Academic psychology can be very specialized. But instead of requiring students to concentrate on one area—social, clinical, biological, or cultural—Transylvania offers a variety of perspectives that leads to an understanding of psychology as a whole instead of individual parts.
“It gives students the bigger picture,” says Iva Katzarska-Miller.
Within that philosophy, Transylvania’s small classes and close relationships between students and professors add to the rich learning environment. “I enjoy the interaction with students and the mutual learning that can occur in the classroom,” says Katzarska-Miller.
She presents subject matter both as content and as process. “Content is the knowledge that students need if they are to be able to think critically about it,” Katzarska-Miller explains. “Process is an understanding of how knowledge is created and disseminated in society, as well as how one’s position in the cultural space promotes a particular approach to understanding and creating knowledge.”
If psychology as a whole were a tree and different divisions of psychology were its branches, I teach my students to see the tree rather than concentrating on a particular branch.
Academic History
Ph.D., University of Kansas, 2009
M.A., University of Kansas, 2005
B.A., University of Kansas, 2003
Courses Taught at Transy
General Psychology
Cultural Psychology
Stereotyping and Prejudice
Psychology of Globalization
Cultural Context in Film
Senior Seminar
Psychology of Gender
Research Methods
Social Attitudes
First-Year Seminar
Areas of Specialization
Culture (global citizenship)
Stereotyping and prejudice (self-stereotyping)
Professional Memberships
American Psychological Association Division 8: Society of Personality and Social Psychology Division 9: Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
Midwestern Psychological Association
Kentucky Academy of Science
Awards
Jones Grant for Faculty Development, 2010, 2011
Brehm Summer Fellowship, University of Kansas, 2009
Phi Beta Kappa (inducted 2003)
Recent Publications
Katzarska-Miller, I., Reysen, S., Kamble, S. V., & Vithoji, N. (2011). Cross-national differences in global citizenship: Comparison of Bulgaria, India, and the United States (in press).
Jenkins, S. T., Reysen, S., & Katzarska-Miller, I. (2012). Ingroup identification and personality. Journal of Interpersonal Relations, Intergroup Relations and Identity, 5, 9-16.
Snider, J. S., Reysen, S., & Katzarska-Miller, I. (in press). How we frame the message of globalization matters. Journal of Applied Social Psychology.
Katzarska-Miller, I., Phillips, N.L., Gungor, G, Salter, P., Adams, G., & Schoemann, A. (in press). Internationalizing social psychology: Implications for national and global identity. Proceedings from Global Citizenship for 21st Century conference.
Reysen, S., Lloyd, J. D., Katzarska-Miller, I., Lemker, B. M., & Foss, R. (2010). Intragroup status and social presence in online fan groups. Computers in Human Behavior, 26, 1314-1317.
Biernat. M., Collins, E., Katzarska-Miller, I., & Thompson, E. (2009). Race-based shifting standards and racial discrimination. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 16-28.