The Department of Psychological Sciences received the NAU award for 
at the President’s Annual Award Recognition Ceremony on April 26, 2017. According to the Center for International Education’s website, “this award recognizes exceptional work done by departments in developing and implementing a comprehensive strategy that infuses global learning throughout the discipline.” Although the department has a long history of involvement with international education and research, it was recognized, in particular, for its Psychology Scholar and Teaching Exchange Program (PsySTEP). This program is a collaboration between NAU and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands through which students in the Master of Arts in Psychological Sciences program study abroad for a semester while continuing their graduate education. In addition to taking classes, students are matched with professors in their specialty areas to conduct research. The collaborative effort supports faculty from NAU teaching courses at the University of Groningen, as well. Drs. Dunbar and Till have taught abroad as part of this program. Most recently, graduate student Taylor West conducted research under the guidance of Dr. Brian Ostafin at the University of Groningen. She assisted in a project investigating the capacity of “mindfulness,” meaning in life, and the emotion of awe interventions to reshape predispositions to engage in habitual thoughts and behaviors and returned to the NAU in time to successfully defend her thesis and graduate with her cohort.
For more information about the PsySTEP program, visit its webpage.