Academics
Faculty
Jeffrey B. Adams
Department Chair
Associate Professor of Psychology
A.B. Gordon College; M.A., Ph.D. State University of New York at Buffalo
Courses Taught: At the undergraduate level - General Psychology; Psychological Statistics; Social Psychology; Psychology of Religion; History and Issues. At the graduate level - Advanced Social Psychology
Areas of Expertise: The relationship between religion and spirituality; psychological and religious conceptions of maturity; the relationship between cognitive development and religious apostasy
Recent Scholarly Achievements: Dr. Adams and Dr. Miller coauthored "Bridging Psychology's Scientist vs. Practioner Divide: Fruits of a Twenty Year Dialogue," published in The Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology (fall of 2008). Dr. Adams will be presenting at a week-long colloquium in California in the summer of 2009 called Substantially Catholic. This seminar offers faculty throughout the U.S. an opportunity to discuss issues encountered within their classrooms. Dr. Adams' presentations will include: "I'm Spiritual, not Religious." Reflections on the Movement Toward Rejecting Religion; "Don't you Trust Me?" Personal Integrity vs. Situational Temptation and a variety of other lectures. In May 2007, Dr. Adams presented at "Mental Health Response to the Virginia Tech Tragedy," a community conversation held at Saint Michael's College.
Outside Saint Michael's: Dr. Adams enjoys running, golf, karate and mystery novels.
Learn more about Dr. Adams in his faculty spotlight.
Campus Office
Saint Edmund’s Hall 202B
Phone: 802.654.2473
Box 244
E-mail: jadams@smcvt.edu
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Susan Kuntz
Professor of Psychology
B.A. Albion College; M.A. University of Vermont; Ph.D. Syracuse University
View Dr. Kuntz's Curriculum Vitae
Courses Taught: Adolescent Development; Adult Development and Aging; Educational Psychology; History and Issues in Psychology
Areas of Expertise: Qualitative methodology, narrative research, educational research, and developmental aspects of aging. Dr. Kuntz's undergraduate degree is in Modern Languages-Spanish, and her master’s in education research. Her doctoral concentration was in teaching, curriculum and educational psychology.
Recent Scholarly Achievements: In 2008, Dr. Kuntz earned the Saint Michael's top teaching honor, the Joanne Rathgeb Teaching Award. Her recently published book The Story of Alpha: 25 years of Reculturing (University of North Carolina Press) describes what students want in a good teacher. Dr. Kuntz, together with colleague Dr. Carey Kaplan, professor of English, published the article "You can't be old before you're young" in Feminist Teacher (January 2008).
On Teaching and Research: Dr. Kuntz values the teacher-student interactions at Saint Michael's, and the chance to work with students in a research setting on a topic of interest. She also likes to work with community partners in designing educational and research opportunities for students in local settings.
Outside Saint Michael's: Dr. Kuntz enjoys yoga, meditation, swimming, and biking.
Learn more about Dr. Kuntz in her faculty spotlight.
Campus Office
Saint Edmund’s Hall 210
Phone: 802.654.2269
Box 244
E-mail: skuntz@smcvt.edu
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Sharon Lamb
Professor of Psychology
B.A. Lawrence University; Ed.M., Ed.D. Harvard University
Dr. Lamb's undergraduate background is in English and music (vocal performance). At Harvard she specialized in counseling and consulting psychology and human development in the Graduate School of Education. Her research interests are girls’ development, blame and responsibility, and sexual abuse and victimization. Her courses include, Gender issues in Psychology, Theories of Personality, Emotions and Emotional Development, and the department’s Internship Practicum
Campus Office
Saint Edmund’s Hall 125
Phone: 802.654.2638
Box 244
E-mail: slamb@smcvt.edu
Personal Web site: http1://academics.smcvt.edu/slamb/
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Ronald B. Miller
Professor of Psychology
B.A., Oberlin College; Ph.D. University of Vermont
Dr. Miller’s undergraduate degree is in philosophy, and his graduate concentration was clinical psychology. His research interests are the philosophy of psychology and the theories of psychotherapy. His courses include Abnormal Psychology, Personality Theories, Systems of Psychotherapy, Peace Psychology and graduate courses on clinical intervention and intensive psychotherapy.
Campus Office
Saint Edmund’s Hall 202A
Phone: 802.654.2288
Box 244
E-mail: rmiller@smcvt.edu
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David Boynton
Associate Professor of Psychology
B.A., Ph.D. University of Maine
View Dr. Boynton's Curriculum Vitae
Courses Taught: Cognitive Psychology; Learning Psycholgy; History of Psychology; Statistics
Areas of Expertise: Judgment and decision making; reasoning; problem solving; intuition; consciousness; and connectionist models of cognition.
Recent Scholarly Achievements: Dr. Boynton served as associate editor of the Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association (2008). In 2006, he published the article, "The gambler’s fallacy effect" in The Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics.
On Teaching and Research: Saint Michael's students and Dr. Boynton's colleagues continually cause him to reconsider what constitutes a valuable research question, in both a scientific and humanistic sense. He feels the most important course he teaches is Statistics, because statistical and probabilistic thinking are invaluable tools for becoming an informed citizen.
Outside Saint Michael's: Dr. Boynton enjoys playing the guitar and spending time with his family.
Campus Office
Saint Edmund’s Hall 208
Phone: 802.654.2641
Box 244
E-mail: dboynton@smcvt.edu
Personal Web site: http1://academics.smcvt.edu/dboynton/
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David Landers
Visiting Associate Professor of Psychology
B.A. Alma College; M.A. Michigan State University; Ph.D. Wayne State University
Courses Taught: Practicum; Sports Psychology; Theories of Counseling; Men & Masculinities
Areas of Expertise: Academic achievement and gender academic achievement of athletes; mentoring; advising men's issues
Recent Scholarly Achievements: Dr. Landers was featured on Vermont Public Radio discussing male education (April 2008). He presented a workshop on teens and mental health as part of the Ninth Annual Vermont School and Admissions Counselors Workshop organized by the Consortium of Vermont Colleges Professional Development Committee (January 2007).
On Teaching and Research: Dr. Landers says that research continually reinforces what he teaches- whether that is his research or the research of colleagues in the field. Prior to teaching in the psychology department at Saint Michael's, Dr. Landers served for 23 years as the director of the Student Resource Center and one of the personal counselors at the college. He currently is the advisor to both the Psychology Club and Psi Chi – the National Honor Society in Psychology.
Outside Saint Michael's: Dr. Landers enjoys kayaking, biking, skiing, snowshoeing, photography and growing roses.
Learn more about Dr. Landers in his faculty spotlight.
Campus Office
Saint Edmund’s Hall 217D
Phone: 802.654.2817
Box 157
E-Mail: dlanders@smcvt.edu
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Renee L. Carrico
Assistant Professor of Psychology
B.S. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; M.S., Ph.D. University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Dr. Carrico's work focuses on the perceptual-motor and cognitive development of infants and young children. From the development of infant reaching to cognition/action resource conflicts in toddlers, this research reflects her interest in the ways that children use knowledge and perceptions to guide their actions in the world. Her courses include Research Methods, Child Development, The Thinking Child, and Children & Media."
Campus Office
Saint Edmund’s Hall 218
Phone: 802.654.2383
Box 399
E-mail: rcarrico@smcvt.edu
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Ari Kirshenbaum
Assistant Professor of Psychology
B.A. University of Colorado; M.A., Ph.D. University of Montana
View Dr. Kirshenbaum's Curriculum Vitae
Courses Taught: Drugs and Behavior; Psychology of Learning; Intro to Psychology; Research Methods; Psychopharmacology
Areas of Expertise: Substance dependence, in particular neural and behavioral sensitization to psychomotor stimulant
Recent Scholarly Achievements: Dr. Kirshenbaum had his article, "A quantitative review of the ubiquitous relapse curve," accepted for publication in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment (2008). He presented an abstract of a paper on nicotine administration, co-authored with two students, at the International Study Group Investigating Drugs as Reinforcers (August 2007).
On Teaching and Research: Dr. Kirshenbaum is the principle investigator in the Animal Behavior Laboratory at Saint Michael’s College. After completing his dissertation in behavioral science, Dr. Kirshenbaum conducted research at NASA’s Ames Research Center and in private industry. At the University of Vermont’s College of Medicine, his post-doctoral research fellowship focused on opiate and nicotine dependence. Students in the psychology department at Saint Michael's have the opportunity to work side by side with him in the laboratory and become mutually engaged in the process of discovery.
Outside Saint Michael's: Dr. Kirshenbaum and his family spend their summers biking the country roads of Addison County and reading by the creek. He spends winters cross-country skiing and playing the mandolin by a maple-heated wood stove.
Campus Office
Saint Edmund's Hall 201
Phone: 802.654.2846
Box 193
E-mail: akirshenbaum@smcvt.edu
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Molly Millwood
Assistant Professor of Psychology
B.A., University of California, Santa Cruz; M.A., Ph.D., University of Montana
Dr. Millwood completed a pre-doctoral internship at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Hospital and a postdoctoral clinical fellowship at Stanford University Medical Center. Her research interests are couples/marital therapy and relationship functioning, the transition to parenthood, adult attachment, trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and emotion dysregulation. She teaches Practicum, Personality Theories, The Psychology of Marriage and Relationships, Abnormal Psychology and Research Methods. Dr. Millwood also maintains a private psychotherapy practice in Colchester.
Campus Office
Saint Edmund's Hall 210
Phone: 802.654.2446
Box 122
E-mail: mmillwood@smcvt.edu
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Anthony Richardson
Assistant Professor of Psychology
B.A. University of California, San Diego; M.A., Ph.D. University of California, Santa Barbara
Courses Taught: Perception; Cognitive Psychology; Statistics; Spatial Perception and Cognition
Areas of Expertise: Dr. Richardson is particularly interested in the areas of human navigation and people's sense of direction. To conduct his research, he uses virtual reality simulations to examine how people learn and remember new places.
Recent Scholarly Achievements: Dr. Richardson was the advising professor for a NASA-funded student research project at Saint Michael's titled "The Effect of Testosterone Levels on the Navigation of Real and Virtual Worlds."
On Teaching and Research: Dr. Richardson uses his previous research as the basis of the course Spatial Perception and Cognition. In class, he and his students discuss the results and design and conduct new experiments to build on the work. They tackle problems that have never been addressed before and make new discoveries.
Outside Saint Michael's: Dr. Richardson enjoys reading science fiction and listening to music, particularly jazz from the 50's, punk rock from the 80's, bluegrass and the Grateful Dead.
Learn more about Dr. Richardson in his faculty spotlight.
Campus Office
Saint Edmund’s Hall 220
Phone: 802.654.2461
Box 365
E-mail: arichardson@smcvt.edu
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Melissa M. VanderKaay Tomasulo
Assistant Professor of Psychology
B.A. Baldwin-Wallace College; M.S., Ph.D. Ohio University
View Dr. VanderKaay Tomasulo's Curriculum Vitae
Courses Taught: Psychology of Health and Illness; Physiological Psychology; Research Methods
Areas of Expertise: Physiological and psychological effects of positive and negative health behaviors such as cigarette smoking, adequate hydration, and psychological stress; health and biological psychology
Recent Scholarly Achievements: Dr. VanderKaay Tomasulo was a reviewer for 10 abstracts submitted to the 66th annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society in March 2008. She is also particularly interested in a group of occasional cigarette smokers known as "chippers," and was a co-presenter of a poster on nicotine effects at the 28th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Behavorial Medicine in March 2007.
On Teaching and Research: Dr. VanderKaay Tomasulo's favorite class to teach is Psychology of Health and Illness. Her students find this class to be challenging scientifically, but perhaps more importantly to be highly beneficial to their personal lives. Based on the tenets of the biopsychosocial model, Dr. VanderKaay Tomasulo and her students have profound discussions about one's health, coping with psychological stress, and how one's general mood and outlook can increase the quality of life, but also stave off illness and disease. She has received positive feedback from her students, as well as their families, regarding the topics discussed in the course; in particular, she finds there is a greater appreciation for the complexity of the mind-body relationship.
Outside Saint Michael's: Dr. VanderKaay Tomasulo enjoys gardening, board games, reading, movies, trying to "go green," taking care of her two cats, and exploring the New England states.
Campus Office
Saint Edmund’s Hall 218
Phone: 802.654.2921
Box 381
E-mail: mvanderkaay@smcvt.edu
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Carolyn Whitney
Assistant Professor of Psychology
B.A., Castleton State College; M.A., Ph.D. University of Vermont
Courses Taught: Social Psychology; Organizational Behavior; Ethical Issues in Psychology; Research Methods
Areas of Expertise: Positive psychology and well-being indicators of individuals and organizations
On Teaching and Research: Dr. Whitney finds that current and timely research keeps her courses fresh and allows information from outside of the text to be brought into class discussions to better illuminate concepts and theories in real life. The course Organizational Behavior is one of her favorites to teach because it allows for the greatest real world application of information and ideas to life.
Campus Office
Saint Edmund’s Hall 220
Phone: 802.654.2890
Box 244
E-mail: cwhitney@smcvt.edu