2024-11-21 - Assistant Professor Violeta J. Rodriguez has been selected to receive the American Psychological Foundation's (APF) Springfield Grant. This recognition highlights Dr. Rodriguez's impactful work exploring parenting experiences and health in LGBTQIA+ families from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Supported by APF funding and with collaborator Dr. Qimin Liu at Boston University, Dr. Rodriguez...

2024-10-08 - Assistant Professor Violeta J. Rodriguez has been awarded the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s DP5 Early Independence Award from the NIH Common Fund’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program.  The Early Independence Award is designed for exceptional junior scientists who have recently completed their doctoral degrees, allowing them to bypass traditional postdoctoral training...

2024-09-09 -     Assistant Professor Susu Zhang has received funding under an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) research grant awarded to Digital Promise and UIUC to conduct a project entitled, "Analysis of NAEP Mathematics Process, Outcome, and Survey Data to Understand Test-Taking Behavior and Mathematics Performance of Learners with Disabilities". The National Assessment of Educational...

2024-09-03 - Professor Kimberly Rios, PhD student Alexis Morales, and collaborator Michael Zarate at the University of Texas at El Paso have received a grant from the University of Pennsylvania's Adversarial Collaboration Project. Funded originally by the Koch Foundation (which gave a sub-award to UPenn), the project brings together researchers who have competing/opposing hypotheses...

2024-08-20 - Professor Eleanor Seaton is a Co-Investigator on a grant from the NIH’s National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism examining the etiology of alcohol use among racially-ethnically diverse populations using data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. The team is using a developmentally and culturally informed approach to study gene-environment interaction (G x E)...

2023-08-23 -   The Diversity & Inclusion Committee worked with department leadership over the 2022-23 academic year to continue working towards the goals identified in the 2020-21 Anti-Racism Plan, as well as areas for improvement identified in the 2021-22 Climate Survey. Our Summer Diversity Newsletter describes the work the committee has completed in the past year.  The University of...

2023-04-21 - In the wake of anti-Black racism on the University of Illinois campus and the United States broadly, the Psychology Department Diversity Committee will be hosting a solidarity circle on Wednesday, April 26th at 5 PM in room 32 of the Psychology building. We recognize that our community is hurting, and we hope that by coming together, we can build community and trust in this time of need. This...

2021-05-26 - In Summer 2020, the Psychology Department released its Anti-Racism Action Plan. The Diversity and Inclusion Committee is sharing a report of activities since that time, through May 2021....

2023-02-17 - Flyer created by Keely Dugan  

2023-01-13 - Jas Jacobson is our inaugural recipient of the “Advanced Research Opportunity Honors Fellowship.” This fellowship provides support over three semesters of undergraduate research conducted toward the completion of an honors thesis in psychology.  Jas is a third-year student currently working as a research assistant in the BEAST lab under the advisement of Professor Berenbaum. She previously...

2022-10-08 - This fall, the Psychology Department created two new Fellowships designed to support underrepresented and first-generation college students. The goal is to lessen financial burdens that would preclude talented psychology students from gaining valuable research experience. Each year, one student will be selected for the Advanced Research Opportunity Honors Fellowship. This...

2022-09-06 - The Psychology Department's Diversity Committee held its first anti-racism event of the 2022-2023 school year. It was a significant first step to seeing real change in the field of psychology. The discussion featured the article "Upending Racism in Psychological Science," written by Buchanan et al. (2020) (article linked below). On Wednesday, September 28th, two reading groups...

2022-09-21 - Dr. Seaton gave a talk titled "The Impact of Racism on Black Youth Development" on Monday, October 3rd, at 3:30 pm in Room 142 in the Psychology Building.  Synopsis: Racism is a pervasive and detrimental force that shapes and influences the development and mental health of Black children and adolescents. Dr. Seaton discussed the implications of her research agenda with attention to the...

2022-09-09 - By Sharita Forrest Illinois News Bureau A team of psychologists representing several universities has created an anti-racist training model for psychologists that will prepare them to dismantle racism in society, as opposed to only teaching coping skills to individuals. The team is also calling upon the psychology discipline to acknowledge the racist theories and practices in its history and the...

2022-09-02 - Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is only as meaningful as our action. The Diversity Science Newsletter offers transparency of our efforts to foster the environment we are committed to, and opportunities to celebrate the work our department community!