Gene Kelly Visiting Assistant Professor, Psychology |
Education
Teaching Interests
One of my greatest joys is teaching undergraduate students the myriad ways that psychology impacts our daily lives--our interactions with others, our self-reflection, our consumption of all forms of media, and our work within (and sometimes against) the systems of our society and culture.
My interests here at Muhlenberg surround developmental psychology as well as the intersections of psychology with the criminal justice system. For example, what factors lead to individuals choosing to engage in criminal behaviors? How do law enforcement officials, judges, juries, prosecutors, et cetera, utilize psychological principles in their work (e.g., eyewitness evidence, decisions on bail/pretrial detention, sentencing, conviction, and correctional facilities)? What are the best practices that prevent people from continuing criminality?
Currently, I teach the following courses: Introductory Psychology, Child Development, Introduction to Forensic Psychology, Personality Theories, and Psychology of Criminal Behavior.
Research, Scholarship or Creative/Artistic Interests
My research interests are multi-faceted. As a developmentalist, I focus much of my work on examining adolescent and college student development--most often in the areas of gender, racial, and sexual identity development. My dissertation research focused on how conformity pressures for college-aged males related to their gender is related to their attitudes toward victims and perpetrators of sexual violence.
I also have published a lot of material around how media depicts marginalized groups and how this may influence how people develop with a positive self-identity. I've written about how the television show Glee portrays more modern sexual scripts for gay male youth, the lesbian invisibility in films such as The Color Purple and Fried Green Tomatoes, intersections of race and sexuality in Tyler Perry's Madea films, and how adult media shapes attitudes towards sexual violence of men who have sex with men.
Here at 'Berg, I'm excited to expand my research interest with students especially who are interested in gender, sexuality, adolescent recidivism, prison rehabilitation programs, or other ideas students have!!