Diversity

 What is Diversity?

diversity3The Diversity Committee conceptualizes diversity broadly. We support demographic diversity via the representation and advancement of those who are members of historically disenfranchised U.S. populations, including identities based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation identity, age, religious beliefs, socioeconomic status, physical and mental abilities, and gender identity.  We also seek diversity of thought and worldview. We believe that ideas based on a variety of cultures, worldviews, and social identities enhance learning and scholarship. The committee seeks to foster a diverse educational environment based on both of these themes.

Psychology Department Diversity Committee

The Psychology Department Diversity Committee is one of four standing committees within the department. It includes faculty members across all programs, appointed by the chair, a graduate student elected by the graduate student body, and an undergraduate student appointed by the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

  1. Educational and Professional Development: Educate faculty and students on culture and worldview and their relation to philosophies of knowledge, research methodology, and practice.
  2. Excellence in Scholarship: Promote scholarship that is cognizant of diversity within psychological theory, research, teaching, and practice.
  3. Social Analysis and Ethics: Create opportunities for faculty and students to examine the sociocultural implications and impact of their work.
  4. Organization Development: Facilitate the ongoing improvement of all aspects of departmental operations and policies, for the welfare of faculty, students, and staff.
  5. Equal Access and Opportunity: Support affirmative action policies and other recruitment and retention initiatives that promote a demographically diverse faculty, staff, and student body.

  • Dr. Akihiko Masuda (chair)
  • Dr. Wing Yi Chan
  • Dr. John Peterson
  • Dr. Ashlyn Swartout
  • Dr. David Washburn
  • Mariya Malikina, graduate student representative
  •  Dominique Thomas, graduate student representative

Undergraduate

  • Psyc 3520 – Introduction to African American Psychology
  • Psyc 3570 – Multicultural Issues in Psychology
  • Psyc 4030 – Cross Cultural Psychology
  • Psyc 4400 - Psychology of the Atypical Child
  • Psyc 4510 – Introduction to Community Psychology
  • Psyc 4610 – Psychology of Aging
  • Psyc 4620 – Psychology of Women

Graduate

  • Psyc 8050 - Diversity Issues in Clinical Practice and Psychological Research
  • Psyc 8060 - Issues of Human Diversity in Psychology
  • Psyc 8220 - Community Interventions and Social Change
  • Psyc 8662  - Adolescence
  • Psyc 9900 - Seminar on Stereotyping and Prejudice

There are multiple funding opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral students interested in diversity related research, including for theses and dissertations.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
McNair Scholars Program – for undergraduates
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ford Foundation  - for undergraduates, graduate and postdoctoral fellows
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
APA Minority Fellowship Program
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NIMH – National Research Service Awards
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wayne Placek Award
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NIH supplemental awards for existing grants to promote diversity via funding minority students
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NSF Minority Postdoctoral Fellowship
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AERA Minority Fellowship in Education Research
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intensive Foreign Language and Immersion Training
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
US Department of Education Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AAUW American Fellowship
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPSSI - Grants in aid Program
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPSSI - The Clara Mayo Award
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Russell Sage Foundation – Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation – for research on violence, aggression, and dominance
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
APA – Information for Undergraduates
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Faculty

The following faculty identify their research as diversity-related:

  • Page Anderson– Culturally relevant treatment for social anxiety
  • Lisa Armistead – HIV in African and African-American families
  • Nicole Caporino – Addressing racial/ethnic disparities in mental health service utilization among children and adolescents.
  • Lindsey Cohen - Cultural differences in parent-child interactions
  • Heather Kleider – Stereotyping and face identification error
  • Tricia King - Stigma/discrimination experienced by those with neurological conditions
  • Gabriel Kuperminc – Culture/ethnicity in resilience development among adolescents
  • Akihiko Masuda - Mental-health stigma; Cross-cultural studies of mental health beliefs
  • Dominic Parrott - Aggression towards sexual minorities
  • Rose Sevcik - Interventions for developmental and learning disabilities
  • Ciara Smalls - African American youth, racial socialization, racial identity
  • Erin Tone - Impact of sex/race/ethnicity on attention in social anxiety

Graduate Students

Recent masters theses and dissertations examining understudied/disenfranchised populations, or from a diversity perspective:

Clinical Program

2008

  • Exploring Racial Predictors of Social Analysis in Young African American Students
  • Building Positive Future Orientations: The Role of Natural Mentors in the Lives of African American Girls
  • "Cool" Girls and "Hot" Boys--Impact of Cultural Construction of Gender on Punishment of Children in Vietnam
  • Strong Black Women: A Scale Revision and Validation
  • The Effects of Exposure to Media Portrayals of Gambling on Gambling Attitudes and Behaviors
  • The End of a Legacy: Intergenerational Transmission of Domestic Violence in Latino families
  • Mediational Effects of Perceived Child Control and Parental Coping Assistance on Peer Problem Outcomes in Families of Children with Developmental Disabilities
  • Implications of Filial Responsibility on Latino Adolescents' Psychological and Social Adjustment

2007

  • The Mediating Effect of Trauma, Caretaker Attachment and Community Support on Outcomes in Homeless Children
  •  Fear of Confirming Stereotypes in African Americans with Social Anxiety
  •  The Meaning of Healing from the Torture Survivors Perspective
  • Rapid Automatized Naming and Eye Movements: A Comparison Between Adults with Reading Disabilities and Normal Adult Readers
  • Adaptive Functioning Following Pediatric Traumatic Injury

Community Program

2008

  • The Effects of Gender and Fidelity on Outcomes in the Expect Respect Program
  •  The Impact of Social Context on Drug Use and Recovery Among Drug Court Participants: A Gender Comparison
  •  Violence Outside to Violence Within: An Exploratory Analysis of Violence in Schools and Sexual Minority Intimate Partner Violence
  •  Normative Violence?  The Impact of Gender-Neutral Language on Self-Reported Rates of Sexual Violence Victimization and Perpetration
  • Mechanisms Through Which Supportive Adult Relationships and Future Orientation Contribute To Resilient Outcomes In Low-Income African-American Adolescents

2007

  • The Re-victimization Relation in Disenfranchised Populations: Does Homelessness Moderate?
    Sociopolitical Awareness and Perceptions of Racism

Developmental Program

2008

  • Measuring Self-concept in Children with Intellectual Disability in a Reading Program

2007

  • Predicting Communication Development in Toddlers With Developmental Disabilities: The Role of Initiations, Success, Effectiveness and Intervention Strategy
  • Examining Parental Stress and Parental Perceptions of Children's Communication Development Following Language Intervention
  • Disentangling Pathways of Adolescent Sexual Risk from Problem Behavior Syndrome
  • Fluency in Children with Identified Reading Disabilities: Connections Between Non-reading Based Motor Fluency and Reading Fluency
  • Auditory Processing in Children with Speech and Language Impairments

Cognitive Sciences

2008

  • The Impact of Religious Fundamentalism, Christian Orthodoxy, and Right-Wing Authoritarianism on Explicit and Implicit Prejudice

Undergraduate Students

The Psychology Undergraduate Research Conference sponsors an award for best poster for diversity-related work.

Winners:

2009

  • Alice Barrett; faculty sponsor, Dr. Scott Weaver
    Racial harmony and English proficiency as predictors of academic motivation and math achievement

2008

  • Leon Silvers; faculty sponsor, Dr. Julia Perilla
    The association between anti-gay experiences and smoking among gay men

2007

  • Candice Beaver; faculty sponsor, Dr. Page Anderson
    Rate of attrition and race in a treatment outcome study for social anxiety