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A total of 46 graduate students applied for a Diversity Fund Award to attend the 2007 SPSP conference. Of these applicants, 12 received an award of up to $500 for conference-related expenses. This page contains a profile of each award winner. 2007 Diversity Fund Award Recipients
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Evelyn Au was born in Hong Kong and spent most of her childhood in Toronto. She received her B.A. from the University of Waterloo and is a Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her current program of research focuses on how beliefs about fate and personal agency vary across cultures, and how social structures foster different kinds of beliefs. With her advisor, Chi-Yue Chiu, Evelyn has examined the relation between agency beliefs and well-being across cultures. Currently, through the use of simulation studies, she is exploring whether certain types of societal structure are more conducive to the development of particular fate and agency beliefs, compared to others. Upon completing her graduate studies, Evelyn plans to pursue a career in academia at a research university.
Joshua Eng was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. He received his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2003. An NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Award recipient, Joshua is currently a second-year graduate student at UC-Berkeley. His primary research interests fall into two broad categories: (1) emotion regulation and (2) self-perception. Working with his advisor, Oliver John, Joshua is currently examining the regulation of specific emotions and the moderating effects of ethnicity and gender, as well as the social consequences of self-enhancement bias. As co-president of the Diversity Student Alliance, Joshua is also working to maintain a diverse faculty and student body in the UC-Berkeley Psychology Department, and to address issues of diversity in its curricula, research, and clinical/community work. After completing his Ph.D., Joshua plans to conduct research, teach, and mentor undergraduate and graduate students at a major research university.
David Frost was born in Western New York. He obtained a B.A. in Psychology from the State University of New York at Purchase College in 2003 and an M.A. in Psychology from the City University of New York in 2006. David is currently a 4th year Ph.D. student in Social-Personality Psychology at the City University of New York Graduate Center. Working in collaboration with his mentor, Suzanne Ouellette, and Ilan Meyer, at Columbia University, David's dissertation research focuses on understanding the intimacy-related goals that sexual minority individuals have in their lives, and how minority stress processes (e.g., stigma, prejudice, and discrimination) can interfere with the ability to accomplish these goals as well as negatively affect psychological well-being. After finishing his dissertation, David plans to pursue a career in academia at a research-oriented institution.
Toshie Imada was born and raised in Japan. She received her B.A. in psychology from Wellesley College. Currently, she is a fourth year Ph.D. student in Social Psychology at the University of Michigan. Her main research interest revolves around cultural differences in cognitive and emotional processes. She also investigates specific contents and structures of cultural practices. With her advisor, Shinobu Kitayama, she is currently investigating culturally divergent forms of cognitive dissonance. She is also working with Dr. Phoebe Ellsworth to examine cultural differences in cognitive appraisal and emotional experience. Upon completion of her Ph.D., Toshie hopes to teach younger generations to foster their enthusiasm in and respect for diverse cultures and people while continuing her research on the interplay between people's mind and cultural environment.
Jennifer Kubota was raised in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, and received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin--Madison, in 2004. During her tenure there, she assisted in two laboratories: the Devine Laboratory and the Emotive Psychophysiological Laboratory, and upon graduation, she accepted a research position in the Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience. These research experiences fueled her interest in applying neuroscience methodologies to social psychological questions. A Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellow, Jennifer is currently a third-year graduate student at the University of Colorado--Boulder, working toward a joint Ph.D. in Social Psychology and Neuroscience. In collaboration with her primary advisor, Dr. Tiffany Ito, Jennifer's research focuses on the neural correlates of race and emotion processing, with an emphasis on how race and emotion cues impact the various stages of impression formation. Upon completion of her Ph.D., Jennifer plans to obtain a faculty position at a research university.
Alvin Ty Law was born in Thailand and raised on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. He completed his B.S. in Mathematics and Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is currently a second-year Ph.D. student in Social Psychology at Purdue University. Ty's research interests include ostracism, sexual prejudice, and stealing thunder. Together with his major advisor, Kipling Williams, Ty is currently conducting a research project aimed at discerning the minimal conditions necessary to detect and be affected by ostracism. His future aspirations include developing a line of research that examines the effects of ostracism within and by groups, such as the gay community, that are traditionally ostracized by mainstream society. Upon completion of his doctorate, Ty intends to pursue a career in academia at a research-oriented university.
Tiane Lee was born in Myanmar and grew up there and in Lake Forest, California. She graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Psychology and Political Science. Currently, she is a third-year social psychology Ph.D. student at Princeton University. With Dr. Virginia Kwan, she studies the impact of identity restrictions on people's reactions to diversity. With Dr. Susan Fiske, Tiane is interested in exploring the intersection of culture, ambivalent gender ideologies, and close relationship preferences; cultural understandings and experiences of friendship; and perceptions of immigrants in the U.S., specifically how the national origins of immigrants function as status characteristics, and the factors and processes through which immigrants become "American." In the future, Tiane hopes to pursue an academic career to further her teaching and research interests in culture and diversity.
Sawsan Mbirkou was born and raised in Casablanca, Morocco. She received her B.A. from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and is currently pursuing her graduate studies in Social Psychology at the University of Western Ontario. In her research, Sawsan investigates the underlying cognitive mechanisms behind a variety of behaviors such as self-regulation and prejudice. Under the supervision of Dr. Bertram Gawronski, she is involved in several projects. The first project investigates the role of attention mechanisms in the self-regulation of food intake. She is also involved in a few projects on the underlying cognitive mechanisms behind the control of prejudice and stereotypes. Her next project will be investigating the concept of automatic self-regulation in a sample of dieters. Upon completion of her Ph.D., Sawsan intends to pursue a career as a psychology professor and researcher at a major university in North America.
Curtis Phills was raised in Sarnia, Ontario, and currently resides in Toronto while attending York University. He received his B.A. in 2004 and completed his M.A. in Social Psychology in 2006. A recipient of a Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Curtis is currently a first-year Ph.D. student under the supervision of Dr. Kerry Kawakami. Along with his supervisor, Curtis' research investigates strategies for reducing prejudice and discrimination. Specifically, his research examines the impact of extensive training in approaching a social category on attitudes and behavior toward members of that category. A second line of research examines the impact of extensive attitude change training on approach behaviors toward members of stigmatized groups. More recent work has examined how approaching a social category may change perceptions of the self. Upon completion of his studies, Curtis intends to pursue an academic career at a major research university.
Alisha Watts was born and raised in New Jersey. In 2003, she received her B.A. with honors in Psychology from Princeton University. Prior to beginning graduate studies, Alisha taught Special Education in Washington, D.C. This experience heightened her drive to use social psychology to improve the performance of stigmatized students. Alisha is currently a second year Social Psychology Ph.D. student at the University of Arizona. She is also a National Science Foundation Predoctoral Graduate Fellow. Under the guidance of Dr. Stephanie Fryberg, Alisha examines the factors that cause academic disengagement. In collaboration with Dr. Fryberg and Dr. Toni Schmader, she has examined situational disengagement in affluent, academically stigmatized adolescents. She is currently researching the impact of theories of intelligence and stereotype threat on academic disengagement. After obtaining her Ph.D., Alisha plans to teach and conduct research at a major research university, utilizing research to help schools improve student engagement and performance.
Lawrence Williams was born in Queens, New York, and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He completed his B.A. at Harvard University. Lawrence is currently a third year graduate student in Social Psychology at Yale University (working primarily with John Bargh). His research interests involve understanding the impact of nonconscious goals on people's ability to control themselves. He is also interested in understanding the role that psychological distance plays in people's paradoxical attraction to forms of entertainment that are horrifying, violent, or embarrassing. After completing his Ph.D., Lawrence intends to obtain a faculty position at a major research university.
Jessica Williamson was raised in Austin, Texas, and graduated with a B.S. in Psychology from Texas A&M University in 2002. She is a second-year student pursuing a Ph.D. in the Social Psychology program at Purdue University. Working with her primary advisor, William Graziano, Jessica's research focuses on interpersonal processes and individual differences. She is specifically interested in prosocial motives and cognitions associated with the Big Five dimension of Agreeableness. Using experimental methods, she has investigated the relationship between Agreeableness and the suppression of prejudice against stigmatized groups. She is currently examining the effects of cognitive load on prosocial and antisocial behavior in the context of interpersonal conflict. After completing her Ph.D., Jessica plans to pursue an academic career at a research-oriented university.