Teaching and mentoring are among my favorite parts of being a professor. In both I strive to help students both explore basic questions about human nature and address important social problems.
Teaching
In many of my classes, I emphasize psychological interventions. This is because psychological interventions demonstrate both the power of psychological processes and their relevance to social reform. In general, my courses are problem- and project-based, empowering students though exposure to the concepts and methods of the scholarly literature to explore problems of interest to them, to identify the role of precise psychological processes, and to develop solutions to these problems.
Recent courses
Psych 11N: Belonging in a Diverse Society
One of the most important questions people ask themselves when they enter a new setting, whether a school, a workplace, or a country, is "Do I belong here?". How do people make sense of their belonging in a new setting? How and why do group identities, such as race-ethnicity, social-class background, gender, or national origin matter? What are the consequences of people's inferences about their belonging? And how can we create school and work settings in which people from diverse backgrounds can genuinely and authentically belong?
Syllabus
Psych 138/238-Wise Interventions
Classic and contemporary psychological interventions; the role of psychological factors in reforms for social problems involving health care, the workplace, education, intergroup relations, and the law. Topics include theories of intervention, the role of laboratory research, evaluation, and social policy. 4 units.
Syllabus
Psych 274/Educ 287X-Graduate Research Workshop on Psychological Interventions
Psychological research has the potential to create novel interventions that promote the public good. This workshop will expose students to psychologically “wise” intervention research and support their efforts to conduct such interventions, especially in the context of education, broadly conceived, as well as other areas. The first part of the class will address classic interventions and important topics in intervention research, including effective delivery mechanisms, sensitive behavioral outcomes, the role of theory and psychological process, and considerations of the role of time and of mechanisms that can sustain treatment effects over time. In the second part of the course, students will present and receive feedback on their own ongoing and/or future intervention research. Prerequisite: Graduate standing in Psychology or Education or consent of the instructors.
Co-taught with Geoff Cohen.
Syllabus
OSPBER 86: The Integration of Refugees in Europe: German Education Settings
Experiences of refugees as they enter German secondary and post-secondary education settings. Using a social-psychological lens, learn how refugees understand their experiences in German schools and interactions with native students and teachers; how they are seen and treated; barriers to better relationships and outcomes; and how these can be overcome. Learn from popular commentary reports; scholarly writings from social-psychology and related fields on diversity, bias, belonging, and psychologically "wise" interventions. Experiential learning opportunities, including conversations with refugee students and educators working with refugees.
Prior courses
Psych 1-Introduction to Psychology
Human behavior and mental processes including the nervous system, consciousness, learning, memory, development, emotion, psychopathology, interpersonal processes, society, and culture. Current research. Plus mandatory section. 5 units.
Psych 7N-Learn to Intervene, Wisely
One of the most exciting transformations in the social sciences in recent years is the finding that brief psychological exercises can improve important outcomes for months and years such as raising school achievement and reducing inequality, improving health, and reducing intergroup conflict. These interventions help individuals flourish and help our society live up to its ideals. They address critical psychological questions people have, like "Do people like me belong in this school?", "Can I learn math?", "Am I bad mom?", and "Can groups in conflict change?". In this seminar, we will learn about ¿psychologically wise¿ interventions; how they work; how they can cause lasting benefits; their intellectual lineage; how they can be used, adapted, and scaled to address contemporary problems; and challenges and mistakes that can arise in doing so. In addition to learning from classic and contemporary research, you will design your very own wise intervention and workshop others¿ efforts. Working with a community partner, you will explore a problem your partner faces, identify a specific psychological process you think contributes to this problem, and design an intervention to address this process to improve outcomes, which your partner could implement and evaluate. You will share your approach in a final report with both your seminar-mates and your community partner. When you have completed this seminar, you will more fully understand the psychological aspect of social problems and how this can be addressed through rigorous research.
Psych 25N-Psychology, Inequality, and the American Dream
Despite legal prohibitions against discrimination and the fact that many people endorse egalitarian values, inequality persists in America. What role do psychological factors play in perpetuating inequality? How can psychologically “wise” reforms promote equal opportunity? Topics include prejudice and discrimination, school achievement, social class, and race/ethnicity. 3 units.
Psych 236-The Social Self
Humans have remarkable, complex social organization from work teams to national and cultural identities. An investigation of the psychological bases of this organization. Topics include the effect of social influence on perception, beliefs, attitudes, emotions, and behaviors, shared intentionality, and the relational bases of learning, motivation, and performance. Works of classic scholars (Asch, Lewin) and contemporary researchers in social, developmental, and comparative psychology. 3 units.
Psych 273- Changing Mindsets and Contexts: How to Create Authentic, Lasting Improvement
Many wise interventions offer people new beliefs but have not addressed the contexts in which those beliefs will be situated and implemented. This can limit the interventions¿ effectiveness. In this course, we will explore how combining mindset change with consideration of, or change to, the setting can enhance the authenticity of the intervention and the duration of its effects. Topics will include contextual boundary conditions on direct-to-student treatments, the nature of contextual "affordances," and the creation of contextual affordances.
Co-taught with Carol Dweck.
Psych 288-Perspectives on Belonging
How do people make sense of their relationship with a community or society and how does this affect their behavior and outcomes? We will examine classic and contemporary research and theory on what belonging is; how people draw inferences about their belonging in different contexts; cultural and social-group variation; and how belonging-related motivations affect diverse behaviors.
Mentoring
I deeply value opportunities to help younger scholars identify the critical psychological processes that contribute to problems they value, to demonstrate this role empirically with the greatest rigor and systematicity possible, and to integrate laboratory, field-experimental, and other methods to simultaneously advance theory and contribute to the solution of social problems. (see People).
If you are interested in inquiring about whether I am interested in taking new PhD students in the coming year, the general answer is that at Stanford, we admit students to the social area, not for individual faculty but I am always interested in working with new students whose interests overlap with my own.
Teaching
In many of my classes, I emphasize psychological interventions. This is because psychological interventions demonstrate both the power of psychological processes and their relevance to social reform. In general, my courses are problem- and project-based, empowering students though exposure to the concepts and methods of the scholarly literature to explore problems of interest to them, to identify the role of precise psychological processes, and to develop solutions to these problems.
Recent courses
Psych 11N: Belonging in a Diverse Society
One of the most important questions people ask themselves when they enter a new setting, whether a school, a workplace, or a country, is "Do I belong here?". How do people make sense of their belonging in a new setting? How and why do group identities, such as race-ethnicity, social-class background, gender, or national origin matter? What are the consequences of people's inferences about their belonging? And how can we create school and work settings in which people from diverse backgrounds can genuinely and authentically belong?
Syllabus
Psych 138/238-Wise Interventions
Classic and contemporary psychological interventions; the role of psychological factors in reforms for social problems involving health care, the workplace, education, intergroup relations, and the law. Topics include theories of intervention, the role of laboratory research, evaluation, and social policy. 4 units.
Syllabus
Psych 274/Educ 287X-Graduate Research Workshop on Psychological Interventions
Psychological research has the potential to create novel interventions that promote the public good. This workshop will expose students to psychologically “wise” intervention research and support their efforts to conduct such interventions, especially in the context of education, broadly conceived, as well as other areas. The first part of the class will address classic interventions and important topics in intervention research, including effective delivery mechanisms, sensitive behavioral outcomes, the role of theory and psychological process, and considerations of the role of time and of mechanisms that can sustain treatment effects over time. In the second part of the course, students will present and receive feedback on their own ongoing and/or future intervention research. Prerequisite: Graduate standing in Psychology or Education or consent of the instructors.
Co-taught with Geoff Cohen.
Syllabus
OSPBER 86: The Integration of Refugees in Europe: German Education Settings
Experiences of refugees as they enter German secondary and post-secondary education settings. Using a social-psychological lens, learn how refugees understand their experiences in German schools and interactions with native students and teachers; how they are seen and treated; barriers to better relationships and outcomes; and how these can be overcome. Learn from popular commentary reports; scholarly writings from social-psychology and related fields on diversity, bias, belonging, and psychologically "wise" interventions. Experiential learning opportunities, including conversations with refugee students and educators working with refugees.
Prior courses
Psych 1-Introduction to Psychology
Human behavior and mental processes including the nervous system, consciousness, learning, memory, development, emotion, psychopathology, interpersonal processes, society, and culture. Current research. Plus mandatory section. 5 units.
Psych 7N-Learn to Intervene, Wisely
One of the most exciting transformations in the social sciences in recent years is the finding that brief psychological exercises can improve important outcomes for months and years such as raising school achievement and reducing inequality, improving health, and reducing intergroup conflict. These interventions help individuals flourish and help our society live up to its ideals. They address critical psychological questions people have, like "Do people like me belong in this school?", "Can I learn math?", "Am I bad mom?", and "Can groups in conflict change?". In this seminar, we will learn about ¿psychologically wise¿ interventions; how they work; how they can cause lasting benefits; their intellectual lineage; how they can be used, adapted, and scaled to address contemporary problems; and challenges and mistakes that can arise in doing so. In addition to learning from classic and contemporary research, you will design your very own wise intervention and workshop others¿ efforts. Working with a community partner, you will explore a problem your partner faces, identify a specific psychological process you think contributes to this problem, and design an intervention to address this process to improve outcomes, which your partner could implement and evaluate. You will share your approach in a final report with both your seminar-mates and your community partner. When you have completed this seminar, you will more fully understand the psychological aspect of social problems and how this can be addressed through rigorous research.
Psych 25N-Psychology, Inequality, and the American Dream
Despite legal prohibitions against discrimination and the fact that many people endorse egalitarian values, inequality persists in America. What role do psychological factors play in perpetuating inequality? How can psychologically “wise” reforms promote equal opportunity? Topics include prejudice and discrimination, school achievement, social class, and race/ethnicity. 3 units.
Psych 236-The Social Self
Humans have remarkable, complex social organization from work teams to national and cultural identities. An investigation of the psychological bases of this organization. Topics include the effect of social influence on perception, beliefs, attitudes, emotions, and behaviors, shared intentionality, and the relational bases of learning, motivation, and performance. Works of classic scholars (Asch, Lewin) and contemporary researchers in social, developmental, and comparative psychology. 3 units.
Psych 273- Changing Mindsets and Contexts: How to Create Authentic, Lasting Improvement
Many wise interventions offer people new beliefs but have not addressed the contexts in which those beliefs will be situated and implemented. This can limit the interventions¿ effectiveness. In this course, we will explore how combining mindset change with consideration of, or change to, the setting can enhance the authenticity of the intervention and the duration of its effects. Topics will include contextual boundary conditions on direct-to-student treatments, the nature of contextual "affordances," and the creation of contextual affordances.
Co-taught with Carol Dweck.
Psych 288-Perspectives on Belonging
How do people make sense of their relationship with a community or society and how does this affect their behavior and outcomes? We will examine classic and contemporary research and theory on what belonging is; how people draw inferences about their belonging in different contexts; cultural and social-group variation; and how belonging-related motivations affect diverse behaviors.
Mentoring
I deeply value opportunities to help younger scholars identify the critical psychological processes that contribute to problems they value, to demonstrate this role empirically with the greatest rigor and systematicity possible, and to integrate laboratory, field-experimental, and other methods to simultaneously advance theory and contribute to the solution of social problems. (see People).
If you are interested in inquiring about whether I am interested in taking new PhD students in the coming year, the general answer is that at Stanford, we admit students to the social area, not for individual faculty but I am always interested in working with new students whose interests overlap with my own.
Proudly powered by Weebly