Dr. Susan Saegert receives the 2015 Newman-Proshansky Career Achievement Award for Division 34

We are very pleased to announce that Dr. Susan Saegert has been selected to receive the 2015 Newman-Proshansky Career Achievement Award for Division 34 of the American Psychological Association, the Society for  Environmental, Population and Conservation Psychology. The faculty and students in the Environmental Psychology program agree that this is a wonderful and much deserved honor!Div 34

This award reflects the Division’s deep appreciation of Saegert’s outstanding and many contributions to the field of environmental psychology as well as her years of dedicated service to the Division. The award will be announced at a Division 34 session during the American Psychological Association Convention, which will be held August 6-9, 2015 in Toronto. As in past years, the winner of the Newman-Proshansky Award is offered an opportunity to make an invited address at the APA convention. Saegert plans to give the address at this year’s APA convention in Toronto (in the past, the awardee gave his/her address the following year).

More details to follow. Many Congrats, Susan!

 

Environmental Psych Students Represent at Critical Geography Conference!

From left to right, Do Lee, Reilly Wilson, Shelley Buchbinder, Kristen Hackett, Hannah Jaicks, and Bryce DuBois.  James Sevitt also attended.

From left to right, Do Lee, Reilly Wilson, Shelley Buchbinder, Kristen Hackett, Hannah Jaicks, and Bryce DuBois. James Sevitt also attended.

Environmental psychology students made a wide presence this past weekend at the Critical Geography Conference at Temple University in Philadelphia.  Students presented on a range of topics including: the production of cumulative irresponsibility in neoliberal streetscapes and a proposal for reconstructing shared collective responsibility for more equitable streetscapes for all users, how the broad spectrum of people in New York City and London grappling with, resisting, working and reproducing the fantasy of the good life, and a five person panel that examined the role of power in narratives across the spectrum of field research (developing the research question, interacting with participants, and power in the narratives of one’s participants).

 

Brown Bag: Street Vending in New York City

Street Vending Brownbag Poster6

EP Alum, Dr. Jen Jack Gieseking in HuffPo Discussing (lack of) Queer Spaces

Jen Jack Gieseking, Environmental Psychology program alum and current Postdoctoral Fellow at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine recently published a Blog OpEd for the Huffington Post on the contextual implications of the closing of the only bar dedicated to serving lesbians in San Francisco.  Her post was followed up with an interview on HuffPost Live.  In her analysis, Jack addresses the role of the gender biases and gentrification in the closing of The Lexington.

 

More broadly, Jack’s research focuses on co-productions of space and identity in digital and material environments, with a focus on sexual and gender identities.  For more on Jack’s research and professional endeavors, visit http://jgieseking.org/

RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Research on International Education

Jennifer in traditional Balinese kabaya top, sarong, and sash overlooking rice fields near the program’s outdoor classroom in Ubud, Bali.

Jennifer in traditional Balinese kabaya top, sarong, and sash overlooking rice fields near the program’s outdoor classroom in Ubud, Bali.

Jennifer M. Pipitone spent a winter break in Morocco and half of a summer in Bali conducting field research on international education.

In her research, she argues that study abroad programs are not inherently educational nor do they intrinsically foster personal growth and cultural awareness; instead an appropriated international learning environment must be produced to impact the lives of students. Her dissertation embarks on an in-depth exploration and cross-case analysis of student experiences on two ethnically-diverse, short-term study abroad programs in Morocco and Bali.  These particular programs are rooted in experiential education and designed to cater to a diverse community of students.

Kuningan Ceremony in a rural village outside of Ubud, Bali. Kuningan marks the last day of a festival where the ancestral spirits of the Balinese visit the earth, and marks the beginning and celebration of the harvest of rice. The festival cycles every 210 days. Our group was fortunate enough to witness trance at this ceremony once the sun went down. The syncopated rhythms of the gamelan orchestra that encouraged the able-bodied men carrying palanquins housing their gods into altered states of consciousness was a powerful cultural experience for students.

Kuningan Ceremony in a rural village outside of Ubud, Bali. Kuningan marks the last day of a festival where the ancestral spirits of the Balinese visit the earth, and marks the beginning and celebration of the harvest of rice. The festival cycles every 210 days. Our group was fortunate enough to witness trance at this ceremony once the sun went down. The syncopated rhythms of the gamelan orchestra that encouraged the able-bodied men carrying palanquins housing their gods into altered states of consciousness was a powerful cultural experience for students.

The overarching goal of her research is to understand the processes involved in the production of international experiential learning environments, document ethnically-diverse student experiences and group dynamics, and explore long-term impacts. She proposes an environmental framework to analyze the quality and landscapes of programs, and to understand the ways in which diverse students encounter each other and the ‘other’ and grow while abroad. She asks critical questions such as: How do different cultural geographies and landscapes impact student learning and growth? How can innovative, experiential pedagogical tools be used to promote cultural and environmental engagement and growth?

A visit to a rural Amazigh village nestled within the Middle Atlas Mountains near Fez in Morocco. As we walked through the village we encountered women baking bread in an oven made out of earth. Her kindness and generosity led us to break bread with her, prompting students to think about indigenous Moroccan cultures.

A visit to a rural Amazigh village nestled within the Middle Atlas Mountains near Fez in Morocco. As we walked through the village we encountered women baking bread in an oven made out of earth. Her kindness and generosity led us to break bread with her, prompting students to think about indigenous Moroccan cultures.

Through uncovering the production of international learning environments, and by acknowledging minority students’ international voices, Jennifer hopes her dissertation will contribute to the development of experiential pedagogies for constructing meaningful short-term study abroad programs that are attractive to, and meet the needs of, typically underrepresented students.

As an avid explorer of knowledge, cultures, and the outdoors, Jennifer’s current research reflects her passions for teaching, experiential education, and understanding the ways in which connection to surrounding environments can lead us down a path of discovery of the self and world.

In collaboration with her advisor, Jennifer is also exploring creative ways to engage students in the arts and the aesthetics of their environments as a means to promote cultural awareness locally as well as abroad. Jennifer’s pilot field research in Bali, funded in part by a grant received by her advisor from the Baruch-Rubin Museum of Art Project’s Integrating Arts Into the Curriculum Program, focused on integrating arts and aesthetics into the teaching of psychology abroad, which culminated in an “Engaging Students with the Arts Through the Teaching of Psychology in Bali: A Teaching Guide and Evaluative Codebook,” which is currently being adapted for publication.

The end of program celebration in Morocco was filled with traditional Moroccan art in the form of henna, food, and live music. Many were students were excited to return to the States with henna tattoos—a temporary symbolic imprint of the lasting impact of their cultural experience.

The end of program celebration in Morocco was filled with traditional Moroccan art in the form of henna, food, and live music. Many were students were excited to return to the States with henna tattoos—a temporary symbolic imprint of the lasting impact of their cultural experience.

 

Jennifer was also recently featured in a Rewild Your Life Guidebook for her Master’s research on the production of therapeutic spaces wilderness on therapy programs–research that shaped her current work. Her contribution, “Creating Your Own Therapeutic Wilderness Space,” is aimed to help people connect with themselves through nature.

Please contact Jennifer directly at Jennifer.pipitone@gmail.com if you would like to review either of these documents or learn more about her research.

 

 

CERG: Research Internship Opportunity

CERG Research Assistant Description (S.A.video)

STUDENT BLOG SHARE: “Popular Disruption”

PCM-225x300In a blog post entitled “Popular Disruption”, Kristen Hackett, a fourth year student in the Environmental Psychology program reflects on her experience participating in the People’s Climate March.  In particular, she reflects on the legality and corporatization of the march in relation to past participation in other political marches.  Though troubling at first, she comes to see them as critical pieces of the People’s Climate March in its particular struggle and objective.

 

 

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