Critical Social/Personality Psychology

The Critical Social/Personality Program (CSP) at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York is recognized for its intellectual commitments to history, theory, multiple methodologies, interdisciplinarity, and research for social action. Our students learn to understand their work in historical, social, and political contexts; to be literate in a wide range of epistemological and methodological traditions, including qualitative and quantitative approaches to research; and to become responsible advocates for change within the discipline of psychology, our local communities, policy-making sites, and larger social movements. Students prepare for post-graduate work in policy, public scholarship, university life, organizing, advocacy, and teaching. Our graduates are well-placed in academic positions, foundations, community organizations, and public policy think tanks.

More About Critical Social/Personality Psychology

View training area faculty

Contact Us

Michelle Fine
Training Area Head and Distinguished Professor
CUNY Graduate Center
Email: mfine@gc.cuny.edu
Phone: (212) 817-8724

Program Description

At the center of this work is our strong, interdisciplinary, and collaborative community cultivated at the intersection of the academy and public life. We inhabit many communities – those concerned with social and environmental justice, place and public life, identity, and community. We are committed to the idea that, as psychologists, our social inquiry can contribute to social justice and human welfare. By doing so, we hope to contribute to a vital and engaged social psychology.

Many faculty at the Graduate Center also serve as faculty at other CUNY campuses (e.g., Hunter, Queens, Brooklyn, College of Staten Island, Kingsborough Community College, and John Jay College of Criminal Justice). They draw from a number of disciplines and interdisciplinary programs (e.g., anthropology, sociology, education, social work, geography, American studies, gender/women’s studies, and Africana studies). In addition, our program often benefits from visiting faculty from other universities in the USA and abroad. All doctoral and visiting faculty are encouraged to participate fully in the life of the program as advisors, teachers, and research supervisors for Ph.D. students.

From the first-year forward, students engage in intensive studies and collaborations with faculty and students from other cohorts. Doctoral students are invited to become actively involved in all phases of faculty research. They are encouraged to develop their own research foci and work with several faculty members to enjoy a diverse range of research experiences. Most students are also deeply involved with our community, community-based organizations, and social movements within and beyond CUNY and New York City.

Our program is designed so that students will develop deep discipline-based knowledge and skills along with a broad, interdisciplinary exposure to social science history, theory, and diverse methodologies. Toward this end, students have the opportunity to take courses across psychology as well as in other disciplines represented at the Graduate Center (e.g., history, sociology, English, geography, criminal justice, urban education, social welfare, public health, anthropology, women’s studies); enroll in courses at several other universities via the Graduate Center’s consortia arrangement with other universities in New York City (see the Graduate Center Student Handbook); and/or pursue concentrations that include qualitative methods, quantitative methods, health psychology, Women’s Studies, Africana Studies, New Media Studies, and/or take courses at the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies.

Doctoral candidates at the CUNY Graduate Center can gain certification in such interdisciplinary areas as Women’s Studies and Advanced Social Science Methods as well as pursue the Qualitative and Quantitative Methods Concentrations. They can also participate in Graduate Center-based research centers such as: the Center for Human Environments (CHE), the Center for Urban Education, the Center for Lesbian/Gay/Queer Studies (CLAGS), the Center of African American and Caribbean Diaspora (IRADAC), Interactive Technology and Pedagogy, and the New Media Lab.

Critical Colloquium Series

Location

In-Person:
The Hub (6304.01) on the 6th Floor of CUNY Graduate Center.

Virtual:
Zoom: https://jjay-cuny.zoom.us/j/89658379264?pwd=bFc5YWJoTUk3TGFjbmFKcjhESE0vZz09
Meeting ID: 896 5837 9264
Passcode: 246073

Welcome and Committees

Date: February 1, 2023
Time: 11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Mode: (In-person/hybrid) 

First-year History Presentations 

Date: February 8, 2023
Time: 11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Mode: (in-person/ hybrid) 
Speakers: First-year Cohort

The Tipuna Project: Intergenerational Healing, Settler Accountability + Decolonizing PAR in Aotearoa

Date: February 13, 2023 
Time: 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Mode: Virtual 
Speakers: Teah Anna Lee Carlson, Rachel Jane Liebert, and Brittany Brathwaite

Student Working Group

Date: March 1, 2023
Time: 11:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. 
Mode: Virtual

Bearing Unbearable Sensualities

Date: March 9, 2023
Time: 5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Mode: (In-person/hybrid)
Speakers: Rosemarie Roberts, with Michael Williams and Imani Kai Johnson as Discussants

Advanced/Recent Graduate Panel

Date: March 15, 2023
Time: 11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Mode: Virtual
Speakers: Advanced Students and Recent Graduates from CSP

Student Working Group

Date: March 22, 2023
Time: 11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Mode: Virtual 

Radical Hope

Date: March 30, 2023
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Mode: (In-person/hybrid)
Speakers: Helen Neville in conversation with Natalia Lara Gonzalez and Britton William

Good Science: Psychological Inquiry as Everyday Moral Practice

Date: April 19, 2023
Time: 11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Mode: (In-person/hybrid)
Speakers: Joshua Clegg, with Donald Brown and Elizabeth Carlin as Discussants

Murder Town USA: Homicide, Structural Violence, and Activism in Wilmington

Date: April 26, 2023
Time: 11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Mode: (In-person/hybrid) 
Speakers: Yasser Payne, with Bill Cross and Britney Moreira as Discussants

Student Working Group

Date: May 3, 2023
Time: 11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. 
Mode: Virtual

End of Year Social

Date: May 10, 2023
Time: 11:45 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. 
Mode: In-person

Download Timeline Flier (PDF)

Critical Social/Personality and Environmental Psychology Faculty

Luis Barrios - Professor -  profile photo

Luis Barrios

Professor

  • Psychology

Professor

  • Social Welfare
image of melissa checker

Melissa Checker

Professor

  • Anthropology

Professor

  • Earth and Environmental Sciences
Kandice Chuh faculty

Kandice Chuh

Professor

  • English

Professor

  • Psychology

Professor

  • Liberal Studies

Professor

  • American Studies

Professor

  • Africana Studies
Colette Daiute headshot faculty

Colette Daiute

Professor

  • Urban Education

Professor

  • Educational Psychology

Professor

  • Psychology

Professor

  • Interactive Technology and Pedagogy
Dana Ain Davis - Professor -  profile photo

Dana-Ain Davis

Professor

  • Anthropology

Professor

  • Psychology

Director and Professor

  • Women's and Gender Studies

Director

  • Center for the Study of Women and Society
Headshot of Michelle Fine

Michelle Fine

Distinguished Professor

  • Urban Education

Distinguished Professor

  • Psychology

Distinguished Professor

  • Liberal Studies

Distinguished Professor

  • Women's and Gender Studies

Distinguished Professor

  • American Studies
Nicholas Freudenberg - Distinguished Professor -  profile photo

Nicholas Freudenberg

Distinguished Professor

  • Psychology

Distinguished Professor

  • Social Welfare

Distinguished Professor

  • Africana Studies
Roger Hart photo faculty

Roger Hart

Professor

  • Psychology

Professor

  • Social Welfare

Professor

  • Earth and Environmental Sciences

Director

  • Center for Human Environments
Faculty Profile Photo

Tarry Hum

Professor

  • Psychology

Professor

  • International Migration Studies

Professor

  • Earth and Environmental Sciences
Cindi Katz faculty photo

Cindi Katz

Professor

  • Earth and Environmental Sciences

Professor

  • Psychology

Professor

  • American Studies

Professor

  • Women's and Gender Studies

Deputy Executive Officer

  • Earth and Environmental Sciences
Hosu Kim

Hosu Kim

Associate Professor

  • Psychology
Setha Low headshot faculty

Setha Low

Distinguished Professor

  • Psychology

Distinguished Professor

  • Earth and Environmental Sciences

Distinguished Professor

  • Anthropology

Distinguished Professor

  • Women's and Gender Studies
Wendy Luttrell

Wendy Luttrell

Executive Officer and Professor

  • Urban Education

Professor

  • Psychology

Professor

  • Sociology

Professor

  • Women's and Gender Studies
Jeff Maskovsky - Professor -  profile photo

Jeff Maskovsky

Executive Officer and Professor

  • Anthropology

Professor

  • Psychology
Headshot: Brett Stoudt

Brett Stoudt

Assistant Professor and Training Area Head

  • Psychology

Assistant Professor

  • Social Welfare
Celina Su - Professor -  profile photo

Celina Su

Professor

  • Psychology

Professor

  • Urban Education

Professor

  • Earth and Environmental Sciences
Deborah Tolman - Professor -  profile photo

Deborah Tolman

Professor

  • Psychology

Professor

  • Social Welfare

Professor

  • Women's and Gender Studies
Mar’a Elena Torre - Research Scientist -  profile photo

Maria Elena Torre

Research Scientist

  • Psychology

Director and Co-Founder, The Public Science Project

  • Urban Education