Education
- PhD, Child Study and Human Development, Tufts University, United States, 2017
- MA, Child Study and Human Development, Tufts University, United States, 2015
- BA, Psychology / Visual and Performing Arts (Music), Fairfield University, United States, 2009
Biography
I am a developmental scientist at Tufts University, serving as Research Associate Professor and Director of the Vuslat Foundation Generous Listening and Dialogue Initiative (VF-GLADi) at the Tisch College of Civic Life. Most recently (through 2024) I served as Research Associate Professor in the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development (IARYD) of the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study and Human Development at Tufts.
My research is broadly focused on character development--I am interested in how people become good people. With a focus on person-context relations across development, I also explore how good people shape, and are shaped by, communities and cultures.
In recent years, my work has specifically focused on the potential role of forgiveness as a character strength and civic virtue. This interest has steered me toward working with individuals and organizations interested in peacebuilding and restorative justice, particularly in Rwanda.
Lessons learned from this work are timely and important for civil society and human flourishing, perhaps especially in the U.S. now, given our increasingly polarized social and political climates. Forgiveness, restorative justice, and peacebuilding seem to be linked by common threads of empathy, curiosity, generosity, listening, and dialogue, as well as critical thinking, personal responsibility, community action, and civic engagement.
As such, my work at the VF-GLADi specifically explores this notion of "generous listening" as a life skill and civic virtue that may promote character development and human flourishing, perhaps especially when faced with conflicts, challenges, division, and polarization.
Please see my attached CV for more information on my professional experiences, research grants, editorial and consulting activities, teaching experience, and publications.
My research is broadly focused on character development--I am interested in how people become good people. With a focus on person-context relations across development, I also explore how good people shape, and are shaped by, communities and cultures.
In recent years, my work has specifically focused on the potential role of forgiveness as a character strength and civic virtue. This interest has steered me toward working with individuals and organizations interested in peacebuilding and restorative justice, particularly in Rwanda.
Lessons learned from this work are timely and important for civil society and human flourishing, perhaps especially in the U.S. now, given our increasingly polarized social and political climates. Forgiveness, restorative justice, and peacebuilding seem to be linked by common threads of empathy, curiosity, generosity, listening, and dialogue, as well as critical thinking, personal responsibility, community action, and civic engagement.
As such, my work at the VF-GLADi specifically explores this notion of "generous listening" as a life skill and civic virtue that may promote character development and human flourishing, perhaps especially when faced with conflicts, challenges, division, and polarization.
Please see my attached CV for more information on my professional experiences, research grants, editorial and consulting activities, teaching experience, and publications.