Psycho-Babble April 2016 IN THIS ISSUE Department Events | Department Information | Alumni News | Internship & Job Notices Chair Talk from Joan Wow, it’s April already! As always, we have an engaging and busy month ahead in the psychology department. A highlight of April each year is the annual Spring Dinner, which comes very early this year: Monday, April 4th (5:30­6:30 p.m. in the Smail Gallery). All are welcome, even if you’ve only taken one psychology course (heck, even if you’ve never taken a psychology course but are interested in connecting with the department). I can pretty much promise that the food will be delicious and the company will be fun, and that we’ll offer prizes for trivia quiz and a surprise “matching challenge” contest. Also coming up in April: a Career Night with psychology department alum! On Tuesday evening, April 12th, a group of recent and not­so­recent alum who work in the Twin Cities will return to campus and talk about how they got their jobs, what they do for work and how it connects to their psychology majors, and answer your questions. Dinner will be served, please plan to attend if you can (be on the lookout for flyers with more information). April is also registration time, so those of you who aren’t graduating this spring can look forward to picking your classes for next semester. We will have several visitors in the department next year, including one full­time person. I don’t have a signed contract for her yet so I will tell you about her, and the other visitors who will be teaching for us in the fall, very soon. In the meantime, rest assured that we have some really exciting new advanced classes in line for the fall. Finally, I would like to extend my congratulations to the recipients of our various departmental awards. We have so many amazing students (yes, that includes you, the person who is reading this issue of PsychoBabble right now!) and it is always a challenge to pick among you for these departmental honors. Please see below for this year’s awardees, and join me in congratulating them. They will be recognized at the Spring Dinner. Associate Dean of the Faculty and Psychology Professor Kendrick Brown to Leave Macalester The Psychology Department was both thrilled and devastated to learn of Kendrick Brown’s anticipated move to become Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Redlands in California. Although all of you current students know him primarily as an administrator, many of you were also lucky enough to have taken his Understanding and Confronting Racism course. We will miss him terribly, and wish him all the best. Below is some information from the official announcement of his departure. Brown came to Macalester in 1998 as tenure­track member of the Psychology Department. He focused on how individuals negotiate systematic biases, in particular racism, to establish or maintain connections within and between social status groups. Since 2009, he has been Associate Dean of the Faculty, and as such, supervised the Assessment Office and various assessment activities at Macalester, oversaw the creation of faculty personnel review files, and solicited applications from students and faculty wishing to work closely during the summer on a scholarly project supported by endowed and external funds. “I am going to miss Macalester, my colleagues and friends, and all the students I’ve come to know over the past 18 years,” said Brown. “It was not an easy decision for me to leave Macalester, but I simply could not pass up the opportunity at The University of Redlands.” Psych Leader Nominations We are eager for nominations for next year’s psych club leaders. Leaders play an incredibly important role in the department. They build community in the department by helping out with a variety of events, including lunches, panels, volunteer experiences, guest lecturers, game nights, and Friday Socials. Ideally, leaders generate ideas for new activities that other students would find engaging and informative, and they inspire other students to get involved in the life of the department. We expect that serving as a Psych Club leader will typically take about 1 ­ 2 hours a week, although your time commitment will vary from week to week. Please consider nominating yourself or someone else to this important role. Please send names to Jaine Strauss by Monday, April 25th. We will contact all students who are nominated to make sure they’re interested in the commitment. The decision about next year’s psych leaders is made by faculty and staff. 2016­17 leaders will be announced in the May Psycho­Babble. Joan Ostrove recipient of major award! Joan is the recipient of the 2016 Walter D. Mink Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award given by the Minnesota Psychological Association. Prior to joining the Macalester faculty in 1999, Joan completed a B.A. degree at Williams College and Master's and Ph.D. degrees in psychology at the University of Michigan. Her nomination letter stated that "course evaluations include lavish praise for her warmth, accessibility, intelligence, expertise, and passion." One of her students stated, "I always feel like I'm learning new ways to think about the world every time I go to class," and a second student said, "she balanced both holding high expectations for and being supportive of her students." Rowan Hilty is the Paterson nominee! Paterson Award Nominee ­ Macalester's nominee for the award given by the Minnesota Psychological Association to the most promising senior in Minnesota planning a career in psychology. The student also receives a cash prize provided by the Walter D. Mink endowed prize fund. Nominee: Rowan Hilty ​ Rowan is a Psychology major currently completing an honors thesis under the direction of Professor Cari Gillen­O’Neel. She will be presenting her honors research at a psychology conference this summer. She is the lab manager for Professor Steve Guglielmo’s Morality and Social Cognition Lab and worked as a research assistant at the VA Hospital Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research in Minneapolis. She has been a project coordinator for the Civic Engagement Center, a group leader for the Lives of Commitment program, a writing tutor for the MAX Center, a preceptor for RIPI, a shift manager at Dairy Queen, and a Racial Equity Team intern. Kevin Dowling and Rachel Fogel to receive the Mink Award. Walter D. Mink Endowed Prize ­ Established in memory of Walter D. Mink, Professor of Psychology from 1958­1996. This prize is given to a senior who has a strong academic record and has also provided outstanding service to the department, the college or the broader community. Recipients: Kevin Dowling and Rachel Fogel ​ Kevin is a Psychology major and Biology minor who is also completing a concentration in Community and Global Health. He has been a research assistant at the NYU Department of Psychiatry, the NYU Center for Neural Studies, and Rutgers University. He was a public policy intern with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, works in the Center for Religious and Spiritual Life on campus, and has been an active leader in the Psychology Club, the Macalester Catholic Organization, and the Lives of Commitment program. Rachel is a Psychology major who is minoring in Religious Studies and has a concentration in Community and Global Health. She is planning a career in medicine and has worked or volunteered at the Family Tree Clinic, Indiana University Hospital, the NABO Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Broughton Hospital in North Carolina. She has been an active leader in the Psychology Club, the Senior Keystone Program, the Multifaith Council, and Lives of Commitment. Glenna Gransee and Jessica Pham are the Rossmann Award recipients Jack Rossmann Endowed Prize ­ This prize honors a graduating senior psychology major who has an excellent academic record and has also made distinguished contributions in the application of academic psychology through activities such as applied research, internships, or community service. Recipients: Glenna Gransee and Dung (Jessica) Pham ​ Glenna majored in Psychology and minored in Russian Studies, and is planning graduate school and an eventual career in school psychology. She was a lab assistant for Professor Julia Manor and volunteered for much of her time at Macalester as a homework center tutor at the Rondo Community Outreach library. Jessica is a Psychology major with a concentration in Community and Global Health. She has been a research assistant for a variety of projects, most recently in the department of psychiatry at the University of Minnesota Medical School where she worked on a project that will be presented at an international conference and published in a prominent journal. She has volunteered in the autism day treatment program at Fraser here in Minnesota and with the Autism Advocacy Project in Vietnam, with the Mental Health Association of Minnesota, the Amherst Wilder Foundation, and the Minnesota AIDS Project. Linda DeAnda is the 2016 Parchem Fellow The Parchem Fellowship, established in 2010 by Drs. Allen and Georga Parchem, provides an opportunity for psychology majors to work closely and collaboratively with faculty members on faculty members’ research, typically during the summer. The Parchems hope this research opportunity will further students’ interest in and commitment to conducting research. Linda DeAnda ‘18 has received the Parchem Fellowship to work over the summer with Professor Cari Gillen­O’Neel. Sung Eun Hong 2016 Harp­Pollack Intern Harp­Pollack Summer Internship in NYC ­ The fellowship supports one student who would not otherwise have the opportunity to participate in an unpaid public interest summer internship in New York City. SungEun Hong ‘17 will do a summer internship with iMCI & the Future Work Institute Postcard from Study Away Greetings from Cape Town! I am studying abroad at the University of Cape Town with IES Abroad.