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: Hunger and Eating. At the graduate level - Advanced Social Psychology
Areas of Expertise: Psychology of religion, current research focusing on the relationship between religion and spirituality, and the relationship between cognitive development and religious apostasy. The interface between social and clinical psychology
Recent Scholarly Achievements: Dr. Adams contributed the chapter, “Psychology and the Good Life” to an upcoming Oxford University Press book titled “Teaching the Tradition: A Disciplinary Approach to the Catholic Intellectual Tradition.” 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 also presented at a week-long colloquium in California in the summer of 2009 called Substantially Catholic. This seminar offered faculty throughout the U.S. an opportunity to discuss issues encountered within their classrooms. Dr. Adams' presentations included: "I'm Spiritual, not Religious: Reflections on the Movement toward Rejecting Religion,” and "Don't You Trust Me? Personal Integrity vs. Situational Temptation.”
Outside Saint Michael's: Dr. Adams enjoys running, golf, karate Guitar Hero, movies 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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Boynton
Associate Professor of Psychology
B.A., Ph.D. University of Maine
Courses Taught: Cognitive Psychology; Psychology and Law; Research Methods I; History and Issues; and the Psychology of Intuition
Areas of Expertise: The psychology of judgment and decision making; the psychology of intuition; and applications of psychological science to public policy issues
Recent Scholarly Achievements: Dr. Boynton hosted a discussion panel on “The Psychology of Intuition” at the October 2009 meeting of the New England Psychological Association (NEPA) in Worcester, Massachusetts. Members of this panel included the highly-respected psychologists, David G. Myers and Seymour Epstein. He also hosted and organized the fall 2010 meeting of NEPA at Saint Michael’s College. In 2008 and 2009, he served as an associate editor of theJournal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association (APA).
On Teaching and Research: Dr. Boynton values scholarly collaboration with his many talented students and colleagues at Saint Michael’s, and he challenges his students and himself to explore new applications of psychological science that promise to shed light on real-world, policy-relevant issues.
Outside Saint Michael's: Dr. Boynton enjoys reading, eating good food, playing the blues guitar badly, and spending valuable quiet time with his family and friends.
Campus Office
Saint Edmund’s Hall 208
Phone: 802.654.2641
Box 244
E-mail: dboynton@smcvt.edu
Personal Web site: http://academics.smcvt.edu/dboynton/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Molly Millwood
Associate 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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Landers
Psychology Instructor
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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Renee L. Carrico
Associate 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 212
Phone: 802.654.2383
Box 399
E-mail: rcarrico@smcvt.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ari Kirshenbaum
Associate 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; Animal Learning and Behavior; Introduction to Psychology; Research Methods II; and Advanced Topics: Experimental Analysis of Substance Dependence
Areas of Expertise: Substance dependence, in particular, neural and behavioral sensitization to psychomotor-stimulant administration. Other areas of interest include comparative psychology and risky or impulsive behaviors.
Recent Scholarly Achievements: Dr. Kirshenbaum has published articles in several peer-reviewed journals, with students as co-authors. Some of these journals include the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, Drug an Alcohol Dependence, and Behavioural Pharmacology. He and his students have presented papers at the International Study Group Investigating Drugs as Reinforcers, Eastern Psychological Association, American Psychological Association, College on the Problems of Drug Dependence, and the Society for the Quantitative Analysis of Behavior. Dr. Kirshenbaum is the principle investigator in the Krikstone Laboratory for Behavioral Sciences at Saint Michael’s College. After completing his dissertation in behavioral science, he conducted research at NASA’s
Outside Saint Michael's: Dr. Kirshenbaum and his family spend their summers biking the country roads of
Campus Office
Saint Edmund's Hall 218
Phone: 802.654.2846
Box 193
E-mail: akirshenbaum@smcvt.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anthony Richardson
Associate 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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Melissa M. VanderKaay Tomasulo
Assistant Professor of Psychology
B.A. Baldwin-Wallace College; M.S., Ph.D. Ohio University
Courses Taught: Undergraduate- Psychology of Health and Illness; Physiological Psychology; Research Methods; Human Psychophysiology
Graduate - Physiological Basis of Behavior
Areas of Expertise: Dr. VanderKaay Tomasulo is particularly interested in the effects of psychological stress on cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, and immune responses. She is also interested in positive and negative health behaviors (e.g. cigarette smoking, adequate hydration and physiological responses that affect spatial perception. Dr. VanderKaay Tomasulo and Dr. Anthony Richardson have collaborated to form the new Psychophysiology and Virtual Reality laboratory on campus to pursue their research agendas.
On Teaching: Dr. VanderKaay Tomasulo's favorite class to teach is Psychology of Health and Illness. Her students find this class to be scientifically challenging, 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 lives with her husband Greg in South Burlington, Vermont. She enjoys traveling, organic gardening, music, art, dance, and hiking.
Campus Office
Saint Edmund' s Hall 216
Phone: 802.654.2921
Box 381
E-mail: mvanderkaay@smcvt.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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