PsychSessions: Conversations about Teaching N' Stuff

In this episode Eric interviews Deb Briihl from Valdosta State University in Valdosta, GA. They discuss Deb’s longstanding career since 1994, roles at Valdosta State, and her path from coordinating the undergraduate psychology program to teaching various subjects, including a recent flip of her History of Psychology class. Deb shares personal insights about career challenges, the bittersweet aspects of change, and her and her husband's considerations about retirement. They delve into exploring new hobbies, with Deb describing her interest in barbecuing and brewing. The episode closes with a personal anecdote about Deb’s “train kiss” tattoo, symbolizing a tender moment with her husband. [Note. Portions of the show notes were generated by Descript AI.]

On October 14, 2024, Philip Zimbardo passed away at his home in San Francisco, CA, at the age of 91. He was an emeritus faculty member at Stanford University. We pay tribute here at PsychSessions by re-releasing his interview with Garth, originally released as Episode 050 on January 8, 2019.  Original show notes:  In this episode Garth interviews Philip Zimbardo from Stanford University (emeritus) in Stanford, CA. It's a treat to hear Phil discuss how he became such a passionate teacher, with his upbringing, family values about education, and undergraduate/graduate years (Brooklyn College/Yale University). The interplay of his teaching leading to research (think: shyness work) is fascinating, and just wait until you hear about the grade he earned in introductory psychology, and as always, so much more.

In this episode Garth interviews Wind Goodfriend from Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, IA.  Discussing her personal challenges, such as undiagnosed mental health issues and her keen interest in social justice from an early age, Wind reveals how these experiences shaped her career path. She talks about her contributions to psychology education, including designing courses on the psychology of cults and co-authoring textbooks emphasizing mental health stigma and other socially relevant topics. She also highlights her innovative classroom strategies and views on current educational dynamics. They also touch on her upcoming projects, including a documentary series on cults and a book on the psychology of 'The Handmaid's Tale.' This episode offers insights into the intersections of personal narrative, psychology education, and social change. [Note. Portions of the show notes were generated by Descript AI.]

Dr. Krista Fisher is a Young Men’s Health Research Fellow with the newly founded Movember Institute of Men’s Health. We initially discussed Krista’s journey to men’s mental health research, which came after a pivot from doing cancer research. She was motivated to work in men’s mental health after attending a panel by some of the world’s experts in the area, Drs. Zac Seidler and Simon Rice. Since embarking on her doctoral work, Krista has taken a deep dive into the experiences of men’s anxiety. She mentioned becoming interested in this after noticing that the work on men’s depression had grown substantially, but fairly little was understood about men’s anxiety. Her work has resulted in the development of the Resisting, Reckoning, Responding model of men’s anxiety. We also chatted about how her work on the profiles of men experiencing anxiety who interacted with emergency services has implications for how we intervene with men in acute distress. 

Dr. Simon Rice is the Global Director of the Movember Men’s Health Institute and the founder of the Young Men’s Mental Health Research Program and the Elite Athlete Mental Health Research Program at Orygen, the Center for Youth Mental Health in Melbourne, Australia. He is also a Professor and Dame Kate Campbell Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Science at the University of Melbourne.  Simon has significantly influenced the men’s mental health field, beginning with his foundational research on measuring depression in men. We discussed some of his origins, and I discovered that some serendipitous but pivotal moments influenced the trajectory of his career from high school teacher to eventual leader of a global research institute. I loved learning about some of these what Simon called “sliding door” moments. We also discussed his curious approach to his work and how being curious has allowed Simon to study and research a range of different topics, including his work on athlete mental health. Finally, Simon provides some thoughts on some issues that he believes will be important for the field of men’s mental health to address in order to help boys and men. 

In this episode Garth interviews Steven Fein from Williams College in Williamstown, MA. Steve discusses his journey into psychology, his passion for teaching, and his ground-breaking research on audience reactions during presidential debates, as well as stereotypes and prejudice. They also discuss social psychology experiments related to unconscious biases, societal implications of political polarization, and modern research on changing conservative views regarding same-sex marriage and gun control. The importance of social science in public health crises, such as COVID-19, is also highlighted, demonstrating how education and social norms can influence prejudice and public opinion. [Note. Descript AI generated portions of the show notes.]

In this episode Garth interviews Ellen Carpenter from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. The conversation explores various facets of Ellen's professional journey, teaching philosophy, and active role within the STP community. Alongside discussing her career pivot from coaching to academia, Ellen shares insights into innovative teaching methods, the use of AI in education, and the significance of mentorship programs. The episode also delves into her passion for student engagement, administrative roles, and essential psychology curriculum components. Listeners are treated to personal anecdotes, professional achievements, and valuable teaching strategies. [Portions of the show notes were generated by Descript AI.]

In this sidebar, Danae Hudson, vice president for membership of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP), outlines the benefits of STP membership and highlights the mentoring program. This program aims to provide career-related assistance to enhance job performance and satisfaction for members at any career stage. The program director, Amy Hunter matches mentees with experienced mentors based on application responses. Members are encouraged to apply by September 16th through the STP website. [Note. Descript AI generated portions of the show notes.] Music:  Life of Riley Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

In this episode Eric interviews Mary Pritchard from Boise State University in Boise, Idaho. They discuss their long-standing friendship, Mary's career journey, and her dedication to teaching and researching body image and eating disorders. She shares her experiences, from her early struggles with parental expectations to her transition from studying jury deliberation to focusing on body image issues. She also touches on her current responsibilities as Associate Chair, future projects, and the personal fulfillment she finds in her work. The episode wraps up with Mary's reflections on the importance of growth through challenges and the potential future steps in her career. [Note. Portions of these show notes were generated with Descript AI.]

Akash Asif is the director of operations and strategy for the Centre for Suicide Prevention (CSP) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Akash’s journey into suicide prevention work began when he suddenly lost a colleague to suicide. This experience opened his eyes to the number of people in his life experiencing mental health concerns, especially suicidality.  Akash was intimately involved in the development of CSP’s Buddy Up campaign. Buddy Up is a program specifically designed to help men have genuine conversations about their lives which then allows them to connect and provide support for each other. Our conversation was a great opportunity to “look under the hood” of Buddy Up by allowing Akash to help us understand the development of the title Buddy Up, the decisions around the artwork that is core to the program, and why they integrated certain tools (air fresheners and hard hat stickers) into Buddy Up. We also talked about help-seeking versus help-giving and why these terms are important when thinking about designing an intervention for certain guys. Akash also described some current developments in Buddy Up and why he is excited about the future of the program.