liberties and Public Policy conference, Hampshire College, March 13, 2019.

“The School-to-Prison-Pipeline,”  University of Iowa, Iowa City, “American Dream: A Theme Semester”, February 26, 2019.

Keynote, “Sharing Perspectives on: Anger, Aggression, and Violence! Can we create civility in schools?” Annual Midwest Symposium for Leadership in Behavior Disorders, Kansas City, February 22, 2019.

Co-facilitated the Digital Stories for Social Justice Workshop: The School-to-Prison Pipeline Archive, Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa, October 26-27, 2018.

“The School-to-Prison Pipeline,” Keynote address at the Iowa City Human Rights Commission Award Breakfast, Iowa City, October 24, 2018.

Panel Participant, “Careers Connection Science and the Social Good,” Grinnell Prize Week, Grinnell College, October 4, 2018.

Panel Participant, “Engaging in the Election Process,” Make Your Mark Conference, Rathbun Lake, Iowa, September 27-28, 2018.

Panel Participant, “Digital Projects Panel,” Grinnell College, August 16, 2018.

Panel Participant, “Using Digital Stories in our Teaching,”  Digital Bridges Summer Institute, University of Iowa, May 29-June 2, 2018.

“Storytelling for Healing,” Ask Resources Together we Can Conference, Des Moines, Iowa, May 5, 2018.

“Children’s Mental Health Care Legislation in the State of Iowa,” Mental Health Forum sponsored by the The League of Women Voters, Grinnell Iowa, April 5, 2018.

“What is Happening with Advocacy for Kids? or Why we can no longer wait?” NAMI Iowa Day on the Hill, Des Moines, February 21, 2018.

“The Status of Children’s Mental Health in Iowa,” Speaker at Community Connections, NAMI Greater Des Moines, January 16, 2018.

“The State of Children’s Mental Health in Iowa,” NAMI Iowa Annual Conference, Des Moines, November 17, 2017.

Co-Presented with Dionne Bensonsmith: “Mothers on the Frontline: Story Telling as Advocacy,” Federation of Familes for Children’s Mental Health National Annual Conference, Orlando, Florida, November 10, 2017.

“Mental Health and Special Education: A Parent’s Perspective,” Guest Speaker at Grinnell College Education class, October 25, 2017.

“The Power of Our Stories: Achieving Mental Health and Criminal Justice Transformation Through Women’s Stories,” Grinnell Prize Week Panel with Mothers on the Frontline and the Essie Foundation, October 3, 2017.

“Making our Stories Count: Advocating for Children’s Mental Health in Iowa,” The 2017 Iowa Parents of Children with Behavioral Health Conference by Please Pass the Love, September 9, 2017.

“Advocacy: Mothers’ Stories,” Guest Speaker at meeting of University of Iowa Children’s Specialty Clinics Family Advisory Council, June 15, 2017.

“We Are All in this Together: Positive Systems Change for Iowa’s Children,” 3rd Annual Iowa School-Based Mental Health Conference, Des Moines, October 16, 2015.

“What Works: School Programs for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbance,” Member of Parent Panel. 3rd Annual Iowa School-Based Mental Health Conference, Des Moines, October 16, 2015.

“Ways to Advocate for Children’s Mental Health,” Guest Lecture for Bengu Erguner-Tekinalp’s Graduate-level Practicum for Clinical Mental Health, Clinical Rehabilitation, and School Counseling Students, Drake University, September 30, 2015.

Webinar Speaker, Prevention of Disability Webinar, January 30, 2015.

“The State of Children’s Mental Health in Iowa”, presented at Iowa Health and Disability Advisory Board Meeting, January 27, 2015.

Keynote speaker at NAMI Iowa Walk, October 4, 2014.

“Wonder, Experiment, and Scientia at Leiden,” This presentation was part of a panel called “Wonder and the Scientific Method” that was part of the series: “From Wunderkammer to the Modern Museum, 1606-1884” at Faulconer Gallery, November 21, 2013.

Center for the Humanities Book Talk: “Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions”, Grinnell College, November 16, 2013.

“Paradigms Lost: How Leiden Made Experimental Physics Real Science.” Iowa Philosophical Association Work-in-Progress Workshop, November 9, 2013.

“Moral Certainty to Moral Evidentia: An Epistemological Shift in Leiden’s Physics Theatre.” Philosophy Colloquium. Grinnell College, October 12, 2011.

“Why Here? The Physical Digression and its Place in Spinoza’s Thought,” Guest Lecture in Katherin Brading’s Graduate Seminar on Individuation in Early Modern Philosophy, Notre Dame, October 6, 2005.

“Parallelism à la Mode,” Philosophy Department Colloquium, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, October 2004.

“Radical Cartesian Politics and Spinoza’s Change of Mind,” Graduate Student Colloquium, University of California, Irvine, May 2003.

“Where Did All the Laws Go?” Long Beach City College, April 2000.

Training related to Teaching and Research

  • Designing Powerful Solutions, online course at the Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) at Eastern Mennonite University, February 16 – March 18, 2021.
  • Data Across Curriculum Faculty Summer Workshop, Grinnell College, June 10-13, 2019.
  • Inclusive Pedagogy in the Classroom Workshop, Grinnell College, May 13, 2019.
  • Faculty Workshop on Conflict Resolution, Grinnell College, October 13, 2018.
  • Digital Storytelling Facilitators’ Intensive Workshop, Denver Colorado, October 17-21, 2017.
  • Digital Storytelling in Public Health Webinar Series, August – December 2017, StoryCenterDigital Bridges Summer Institute: The Power of Digital Storytelling: Lights, Camera, Sound, and Scripts, May 30- June 3, 2017, University of Iowa.
  • Digital Bridges Workshop, University of Iowa, January 14, 2015.
  • Youth Mental Health First Aid, June 4-5, 2015, Iowa City.

Service

Grinnell College service

Elected Member of Faculty Personnel Appeals Board, 2020-2022.

Ombuds Advisory Committee, Fall 2017-Spring 2019.

Faculty Advisor, NAMI  (National Alliance on Mental Illness) on Campus 2017-present

Member of Council of Diversity and Inclusion, 2017-2018.

Philosophy Department Assessment Retreat, May 18, 2018.

Member of Disability Task Force, Spring 2015.

Elected Member of Faculty Personnel Appeals Board, Fall 2013-2015.

Member of Neuroscience Committee, 2006-present.

Sponsor of Writing Mentor, Spring 2014 and Fall 2014.

Panel Member, “Inclusive Teaching” New Faculty Orientation, August 2012.

Facilitator, Inclusive Teaching and Advising Breakout Session, New Faculty Orientation, August 2012.

Chair of Ombudsman Search Committee, Summer and Fall 2012.

Mentor, Mellon Mays Fellowship, 2010-2015.

Initiator and organizer of monthly discussion series on Inclusive Teaching, 2012-2013.

Initiator and organizer of summer workshop on Inclusive Teaching, Summer 2012.

Elected Member Faculty Organization Committee, 2011-2012.

Created “Best Practices for Committees”: http://web.grinnell.edu/dean/foc/BestPracticesCommittees.pdf

Initiator and co-organizer of 4 campus-wide events for First Generation College students and bi-weekly First Generation lunches, 2011-2012.

Member of the Ad Hoc Campus Climate Committee, 2010-2011.

Co-organizer and co-host First Generation Dessert, Fall 2010 and Spring 2011.

Chair and elected representative of the Humanities Division, Ad Hoc Ombudsman Committee, 2009-2010.

Member of Faculty Governance Committee, 2009-2010.

Member of Mellon Task Force for Planning Proposal Committee, Fall 2009.

Member of EKI Advisory Board, 2007-2008.

Member of Scholarship Selection Committee, Grinnell College, 2006-2007.

Member of Humanities EKI Committee, Grinnell College, Fall 2006

Grinnell Philosophy Department Service

Department Review, 2015-2016.

Sponsor of Philosophy Mentor, Fall 2015.

Search Committee for assistant philosophy professor, 2014-2015.

Initiated and Organized Philosophy Colloquium, 2011-2014.

 Initiated and maintain PhilNow department newsletter, 2006-2014.

Search Committee for one-year visiting philosophy professor, Spring 2012.

Organized trip for Grinnell philosophy students to attend the Ida B. Wells Philosophy Conference and visit the National Civil Rights Museum, October 27-29, 2011.

 

Professional Service

External reviewer for tenure decision, November 2018.

External reviewer of journal article for Philosophy East and West, July 2016.

Member of Iowa Philosophical Society Advisory Board, 2011-present.

External review of journal article for Philosophy East and West, July 2016.

External reviewer of journal article for Centaurus, May 2013.

Referee for proposal to FWO: Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek-Vlaanderen (Research Foundation Flanders), June 2012.

Referee for Journal of the History of Philosophy, Spring 2012.

Organized and Hosted the 69th Annual Iowa Philosophical Society Conference, Grinnell College, Fall 2010.

President, Iowa Philosophical Society, 2009-2010.

Secretary-Treasurer, Iowa Philosophical Society, Fall 2005-2009.

External reviewer of book for Edinburgh University Press, Spring 2007.

 

Community service

Member of Iowa Helping Community Policy Group, July 2020-present.

Member of Iowa City School District Disability Sub-committee on Equity Advisory Committee, Spring 2021.

Participant in Roundtables and Facebook Live discussions with presidential candidates as part of the Caucus for Kids Coalition, 2019 caucus season.

Organized Children’s Mental Health Justice Summit for NAMI Johnson County, June 7, 2019.

Spoke at Iowa Senate Health and Human Services Subcommittee on the proposed legislation for a Children’s Mental Health System in Iowa, February 27, 2019.

Co-founder and co-director of Mothers on the Frontline, January 2017-present.

Chair of NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness) Iowa Children’s Mental Health Committee, May 2014-September 2015 and January 2016 – present. (Member May 2014-present).

Iowa Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Workgroup. The workgroup is charged to provide Iowa governor and legislature with recommendation, September-December 2015 and September-December 2016.

Iowa Mental Health Planning and Advisory Council. The council is charged to 1) review and make recommendations for the Mental Health Block Grant Plan (this is a federal grant to states); 2) advocate for children and adults with mental illness; 3) monitor, review, and evaluate the allocation and adequacy of Iowa’s mental health services. October 2014-present.

Co-founder and co-chair of the Coalition for a Children’s Mental Health Redesign in Iowa. The coalition consists of over 45 member organizations and over 90 mental health professionals, advocates, and stakeholders. October 2014-August 2015.

Produced “Statewide Call for Action: A Strategic Plan for a Children’s Mental Health Redesign in Iowa”: http://dhs.iowa.gov/sites/default/files/Childrens_MH_Redesign_Strategic_Plan.pdf

Family Advisor for the RAP (Regional Autism Assistance Program) Advisory Committee, March 2015-December 2015.

Founding Member of Parents Creating Change in Iowa, March 2014-present.

Founding Member of Ethics Committee, Mayflower Retirement Community, 2008-present.

 

Media

Interviewed on “Local Talk” Radio Show on KHOI Community Radio with Charlie Bruner and Alex Waters to discuss the Iowa Helping Community Policy Group, March 25, 2021.

Covered in “Student seclusion reports kept secret by Cedar Rapids, Iowa City School Districts,” by Erin Jordan, The Gazette, January 19, 2020.

Covered in, “Andrew Yang Makes Autism, Disability Policy a Key Campaign Issue,” by Skyler Romero, Parentology: Parenting in the digital age, January 7, 2020.

Interviewed for “Andrew Yang Puts Autism in The Spotlight, but Policy Questions Linger,” NPR, January 3, 2020.

Interviewed for “Iowa City school board hits pause on police offices in schools,” by Molly Duffy,  The Gazette, April 23, 2019.

Interviewed for “Idea to put police officers on campuses gets cold reception from Iowa City School Board,” by Aimee Breaux, Iowa City Press-Citizen, April 23, 2019.

Interviewed for “I’m going to help some kids’ Cedar Rapids school resource officers look to be positive influence: But some worry if officers in schools is a good idea,” by Molly Duffy, The Gazette, April 20, 2019.

Covered in “Mental Health Advocates Applaud Progress But Raise Concerns About Proposed Children’s System,” by Katarina Sostaric, Iowa Public Radio, February, 27, 2019.

Interviewed on River to River by Ben Kieffer, Iowa Public Radio, “New Plan for Children’s Mental Health Needs Funding,” November 20, 2018.

Interviewed for “Iowa tries to help families ‘hunting in the dark’ for mental health care in children.” By Tony Leys, Des Moines Register, September 12, 2018.

Interviewed for “Jones, Nyden, and Scott to Pursue Innovation Fund Project,” The Scarlet and Black, February 2, 2018.

Interviewed for “Iowans are talking about mental illness, but who will act”? by Kathie Obradovich, Des Moines Register, November 17, 2017.

Interviewed for “Schools Punished Kids by Putting Them in Solitary Boxes,” by Angelica Lai, MSN.com, October 13, 2017.

Letter to the Editor: “Community mental health services are less expensive than incarceration,” by Tammy Nyden, Des Moines Register, June 27, 2017.

Covered in “Political Activism: March 20-26, 2017.” By Eleanore Taft. Little Village: Iowa City / Cedar Rapids, March 20, 2017.

Interviewed for “After Mentally Ill Son Throws Computer at His Teacher, Mom Reaches Out to Families with Disabilities…” by Angie McPherson, Independent Journal Review, January 27, 2017.

Interviewed for “She foresaw disaster when her young son threw a computer at his teacher. How she helped him and other mentally ill kids,” by Sara Maraniss Vander Schaaff in The Answer Sheet Blog: The Washington Post, January 11, 2017.

Interviewed for “Nyden Wins Award for Children’s Mental Health Activism” by Megan Tcheng, The Scarlet and Black, November 11, 2016.

Interviewed for “Violence usually triggers use of seclusion rooms – but not always,” by Erin Jordan,   The Cedar Rapids Gazette, September 18, 2016.

Interviewed on River to River by Ben Kieffer, Iowa Public Radio, June 9, 2016.

“Fix Iowa’s broken mental health system for children,” guest columnist for The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, May 21, 2015.

Interviewed for “State mental hospital ends pediatric program, cuts jobs,” by Tony Leys, June 3, 2016.

Interviewed for “New state committee to look at children’s mental healthcare,” by Erin Murphy, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, April 24, 2015.

Interviewed for “Supporters want more mental health support for kids,” by Mark Newman, Ottumwa Courier, September 4, 2015.

Covered in “Parents: Iowa needs children’s mental health care system,” by Erin Murphy, Quad City Times, September 17, 2015.

Interviewed for “Parents rally for more help in dealing with mental illness,” by Pat Curtis, Radio Iowa, December 4, 2014.

Interviewed for “Mentally ill kids need state help, families say,” by Tony Leys, Des Moines Register, December 3, 2014.

Interviewed for “Parents of Mentally Ill Children Rally Iowa Capital,” by Sarah Boden, December 3, 2014.

Interviewed on Talk of Iowa by Charity Nebbe and Lindsey Moon for “Iowa’s Children’s Mental Health Care Crisis”, Iowa Public Radio, May 21, 2014.

Covered in, “Tammy Nyden Named 2014 ID Action Advocate of the Year,” idaction.org.

Covered in, “America’s 10 Hottest Classes” by Kathleen Kingsbury, The Daily Beast, September 9. 2009.