Hi all!

First, a very warm welcome to our first-year social psychology master’s student cohort and welcome back to our second-year cohort! Both cohorts are pictured below.
We also congratulate our recent social psychology M.A. graduates Kailon Ford, Scindie St Fleur, Sandra Bekoe, Eli Wibben, Stevee Judy, and Sydney Maurer. We will miss them and be cheering them on as they move on to new degree programs, professional positions, and life experiences.

A note from the director, Dr. Allison Cipriano:
I wrote about critical hope in the spring newsletter and have since reflected on where I find it in my professional life. I have concluded that engaging with our students is what generates the most critical hope for me. The passion, ideas, and questions they contribute and their commitment to doing work that helps real people in everyday ways fosters a sense of hope for the future of our field at times when that future feels unclear. Of course, students are also looking to their professors as sources of critical hope, evaluating whether they are misguided in believing a better future is possible for our field based on what they learn from us. Educators hold the responsibility of contributing to a culture that helps students see positive change as a realistic possibility. This semester, I will be thinking about how to practice teaching and mentorship in ways that cultivate critical hope.