Fordham University Psychology Department News: February 2013

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Monday, February 25, 2013

Upcoming event: Dr. Philip G. Zimbardo speaks at Fordham


Philip G. Zimbardo of Stanford University will be speaking on “The heroic imagination:  How can we inspire our students for heroic actions?”

This public forum is hosted by Fordham University, its Psychology Department and Center for Teaching Excellence and will be held on Monday, March 4th, 2013 from 1-3pm in the Walsh Library’s Flom Auditorium.

For additional information contact Harold Takooshian at takoosh@aol.com.

Born in the Bronx in 1933, Philip Zimbardo went on to become one of the world's leading behavioral scientists of the 20th Century. On this return to his Bronx roots at age 80, he shares his 50 years of experience as a scientist and educator--described at www.zimbardo.com.

He is widely known as a "Master teacher" who authored THE textbook in introductory psychology for decades, edited the "Discovering Psychology" video series, and directs the "Heroic Imagination" project. Dr. Zimbardo is known for his faculty workshops, is a popular TED speaker, and is internationally recognized as the “voice and face of contemporary psychology” through his widely viewed PBS-TV series, Discovering Psychology, his media appearances, best-selling trade books, and his classic research, The Stanford Prison Experiment.

Zimbardo has been a Stanford University professor since 1968 (now emeritus), having taught previously at Yale, NYU, and Columbia University. He also continues to teach at the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey (courses on the psychology of terrorism), and is professor at the Palo Alto University (teaching social psychology to clinical graduate students). Zimbardo has been given numerous awards and honors as an educator, researcher, writer, media contributor, and for service to the profession of psychology. He has been awarded the Vaclav Havel Foundation Prize for his lifetime of research on the human condition. Among his more than 400 professional publications, including 50 trade and textbooks, is the oldest current textbook in psychology, Psychology and Life, and Core Concepts in Psychology in its 7th Edition. His popular book on shyness in adults was the first of its kind, as was the shyness clinic that he started in the community and continues as a treatment-research clinic at the Palo Alto University in Palo Alto.

His current research interests are in the domain of experimental social psychology, with a scattered emphasis on everything interesting to study from: Time perspective, persuasion, madness, violence, political psychology, and terrorism. His current passion is The Heroic Imagination Project, exploring and encouraging the psychology of everyday heroes.

Noted for his personal and professional efforts to actually 'give psychology away to the public', Zimbardo has also been a social-political activist, challenging the Government's wars in Vietnam and Iraq, as well as the American Correctional System.

Zimbardo has been President of the American Psychological Association (2002), President of the Western Psychological Association (twice), Chair of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP), and now Chair of the Western Psychological Foundation, as well as the Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Policy, Education, and Research on Terrorism (CIPERT).

He is excited about his recent trade books, including: “The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil,” (Random House, 2007, paperback, 2008), “The Time Paradox: Reconstructing the Past, Enjoying the Present, Mastering the Future” (with John Boyd, Free Press, 2008), The Demise of Guys (with Nikita Duncan, TED books, 2012) and Time Heals: The dynamic new treatment for PTSD (with Richard and Rosemary Sword, Wiley, 2012).

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Friday, February 15, 2013

Event recap: Centenarian Study Reception


On November 11th, 2012, Dr. Daniela Jopp of the Applied Developmental Psychology program hosted the Fordham Centenarian Study Reception to honor participants in her two-year study. There were over 70 guests in attendance including 10 centenarians, Fordham administration and faculty, study staff and special guest, Grant Campany of Archon Genomics X PRIZE.


Dr. Daniela Jopp
Fordham Dean of Research Nancy Busch welcomed reception guests and opened the event. Dr. Jopp introduced attending centenarians and gave an overview of preliminary findings of the Fordham Centenarian Study. The study documents the experience of life at age 100 and intends to bring awareness to a growing, but rarely studied population. Dr. Jopp emphasized the challenges centenarians face, for example with respect to health, but stressed that most centenarians who participated in the study indicated to enjoy and value their life. She also highlighted the fact that centenarians have high levels of psychological strengths, such as feeling in control, experiencing life as meaningful, and wanting to live, which helps them to be happy and satisfied and may have contributed to reaching such an advanced age. Mr. Campany presented the 100 Over 100 Competition, noting its significance in learning more about genes that promote longevity and health in centenarians and consequently its imminent impact on healthcare. Two centenarians shared experiences and their take on their own longevity with the audience.

Reception guests enjoyed hearing about Fordham Centenarian Study and getting the chance to meet and learn more about centenarians.

In the future, Dr. Jopp intends to follow up with the study through a project focused on the perspective of the caretakers, children and relatives of the centenarians. She is currently planning on presenting results of the study at the upcoming Gerontological Society of America Conference. Dr. Jopp has recently been featured in Psychology Today and the Financial Times Germany in interviews about her work.

For more information about the Centenarian Study and Dr. Jopp’s other projects, visit the Web page for Dr. Jopp’s Adult Development and Aging Lab.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Center for Ethics Education hosts multidisciplinary career panel


Interested in pursuing a career in ethics?  On Thursday, February 7th, the Center for Ethics Education will host a multidisciplinary panel of professionals and Ethics and Society program graduates engaged in or pursuing a variety of ethics-related careers.  Audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions and interact with panelists.

Panelist will include professionals working at the Families and Work Institute, Montefiore Medical Center, Fordham Law School and Pace Law School, Fordham University’s Conservation Biology Program, Fordham Institutional Review Board, and HIV Research Ethics Training Institute.

This event will be moderated by Dr. Adam Fried, Director of the M.A. in Ethics and Society program.

This free event will take place in the Walsh Library’s O’Hare Special Collections room on Thursday, February 7th, 2013 at 6:30pm. Reception to follow.  RSVP to ethics@fordham.edu or call (718) 817-0926.