Our Department’s theme of Psychology for the Public Good empowers our students & faculty to use their psychological knowledge to contribute to the common good and a more equitable society
Our department values community-based learning opportunities and regularly offers courses that allow our students to apply their learning to real-world issues. We also help students cultivate their purpose & vocation by building in regular opportunities for discernment & critical reflection about their evolving interests, skills, and world needs. Learn more about recent initiatives here.
As a community-based researcher, Professor Katy Morgan partners with schools and other youth-serving organizations to understand, promote, and sustain empowering community contexts where young people can engage in social change efforts and promote community wellbeing. Learn more about and .
The mission of the is to establish a safe, caring, drug-free community that supports local youth and families. Professor Kate Cammack and her students have been partnering with the GSCC on local adolescents’ perceptions, attitudes, and worldviews, to help inform evidence-based approaches to education and prevention.
Professor Sherry Hamby is the Founder and Director of Life Paths Research Center, which works to create spaces for scholars and advocates to gather and work toward a joint mission of reducing the burden of trauma and building resilience. Life Paths is also the home of .
Professor Chris Silver co-hosts , the official podcast of the National Rural Education Association. Professor Silver and his co-hosts consider common themes and experiences of teachers, parents, and administrators in elementary and secondary rural education.
Professor Karen Yu urges us to consider how we might apply what science tells us about how our minds work to all that we do and design, in ways that liberate and empower the full cognitive potential of each person. Better thinking—deeper, more creative, more nuanced, more expansive thinking—is arguably , with implications for our interactions, policies, and civic discourse.
In their new course, Professors Kristen Cecala (Biology) and Kate Cammack (Psychology & Neuroscience) supervised that leveraged data to cultivate belonging and inclusion with STEM fields at Sewanee. Cultivating students' sense of belonging in STEM helps to broaden the diversity of students who pursue, persist in, and complete STEM majors/minors and to expand scientific literacy within our communities.
