Monica K
- Research Program Mentor
PhD at University of Maryland
Expertise
multicultural psychology, gender studies and women's issues, dating violence and intimate partner violence, social justice advocacy, anti-racist education
Bio
My name is Dr. Monica Kearney. I am currently a Lecturer (Professional Track Faculty) in the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland. In this role, my main responsibility is to teach courses for undergraduate students, including Multicultural Psychology, Psychology of Women, Psychology of Men and Masculinity, Introduction to Helping Skills, and Counseling Theories and Research. My research and professional interests include the impact of gender roles on ability to recognize warning signs of dating violence, Black women and their body image and dieting behaviors, understanding the barriers for students to engage in social justice advocacy, and training faculty to engage in anti-racist educational practices. In my free time, I like read non-fiction and self-help books, spend time with family including my two dogs (Legend and Merci), watch movies, and productively procrastinate by baking cookies.Project ideas
Increasing positive attitudes and intentions to engage in social justice advocacy
Currently, I am analyzing data from college students to understand the barriers they face in engaging in social justice advocacy. A follow-up to this project would be to develop interventions to address these barriers and increase intentions to engage in social justice in the future. Participation in this project could entail conducting a literature review, analyzing psychological theories on learning, social justice, and overcoming barriers, research project development, participant recruitment, data collection, data analysis, and scientific writing.
"How Can Barbie Not Love Ken?": Social Media Backlash to Progressive Depictions of Women
I recently saw the Barbie movie and was surprised to see discourse online about the lack of romantic connection between Barbie and Ken. This project could analyze social media responses to progressive depictions of women in popular media. Participation in this project could entail conducting a literature review regarding media consumption and reactions, analyzing psychological theories about gender roles and critical media consumption, and the development of a review paper or podcast series.