Campus: Norman
Email: venerab@ou.edu
Education:
PhD in Philosophy, Boston College
MSW, Boston College
MPA, Columbia University
MA in Political Science, St. John's University
BA in Journalism and Political Science, University of Oklahoma
Dr. Venera Bekteshi is currently an Associate Professor at the School of Social Work. Before her appointment she served as an Associate Professor at two Universities in the U.K., the University of Bath, Department of Social and Policy Sciences and University of York
Department of Social Policy and Social Work. She began her academic career at the University of Illinois, in Urbana-Champaign where she served an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work. Dr. Bekteshi completed her postdoctoral training at the Washington University in St. Louis Medical School-Siteman Cancer Center.
Dr. Bekteshi earned her Ph.D. and masters in social work (Boston College), and an M.P.A. as well as an M.A. from Columbia University and St. John’s University, respectively. A native of Kosovo, Venera Bekteshi acquired extensive experience in health and mental health research over 9 years by practicing in non-profit and government sectors, among others, as an associate researcher at the United Nations’ Human Development Reports Office and as Deputy Director of the Albanian American Women’s Organization. Most of her research focuses on the health and mental needs of immigrants, the homeless and of adolescents, and on breast cancer prevention.
Yet, she also examines sex trafficking in such Eastern European countries as Albania, Kosovo, Romania, and Macedonia. Grounded in theory, her research addresses this significant issue by employing various methodological techniques, depending on data availability.
For her academic contributions and her involvement in community service and development, Professor Bekteshi received several prestigious awards and fellowships, among which the First Award for Community Building and Leadership by the International Leadership Class at the University of Oklahoma and the Mayor’s Recognition for Community Service, New York. Additionally, she won several competitive research grants from the United States Department of Health and Human Services (co-authored) and a number of NGOs in New York such as the Van Ameringen Foundation and the New York Foundation.
Currently, Professor Bekteshi has several ongoing projects on topics such as discrimination and Polish immigrants (with Dr. Monika Stodolska), the emotional barriers and access to mammography among Latina immigrants, and the integration challenges they face in the United States and United Kingdom.
Research Interests
Teaching Interests
