Connie Wolfe Associate Professor, Psychology |
Education
Teaching Interests
I love the discipline of psychology, sharing my knowledge of it, and co-creating new insights with students. The courses I teach most often include Intro, Social, Research Methods and upper level seminars about racism and the experiences of students of color at colleges like Muhlenberg. All of my teaching emphasizes the fact that what we think of as "reality" is actually our individualized perception of reality. Those perceptions are shaped by our own lived experiences within the cultures and sub-cultures we inhabit. Understanding this is the starting point for learning cultural humility, anti-racism, conflict resolution, and how to conduct and understand psychological research. In other words, all of my teaching centers social justice.
Research, Scholarship or Creative/Artistic Interests
My research centers broadly on topics of racism. All of my work is done in collaboration with students and, as such, is richly rewarding for me. Most recently, my work has focused on understanding the experiences of students of color here at Muhlenberg. Typically, research on “diversity” and “climate” is done using surveys. As the data is quantified, student experiences are reduced and de-contextualized. My lab uses interview data to supplement the survey work, allowing the College to understand, qualitatively and in context, the interpersonal, academic, and socio-emotional experiences of our students.
A secondary area of interest is survey or experimental work about how a white person’s understanding of their own racial identity influences how they understand issues of diversity and inclusion: e.g., how the desire to be “colorblind" or to avoid appearing prejudiced affects behavior when issues of race arise in conversations or classroom discussions.