psychology - Dr. Andrew Joseph Pegoda

A Vision of College Students Today

Please note: I first wrote the following article in December 2019. I kept making tweaks to it and submitted it a number of places in December, in January, and in February with no takers. I thought about tweaking it to include the COIVD19 crisis, but as is, I think this serves as an important snapshot to how roughContinue reading “A Vision of College Students Today”

Notes on Invisible and Unpaid Labor

I regularly think about invisible labor and unpaid labor–it’s everywhere. For invisible labor: We don’t see the people who empty our office trash cans. We don’t know the people who pick our fruits and vegetables and who deliver them to our local stores. What if grocery stores had a picture of who picked our fruitContinue reading “Notes on Invisible and Unpaid Labor “

Asking Students How They Are Really Doing Should Not Be A Rare Occurrence

Asking students how they are really doing should not be a rare occurrence. For several years now, I have scheduled a day mid-semester for wellness in almost all of my classes because I have seen my students arrive more and more stressed every semester for several years. The results are always amazing. In hopes of encouragingContinue reading “Asking Students How They Are Really Doing Should Not Be A Rare Occurrence”

Alex Trebek. Aunt Becky. Not Your Friends.

Parasocial relationships form easily. Carefully-scripted and highly-rehearsed, people see fictional characters people on their screens from the comfort of their homes and almost naturally come to believe they really know and very much like them. People are not able to internalize that this relationship is one-sided and is with a fictional character. Sometime during the past week,Continue reading “Alex Trebek. Aunt Becky. Not Your Friends.”

Funerals, Rhetorics, and Constructions of History

Clichés about “funerals being for the living” abound. Funerals assist with grieving and with accepting one’s own mortality, popular mores say. Funerals can also hinder this grieving process: Without realizing it, people sometimes talk about the deceased in ways that can be inaccurate and uncomfortable for others. Sometimes intentions might be more malicious and consciouslyContinue reading “Funerals, Rhetorics, and Constructions of History”

The “Brutal Black Buck” and How To Get Away With Murder

How To Get Away With Murder’s 2018-2019 mid-season finale overpowers and undermines its recent comments about flaws in the judicial system, especially when it comes to perceptions of and treatments of Black men. Nate Lahey (Billy Brown) receives unstable, developing word that leads him to believe that DA Ron Miller (John Hensley) had his father, NateContinue reading “The “Brutal Black Buck” and How To Get Away With Murder”

Everyday Racism in America MicroBlogs

The following is a compilation of thoughts (so-named microblogs) that I live tweeted during MSNBC’s special program tonight, Everyday Racism in America. Please take a look! Thanks! (It might take the page a few seconds longer than usual to load.) Really looking forward to live tweeting this town hall event. Will be ready to learn, comment,Continue reading “Everyday Racism in America MicroBlogs”