Teaching about Coping: Using Psychological Science to Support Students’ Mental Health
Discover how to use psychological science to teach coping strategies that support student mental health with Lisa Shin and Sam Sommers from Tufts University.
Samuel R. Sommers, Department Chair and Professor, Tufts University
Lisa M. Shin, Psychology Professor, Tufts University
These are exceptionally challenging times for students, teachers, and human beings more generally. In this webinar, join Lisa Shin and Sam Sommers from Tufts University as they share some of the ideas they have developed together for using psychological science to teach their students strategies for coping with stress and uncertainty. Lisa and Sam will talk about the importance of teaching with humanity, provide examples of how instructors can use lessons from psychology to support student mental health, and share specific assignments they’ve developed to help students put these tips into practice.
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About the speakers
Samuel R. Sommers, Department Chair and Professor, Tufts University
Samuel R. Sommers earned his Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Michigan and has been a professor of psychology at Tufts University since 2003, where he currently serves as Department Chair. He is an experimental social psychologist who studies racism, racial equity, and group diversity. His research explores racial inequities (and efforts to ameliorate them) in real-world domains including higher education, the criminal justice system, and popular media coverage. In recognition of this work, in 2008 he received the Saleem Shah Award for Early Career Excellence from the American Psychology-Law Society. For more details regarding publications, ongoing projects, and media coverage of his research, see his lab website - the Racial Equity & Diversity Lab.
At Tufts, Professor Sommers teaches courses in Introduction to Psychology (PSY 1), Social Psychology (PSY 13), Experimental Psychology (PSY 32), and upper-level seminars in social psychology and psychology and law. In 2007 he won the Lerman-Neubauer Prize for Outstanding Teaching and Advising at Tufts; in 2009 he was named Gerald R. Gill Professor of the Year by the Student Senate. He has written two general audience books: Situations Matter and This is Your Brain on Sports. He is also a co-author of Pearson textbooks for Introductory Psychology and Social Psychology.
Lisa M. Shin, Psychology Professor, Tufts University
Lisa M. Shin earned her Ph.D. in psychology at Harvard University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at The Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. She has been a faculty member at Tufts since 1998.
Dr. Shin's research involves using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) to examine brain function and cognition in patients with anxiety disorders, especially posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The goal of this research is to determine whether brain structures such as the amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus function abnormally and mediate symptoms in patients with PTSD. Dr. Shin and her colleagues also seek to determine the origin of biomarkers for PTSD (e.g., acquired or familial) and whether functional neuroimaging measures can help predict response to treatment.