NCID-1530
Ursula Moffitt
Assistant Professor of Psychology
Wheaton College Massachusetts
Education/Degree:
1 Psychology (University of Potsdam, Germany)
About
Ursula Moffitt is an Assistant Professor at Wheaton College MA. Ursula's research focuses on contextualized racial, gender, and national identity development through a social justice lens. Her work has been published in academic journals including Identity, the Journal of Adolescence, Child Development, and the Journal of Adolescent Research. Ursula is on the editorial board at Identity, is a consulting editor for Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, and is a member of multiple research societies, including the Society for Research on Adolescence and the International Society for Research on Identity. Prior to joining the Wheaton faculty, Ursula completed an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship at Northwestern University, working with Onnie Rogers. Ursula received her PhD in psychology from the University of Potsdam in Germany, working with Professor Linda Juang and Professor Moin Syed (externally). She also holds an MA in Turkish German social sciences from Humboldt University in Germany, and a BA in psychology from Reed College. Ursula was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Current Work
Ursula is interested in the ways in which individuals navigate socio-cultural norms, policies, and expectations as they come to make sense of who they are, and in turn how they impact their environments through their beliefs and behaviors. Currently she is focusing on two research areas in particular. First, she is examining how white youth and young adults make sense of race and their own racial identities within the context of systemic racism. To do so, she has used qualitative interview methods, while also working on a conceptual model drawing on the seminal work of counseling psychologist Janet Helms. Second, she is conducting a mixed-methods longitudinal study with diverse college students, investigating the interrelated processes of racial and gender identity development in relation to political activism and university belonging during the current pandemic and presidential election.
Research Area Keyword(s)
identity development, intersectionality, Racial Identity, racism, whiteness