WAR AND PEACE LAB
Bernhard Leidner, Ph.D.
Bernhard Leidner, curriculum vitae (last updated on February 15, 2020)
Address:
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
Psychology of Peace and Violence Program
135 Hicks Way, Tobin Hall, Room 639
Amherst, MA 01003
Cell:
Email:
Country of Birth:
Germany
Citizenship:
German
Residency status:
U.S. Permanent Residency (‘green card’)
Hello, I'm Berni!
After pursuing my Ph.D. in Social Psychology at The New School for Social Research and doing a brief postdoc at the University of California, Davis, I joined the Psychology of Peace and Violence Program at UMass in summer 2011.
I consider myself a social and political psychologist, for my scholarly interest is in processes of social identification and intergroup relations, primarily in the context of large social categories such as nations and ethnic groups. Specifically, my research is at the cross-road of the social psychological areas of norms and morality (e.g., moral disengagement in response to ingroup wrongdoings) and justice (e.g., reparations after ingroup wrongdoings; conflict resolution). I am currently interested in the psychological underpinnings of international justice (e.g. criminal tribunals, truth commissions) as well as the biopsychological consequences of ingroup-committed violence (stress, health).
Intergroup conflict, violence, and peace
Justice
Conflict resolution and reconciliation
Morality, moral disengagement and morality shifting
Collective/social identity
Group processes and intergroup relations
RESEARCH INTERESTS
EDUCATION
2007-2010
The New School for Social Research, NY, USA
Ph.D. in Cognitive, Social, and Developmental Psychology
Advisor: Emanuele Castano
Dissertation Title: Morality shifting in the context of collective violence
2006-2007
The New School for Social Research, NY, USA
Advanced M.A. in General Psychology
Advisor: Emanuele Castano
Summer 2006
Stanford University, CA, USA
Virtual Summer Institute for Political Psychology
2002-2006
Free University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Diploma (German equivalent to M.A.) in Psychology
Advisor: Bettina Hannover
ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS
2011-
Assistant Professor, Psychology of Peace and Violence Program, Department of Psychology
University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA
2010-2011
Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Psychology
University of California, Davis, CA, USA
2009-2010
Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Department of Psychology
The New School for Social Research, NY, USA
HONORS AND AWARDS
2014
Exceptional Merit Award (UMass Amherst, university-wide award)
2013
Association for Psychological Science (APS) Rising Star Award
2009
SPSP Diversity Fund Award
2008-2009
NSF Facilitation Award for Scientists and Engineers with Disabilities
GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS
2016-2019
National Science Foundation (NSF BCS-1628458), Collaborative NSF-BSF Proposal: How Past Collective Trauma of Suffering and Perpetrating Intergroup Violence Can Facilitate or Prevent Intergroup Violence in the Present, Principal investigator, total of $654,583 ($444,583 from NSF, $210,000 from the United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation) (awarded)
2013-2017
National Science Foundation (NSF BCS-1324097), Approaches to the Aftermath of Intergroup Violence: Effects of Impunity, Trials, and Truth Commissions on Intergroup Peace and Reconciliation Between Victims and Perpetrators, Principal investigator, $374,875 (awarded)
2013-2015
American Psychological Foundation (APF), From the Laboratory to Field-Experimental Interventions: Understanding and Improving the Justice Discourse in Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Resolution, Principal investigator, $17,337.50 (awarded)
2013-2015
International Peace Research Association Foundation (IPRAF), Understanding and Alleviating Competitive Victimhood to Promote Intergroup Reconciliation: A Needs-Based Intervention to Counter the Effects of Fear of Loss of Third-Party Support on Competitive Victimhood, Principal investigator, $4,000 (awarded)
2012-2014
Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), Understanding and Alleviating Competitive Victimhood to Promote Intergroup Reconciliation: A Needs-Based Intervention to Counter the Effects of Fear of Loss of Third-Party Support on Competitive Victimhood, Principal investigator, $2,000 (awarded)
Honors Commonwealth College of Massachusetts, Use the Stick or the Carrot to Resolve International Conflict? – The Effects of American Threats to Punish, or Offers to Reward, Israel to Compromise Over Peace Deals in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Co-principal investigator, $1,000 (awarded)
2014
2012-2013
Service-Learning Faculty Fellowship, UMass Amherst, $1,000 (awarded)
2014
Honors Commonwealth College of Massachusetts, Self or no-self? When, how, and for whom can a Buddhist-constructivist-scientific view of the self increase human ethics and compassion?, Co-principal investigator, $1,000 (awarded)
2009-2011
Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, When We Torture – Moral and Pragmatic Arguments For and Against Torture, and Their Effect on Public Support For Redressing Past and Preventing Future Injustice, Co-principal investigator, $31,025 (awarded)
2008-2009
Dissertation Fellowship, The New School for Social Research, $10,000 (awarded)
2008
Psychology and Social Justice (PASJ) Conference 2008, Diversity Committee, The New School for Social Research, Co-organizer, $2,000 (awarded)
2006-2009
Prize Fellowship, The New School for Social Research, $100,000 (awarded)
2006-2008
Stipend for young scientists, Gottlieb Daimler- und Carl Benz-Foundation (Germany), $96,000 (awarded)
REFEREED PUBLICATIONS
* indicates my students/mentees
** authors share first authorship and order was determined randomly
Selvanathan, H. P.*, & Leidner, B. (in press). Modes of ingroup identification and notions of justice provide distinct pathways to normative and nonnormative collective action. Journal of Conflict Resolution.
McLamore, Q. J.*, Adelman, L.*, & Leidner, B. (2019). Challenging traditional narratives of intractable conflict: Focusing on both sides’ suffering decreases ingroup glorification among Jewish Israelis and Americans. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Braun, E., Gusy, B., Leidner, B., & Hannover, B. (2008). Competence-oriented academic course evaluation. The Berlin Evaluation Instrument for Self-reported Student Competencies (BEvaKomp). Diagnostica, 54(1), 30-43.
HANDBOOK CHAPTERS
BOOK CHAPTERS
Li, M.*, & Leidner, B. (2019). Understanding Intergroup Violence and Its Aftermath from Perpetrator and Victim Perspectives. To appear in L. S. Newman (Ed.), Why are they doing this to us? The social psychology of genocide and extreme intergroup violence. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Adelman, L.*, Orazani, S. N.*, & Leidner, B. (2017). Psychological contributions to philosophy: The cases of Just War Theory and nonviolence. To appear in F. Demont (Ed.), Peace & the Morality of Armed Conflict. New York, NY: Routledge.
Leidner, B. (2013). Dehumanisierung [Dehumanization]. In Hartmut Häcker (Ed.), Dorsch Psychologisches Wörterbuch. [Dorsch Psychological Encyclopedia] Bern, Switzerland: Huber.
Leidner, B., & Braun, E. (2007). Academic course evaluation: Competencies versus satisfaction. In S. Preiser, M. Kraemer, & K. Brusdeylins (Eds.), Psychology didactics and evaluation VI (pp. 309-316). Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.
INVITED PRESENTATIONS
Leidner, B. (February 2017). International (In-)Justice. Talk given at the Psychology & Law preconference of the 18th Annual Convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), San Antonio, TX, USA.
Leidner, B. (September 2012). Morality and Justice in the Context of Intergroup Violence. Talk given at the University of Connecticut Psychology Speaker Series, Storrs, CO, USA.
Leidner, B. (October 2008). Participation in a panel discussion on the topic „Deutschlands Zukunft als exzellenter Standort fuer Nachwuchswissenschaftler“ [Germany’s future as an excellent place for young scientists] at the congress „Lust auf wissenschaftliche Karriere in Deutschland! Wege, Foerderungen und Netzwerke im Ueberblick“ [Motivated for an academic career in Germany! Paths, fellowships and networks in brief], organized by RWTH Aachen and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Berlin, Germany.
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS AND SYMPOSIA
Leidner, B. (July 2018). Intergroup Conflict As a Source of Meaning and Its Implications for Conflict (De-)Escalation. Talk given at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP), San Antonio, TX, USA.
Leidner, B. (June 2018). The Role of Retributive Justice and the Use of International Criminal Tribunal in Post-conflict Reconciliation. Talk given at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Leidner, B. (March 2018). Intergroup Conflict Self-Perpetuates via Meaning: Exposure to Intergroup Conflict Increases Meaning and Fuels a Desire for Further Conflict. Talk given at the 19th Annual Convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Atlanta, GA, USA.
Li, M.*, & Leidner, B. (March 2018). Challenges and Advances in Research on Intergroup Violence. Symposium chaired the 19th Annual Convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Atlanta, GA, USA.
Leidner, B. & Li, M.* (August 2015). How to (re-)build human rights consciousness and behavior in post-conflict societies. Talk given at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association (APA), Toronto, Canada.
Leidner, B. (May 2015). Challenges and opportunities for intergroup reconciliation: An integration of victim and perpetrator perspectives from multiple countries. Symposium chaired at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Association of Psychological Science (APS), New York, NY, USA.
Leidner, B., Li, M.*, & Kardos, P.* (April 2015). Healthy and unhealthy wars: The effects of ingroup-committed violence on stress and health. Talk given at the Society for Australasian Social Psychology (SASP) and Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) Small Group Meeting on Collective Harm-doing, Brisbane, Australia.
Leidner, B. & Li, M.* (July 2014). Conflict resolution and reconciliation from victim and perpetrator perspective: How ingroup victimization and ingroup transgressions shape people’s willingness to reconcile through demands for retributive and restorative justice, and support for future violence. Talk given at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP), Rome, Italy.
Leidner, B., Castano, E., & Kardos, P.* (July 2014). Morality’s potential to motivate collective action and social change. Talk given at the 17th General Meeting of the European Association of Social Psychology (EASP), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Li, M.*, & Leidner, B. (February 2014). Conflict resolution and reconciliation from victim and perpetrator perspective. Poster presented at the 15th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Austin, TX, USA.
Leidner, B., & Castano, E. (January 2013). The great moral divide: Investigations of the malleability of moral foundations and judgments. Talk given at the 14th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), New Orleans, LA, USA.
Leidner, B., Castano, E., & Ginges, J. (September 2012). Dehumanization, retributive and restorative justice, and aggressive versus diplomatic intergroup conflict resolution strategies. Talk given at the European Association of Social Psychology (EASP) Small Group Meeting on Intergroup Reconciliation, Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Leidner, B., Castano, E., & Ginges, J. (July 2012). Perceived outgroup sentience and notions of justice in intergroup conflict. Talk given at the 35th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP), Chicago, IL, USA.
Leidner, B., & Castano, E. (February 2009). Morality shifting. Poster presented at the 10th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Tampa, FL, USA.
Leidner, B., & Braun, E. (July 2008). Academic course evaluation: Competences versus satisfaction. Talk given at the XXIX. International Congress of Psychology (ICP), Berlin, Germany.
Leidner, B., Slawuta, P., & Castano, E. (June 2008). Justice for All! But for an outgroup we wronged? – Punishment and reparations in the context of collective wrongdoings. Talk given at the 11th Jena Workshop on Intergroup Processes, Jena, Germany.
Leidner, B., Slawuta, P., & Castano, E. (June 2008). From national glorification through moral disengagement to appraisals of justice. Poster presented at the 15th General Meeting of the European Association of Experimental Social Psychology (EAESP), Opatija, Croatia.
Leidner, B., Slawuta, P., & Castano, E. (June 2008). Denying human nature to victims of the ingroup. Talk given at the European Association for Experimental Social Psychology’s (EAESP) Small Group Meeting on Dehumanization: Determinants and Consequences of Perceiving Others as Less Than Humans, Kazimierz Dolny, Poland.
Leidner, B., Slawuta, P., & Castano, E. (February 2008). The language of moral disengagement: How individuals communicate about collective misdeeds. Poster presented at the 9th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Albuquerque, NM, USA.
Leidner, B., Slawuta, P., & Castano, E. (October 2007). Moral disengagement strategies and group-based emotions. Talk given at the 2007 Society of Experimental Social Psychology (SESP) Conference, Chicago, IL, USA.
Leidner, B., Slawuta, P., & Castano, E. (April 2007). From national glorification through moral disengagement to appraisals of justice. Poster presented at the Psychology and Social Justice (PASJ) Conference 2007, New York, NY, USA.
Leidner, B., & Castano, E. (January 2007). Moral disengagement in post-violent situations. Poster presented at the 2007 SPSP Group Processes and Intergroup Relations Preconference of the 8th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Memphis, TN, USA.
Leidner, B., & Braun, E. (May 2006). Lehrveranstaltungsevaluation: Kompetenzen versus Zufriedenheit. [Academic Course Evaluation: Competencies Versus Satisfaction] Paper presented at the 6. Fachtagung fuer Psychologiedidaktik und Evaluation [6th symposium on psychology didactics and evaluation], Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
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Advanced Social Psychology (graduate lecture). Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Fall 2018.
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Advancing Diversity in Research and Practice (undergraduate seminar). Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Fall 2018.
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Research Methods (graduate course). Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Spring 2016, Spring 2017
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Roots of Conflict (graduate course). Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Fall 2016
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Advanced Data Analysis (graduate course). Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Spring 2015
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The Psychology of International Justice (graduate seminar). Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Spring 2014
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Introduction to Social Psychology (undergraduate lecture). Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015
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International Justice in the Age of Global Conflict (undergraduate seminar). Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013
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Introduction to Statistics and Research Design (graduate lecture). Department of Psychology, The New School for Social Research, Fall 2010
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Statistics 3 (graduate lecture). Department of Psychology, The New School for Social Research, Spring 2010
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Statistics 2 (graduate lecture). Department of Psychology, The New School for Social Research, Fall 2009
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Statistics 1 (graduate lecture). Department of Psychology, The New School for Social Research, Fall 2009
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Psychology of Ethnic Conflict (undergraduate seminar). Eugene Lang College, The New School for Liberal Arts, Spring 2009
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Psychology of Prejudice (undergraduate seminar). Eugene Lang College, The New School for Liberal Arts, Fall 2008
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Evaluation and Quality Assurance (undergraduate lecture). Department of Educational Science and Psychology, Free University of Berlin, Spring 2006.
MENTORING
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Primary Advisor/Committee Chair for three UMass graduate students, 2012-present
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Co-Committee Chair for one UMass graduate student, 2013-present
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Secondary Advisor/Committee Member for two UMass graduate students, 2012-present
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Committee Member for one UMass graduate student, 2012-present
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Honors Thesis Supervisor/Committee Chair for three UMass undergraduate (honors) students, 2012-2013 (won the department’s Outstanding Thesis Award), 2013-2014, 2016-2017
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Honors Thesis Reader/Committee Member for one UMass undergraduate (honors) student, spring 2012
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Undergraduate Research Assistant Supervisor for ~35 UMass and three Five Colleges undergraduate students, 2011-present
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Practicum Supervisor for one UMass undergraduate student, spring 2013
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND SERVICE WITHIN THE UNIVERSITY
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Committee Member, Diversity Committee, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2015-present
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Committee Member, Honors Advisory Committee, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2011-2015
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Co-facilitator of bi-weekly meetings of the Psychology of Peace and Violence concentration, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2011-present
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Committee Member, Comprehensive Exam Committee, University of Massachusetts Amherst, spring 2012-present
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Committee Member, Social Psychology Search Committee, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2014-2015
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Committee Member, Social Psychology Search Committee, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2013-2014
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Committee Member, Graduate Admissions Committee, University of Massachusetts Amherst, spring 2012, spring 2014, spring 2015, spring 2016
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Talk describing my and my division’s research in the departmental graduate student orientation, fall 2015
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Talk describing my and my division’s research in the departmental Honors Seminar, fall 2013, fall 2014
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Talk describing my and my division’s research in the departmental Residential Academic Programs (RAP) Seminar for psychology majors, fall 2013
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Presentation at a panel on the use of Amazon Mechanical Turk for social scientists, convened by the Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR) at UMass (university-wide)
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Reviewer of research grant applications to the Commonwealth Honors College (university-wide), 2013, 2014, 2015
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Advisor to the Bachelor’s Degree with Individual Concentration (BDIC; university-wide) Program, 2012-2013
NATIONAL (U.S.) PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND SERVICE
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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (PSPB) Board of Consulting Editors, Member/Consulting Editor, 2016-present
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Ad hoc Reviewer for: National Science Foundation, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Social Psychological and Personality Science, Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, Political Psychology, American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Social Issues, British Journal of Social Psychology, European Journal of Social Psychology, Basic and Applied Social Psychology, Journal of Social and Political Psychology, Self & Identity, Social Psychology, Social Neuroscience, PLOSone, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, New School Psychology Bulletin, Psychologica Belgica, African Journal of Business Management, 2006-present
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Reviewer for the 2014, 2015, and 2016 conventions of the American Psychological Association (APA), Division 9 (Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, SPSSI)
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Reviewer, Graduate Student Travel Award competition for the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), summer 2015
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Reviewer for the APA Science Directorate’s Dissertation Research Award, fall 2014, fall 2015
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Workshop on Amazon Mechanical Turk and Qualtrics for researchers, organized nation-wide through the Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR), summer 2014, summer 2015
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Invited talk on implications of conflict research for Israeli-Palestinian policies, given at the leadership workshop of J Street U, November 9, 2013
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Invited talk given at the University of Connecticut Psychology Speaker Series, Storrs, CO, USA, September 2012
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Committee Member, Honors Thesis Committee for Michael Pasek, Bates College, spring 2012
INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND SERVICE
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British Journal of Social Psychology (BJSP) Board of Consultants, Member/Consultant, 2014-present
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Expert consultant for The Hague Institute for Global Justice, The Hague, The Netherlands; consulted on their project entitled “An Oral History Approach to Balkan Memories on War, Peace, and Justice,” attempting to create and record collective memories and narratives of the Balkan wars in countries of the former Yugoslavia, January 2013
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Invited for a panel discussion on the topic „Deutschlands Zukunft als exzellenter Standort fuer Nachwuchswissenschaftler“ [Germany’s future as an excellent place for young scientists] at the congress „Lust auf wissenschaftliche Karriere in Deutschland! Wege, Foerderungen und Netzwerke im Ueberblick“ [Motivated for an academic career in Germany! Paths, fellowships and networks in brief], organized by RWTH Aachen and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Berlin, Germany, October 2008
MEDIA ATTENTION
November 2013. Interview in Voice of America.
October-December 2013. Leidner, Tropp, & Lickel (2013) featured in: American Psychological Association (APA) Monitor, Eureka! Science News, Medical Daily, Phys – News and Articles on Science and Technology, Science Codex.
November 2013. Interview in Voice of America.
October-December 2013. Leidner, Tropp, & Lickel (2013) featured in: American Psychological Association (APA) Monitor, Eureka! Science News, Medical Daily, Phys – News and Articles on Science and Technology, Science Codex.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
2011- European Association of Social Psychology (EASP)
2011- Psychologists for Social Responsibility (PsySR)
2009- International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP)
2009- Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI)
2007- Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP)
LANGUAGES
German (first language)
English (fluent)
French (basic)
Latin (basic)
SKILLS
Statistics & Data Analysis:
SAS
Mplus
SPSS
AMOS
Norm
Coh-Metrix
LIWC
AcKnowledge
Experiment Programming:
DirectRT
MediaLab
InQuisit
Qualtrics
SurveyGizmo
SurveyMonkey
WebQuest
QuestionPro
Web programming:
HTML
JavaScript
php
MySQL
Office & Organization:
MS Office
MS
Project Merlin
REFEREES
Prof. Emanuele Castano
Department of Psychology, The New School for Social Research, 80 Fifth Avenue, Room 702, New York, NY, USA.
Phone: 1-(212)-229-5727 Ext. 3098
Email: CastanoE@newschool.edu
Prof. Roger Giner-Sorolla
Department of Psychology, Keynes College, University of Kent, Room Keynes A2.01, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NP, UK.
Phone: 44-(1227)-823085
Email: R.S.Giner-Sorolla@kent.ac.uk
Prof. Brian Lickel
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 135 Hicks Way, Room 632, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
Phone: 1-(413)-577-0493
Email: BLickel@psych.umass.edu
Additional references available from:
Prof. Nilanjana Dasgupta
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 135 Hicks Way, Room 635, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
Phone: 1-(413)-545-0049
Email: dasgupta@psych.umass.edu
Prof. Bettina Hannover
Department of Educational Science and Psychology, Free University of Berlin, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, Room JK 24/222b, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
Phone: 49-(30)-838-56950
Email: Bettina.Hannover@fu-berlin.de
Prof. Ronnie Janoff-Bulman
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 135 Hicks Way, Room 628, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
Phone: 1-(413)-545-0264
Email: janbul@psych.umass.edu
Prof. Stephen Loughnan
School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Room S2 (7GS), Edinburgh, EH1 2QL, Scotland, UK.
Phone: 44-(131)-650-9861
Email: steve.loughnan@ed.ac.uk