Fall & Homecoming 2017 Newsletter
A note from the Department Chair, Professor Josh Burk:
Greetings To All Psychology and Neuroscience Alumni.
Here at the Department of Psychological Sciences (note our new name!) we are looking forward to welcoming alumni during the 2017 Homecoming Weekend October 20-22, 2017. For a full list of all the activities campus-wide, including the parade Friday afternoon, the Sunset Ceremony in the Wren Courtyard and Virginia Uncorked in the Sunken Garden Friday evening, Handshakes and Pancakes in the Sadler Center Saturday morning, the football game against JMU Friday afternoon, the Bash in the Tent in the Sunken Gardens Saturday night, and Coffee with Friends at the Alumni House Sunday morning, see https://homecoming.wm.edu/.
Our faculty, of course, also look forward to welcoming you. For those of you who remember fondly (or otherwise) Millington Hall, you will find only grass growing where Millington recently stood. Yes, there were actually tears last year as we watched it being dismantled. But we are now fully ensconced in the new Integrated Science Center (ISC). We hope you will come see us in the ISC atrium Saturday October 21st between 10:00am and noon and enjoy good company, good coffee, and good baked goods and fruit. For more on that event, please see https://events.wm.edu/event/view/wm/92624.
Whether or not you are able to be at the college for homecoming this year, I encourage you to join our Psych Alumni Network online at http://www.wm.edu/as/psych-sciences/studentresources/psychology-alumni-network/index.php. It’s an opportunity for our psych alumni to network, help each other, and keep in touch. My thanks to those who have already volunteered to be part of this network.
Several of the Psych Faculty have individual pre-homecoming statements below along with their email addresses. But if you don’t see your favorite here, we are all listed at http://www.wm.edu/as/psych-sciences/faculty/facultydirectory/index.php. I personally look forward to seeing as many Psych Alumni as possible. Please feel free to email me prior Homecoming (jabur2@wm.edu).
Josh Burk
Professor and Chair
Pam Hunt: I love to hear from my previous students and learn about their successes. It’s a joy to see those of you who return for Homecoming Weekend. Yes, I’m still here teaching the same courses you had with me (how could you forget Elementary Statistics!). And of course, I am still working with students in my research. The lab nowadays contains zebrafish, and the little guys are swimming and learning. I hope you’ll let me know if you’ll be attending homecoming weekend this year. Or if not, please send me an email and let me know where life has taken you. My email address is pshunt@wm.edu.
Lee Kirkpatrick: I’m still here, teaching most of the same courses you had with me: graduate and undergraduate statistics, and two courses in evolutionary psychology (one a small, advanced seminar). I’m still doing research on a variety of topics in evolutionary psychology, and playing bass guitar in a couple of bands for fun. Let me know if you’ll be attending Homecoming Weekend this year so we can make sure to get together. If not, please drop me a line and say hi. My email address is lakirk@wm.edu.
Christy Porter: Working with undergraduates at William and Mary is a privilege, but I only know individual students for a brief time, and then they are gone. I haven’t changed much – still teaching required courses for Neuroscience and Psychological Sciences (that’s our new name!) – but I love to hear what former students are doing. I hope you’ll let me know if you’ll be attending Homecoming weekend this year, on October. Or if not, I’m always glad to hear from alumni and keep up on where life has taken you. My email address is mcport@wm.edu.
The Department of Psychological Sciences welcomes two new faculty members this year:
Dr. Jaclyn Moloney, Ph.D., is a visiting assistant professor in Personality Psychology. This academic year she will be teaching courses on personality psychology, research methods in personality, and social psychology. Dr. Moloney grew up in DeKalb, IL and received her undergraduate degree from Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Moloney recently completed her Ph.D. in experimental social psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University. Broadly her research focuses on self and identity. Recently she has been studying the different intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences of relationship transgressions, such as forgiveness and moral emotions. She is looking forward to helping facilitate research and fostering a positive teaching environment through her courses.
Dr. Brian Rabinovitz, Ph.D. is a visiting assistant professor who will be teaching courses on cognitive psychology, sensation and perception, and learning and memory. Dr. Rabinovitz received dual undergraduate degrees in psychology and philosophy from the University of Maryland, College Park and a Ph.D. in experimental cognitive psychology from American University. He has previously taught courses at American University and George Washington University. His research focuses on music and memory, with a particular emphasis on metamemory and the relationship between music and language. He is looking forward to incorporating material on the neuroscience of music processing into his sensation and perception class and fostering an interest in research related to these topics with the talented student body here at William & Mary.
