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Social Forum

This is a forum on research and theory in social psychology, in which members (all social graduate students and faculty, joined by several graduate students from other programs) discuss theoretical and methodological issues, plan new research, share updates on ongoing projects, and receive feedback on manuscripts in preparation for publication.

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Beyond Binary Social Cognition Lab

The Beyond Binary Social Cognition Lab conducts research that challenges norms and common assumptions that people hold about social categories (e.g., gender, race, sexual orientation, etc.), such as the assumption that gender is binary, that racial categories are discrete, or that everyone experiences sexual attraction. We draw from social, developmental, and cognitive psychology as well as feminist and LGBT studies to explore the implications of these and other assumptions and to characterize the experiences of people who defy assumptions about social categories.

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Intersectionality, Stigma, and Health Lab

The Intersectionality, Stigma, and Health Lab examines the connection between stigma and health on an individual, interpersonal, and structural level. We focus on stigmatized attributes that are visible, such as race and gender, and those that are concealable, such as mental illness, sexual minority status, and HIV/AIDS. Through an intersectionality framework, we explore how intersections of race, class, gender, and sexual oppression can be used to address important issues in psychology.

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Ideology and Intergroup Violence Lab

The Ideology and Intergroup Violence Lab at Clark University investigates the ideological foundations of violence at multiple levels of analysis (e.g., the individual and society), while also identifying ways to reduce violence and discrimination through protest, collective action, and social psychological interventions. We explore the complex dynamics of ideology and violence across a variety of intergroup relations, including gender, race, nationality, and sexual orientation.

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Intergroup Conflict and Cooperation

This group consists of graduate and undergraduate students examining different aspects of peoples’ experiences of collective violence and oppression as well as responses to it, above all different forms of resistance. We work on different social and political contexts across the group and use different methods ranging from qualitative analyses of survivor testimonies to surveys and experiments, as well as number of other quantitative and qualitative methods.

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Developmental Forum

The developmental forum meets regularly during the academic year to examine theory and research in developmental psychology. All members of the developmental program (including all developmental graduate students and faculty in residence) and others (graduate students, faculty, and visitors from other programs and institutions) gather to discuss current theoretical and methodological issues, share updates on ongoing and upcoming projects, present and receive feedback on future talks, grant proposals, and manuscripts. The goal of the developmental forum is to collectively learn from one another and provide a support network to help strengthen the work of all members of the Clark community interested in developmental inquiry.

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Narrative Practices in Identity

Our research group focuses on theoretical issues central to identity research such as agency, difference, and change. We approach them from a qualitative (narrative) perspective, and we apply them to empirical phenomena such as adolescent and post-adolescent identity formation, close friendship, transition into work (for college students and refugees), fatherhood (including incarcerated fathers), and elderly women’s encore careers. Our investigations explore how these phenomena are understood from the perspective of those who experience and live through them. Current projects include a Handbook on Identity, as well as volumes in Bamberg’s book series, Studies in Narrative. Students are invited to join the editing process to gain professional experience.

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Learning, Language, and Cognition Lab

Our research group examines cognitive development, particularly in school-aged children in school contexts. We examine the malleable factors influencing learning and subsequent academic achievement, especially for minority race and language students as well as those growing up in poverty. A context of focus is bilingual education. Within these contexts, we examine how children organize semantic knowledge and build a knowledge base both within and across lessons with the long-term goal of informing educational policy and practice. This investigation entails examining the encoding and manipulation of semantic memory as well as conceptual representation across languages. The work is inherently interdisciplinary and we work with others in the departments of education and language and culture. We use a variety of methods, including experimental behavioral studies, observation, and eye-tracking. Our work takes place in the laboratory, in the community, and in collaborating classrooms.

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Higher Education Research Group

Our research group, led by Nancy Budwig, examines learning and development in both formal and informal learning contexts, with a focus on ways engagement in communities of practice contributes to the gradual construction of meaning systems. Prior work of the group studied the role of language in the construction of culturally relevant meaning systems as well as how different cultural meaning systems impacted successful entry into school. More recently, focus has shifted to examining ways that higher education also can make better use of socio-cultural approaches to learning and development. We study college student and faculty perspectives on designing environments to foster better learning and well-being, and the implementation of curricula that aim to prepare students to successfully transition into college, as well as successfully transition into the world of work and civic life. We also create tools to evaluate and improve learning and development on college campuses.

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