The Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota is committed to identifying, addressing, and rectifying social and racial inequity and injustice, a goal which is reflected in our current departmental Strategic Plan.

The Famlee Lab, directed by Richard Lee, PhD in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, recently surveyed students, faculty, and staff about their social and personal experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the university's response to the pandemic and the impact of social distancing and remote learning/work on health and wellness.

The Department of Psychology would like to congratulate the most recent group of graduate students (Addleman, Huelsnitz, Weiner) that have completed their long journey to a PhD.

The ongoing study measures participant’s feelings and experiences with discrimination and satisfaction with the University’s response to the pandemic.

Senior Bridget Brown discusses adapting to distance learning and how her liberal arts education helped her better understand the different aspects of COVID-19.

Vanessa Anyanso, a counseling psychology graduate student at the University of Minnesota, was interviewed by the StarTribune in an article titled “‘I'm in danger just living in America’: For black community, Floyd's death brings more grief and trauma.” Anyanso discusses how she personally has been affected by the death of George Floyd. She decided on “run supplies for the revolution”, to support protesters and organizations throughout Minneapolis.

Eugene Borgida, PhD, Professor of Psychology & Law at the University of Minnesota was mentioned in a Popular Science online article titled “Can implicit bias training help cops overcome racism?” He comments that psychological science on implicit bias training suggests forcing police officers to attend implicit bias training may make participants defensive and untrusting. Mandatory vs. voluntary participation may cause the training program to be less effective.

Today from 1:00-3:00 pm in Minneapolis was the first of several memorial services that will be held for George Floyd. I want to encourage each of you to remember and honor Mr. Floyd and to contemplate the long history of racist policing that led up to this murder. The Department of Psychology supports and stands in total solidarity with our students, faculty, staff, and others who are expressing collective grief and demanding accountability. We thank them for their integrity and courage as we all work to imagine and create a better world.

All students graduating with a psychology major complete a capstone project during their senior year. This project demonstrates expertise in an area of psychological research. The Sharon Borine Award for Top Capstone was established to recognize the best of these projects every semester; Psychology Honor Students are nominated yearly for the top prize. Capstone Student projects are reviewed by section leaders, the course instructor, and a group of faculty reviewers in the Department of Psychology to select and rank the recipients. Honors students are nominated by their faculty mentor and submissions are evaluated and ranked by a faculty panel. Congratulations to the Spring 2020 recipients: Claudia Herbert, Samantha Gardow, Samuel Lee, and Rachel Jensen!