Victoria M. Esses, Ph.D.

Victoria Esses (PhD, University of Toronto) is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Centre for Research on Migration and Ethnic Relations at the University of Western Ontario. She is also Principal Investigator of the Pathways to Prosperity Partnership, an alliance of university, community and government partners dedicated to fostering welcoming communities and promoting the integration of migrants and minorities across Canada. Dr. Esses has conducted research on immigration and cultural diversity for over 20 years. Her work has covered such topics as factors influencing the settlement and integration of immigrants in Canada; the role of perceived economic and cultural threat and competition in determining attitudes toward immigrants and immigration; the dehumanization of refugees, the framing of national identity and public attitudes toward immigration and cultural diversity, and the role of ethnic and religious prejudice in immigrant skills discounting. In 2010, Dr. Esses received the Harold Crabtree Foundation Award in Public Policy Research and the Western Faculty Scholar Award for her work in this area.

E-Mail: vesses@uwo.ca

Karen Dickson, MASP, Ph.D.

Karen Dickson received her B.Sc. (Honours) in Psychology in 2005 and her Masters of Applied Social Psychology in 2007 from Memorial University of Newfoundland. She then worked conducting research in the area of continuing medical education. She began her PhD in Social Psychology at the University of Western Ontario in 2008. Karen’s research interests are in the area of intergroup relations and prejudice. Specifically, she is particularly interested in how different forms and types of prejudice are perceived in society and the different responses they receive, as well as strategies for reducing prejudice.

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/karenrdickson
E-Mail: kdickso9@uwo.ca

Jennifer Long, M.A., Ph.D.

Jennifer received her doctorate in Sociocultural Anthropology in 2011 from Western University, Canada. She has been a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Research on Migration and Ethnic Relations since March 2012. Her previous project with the Centre investigated newcomers' and service providers' experiences of settlement services and community programming at centres throughout London, Ontario. This project was developed in collaboration with the United Way, London & Middlesex and made possible through the Mitacs Accelerate Internship. Her current project examines the theories and practices of intercultural skills development, industry partners’ experiences of such training, as well as employees’ and employers’ perceptions and experiences of cultural diversity in the workplace. This project was again made possible through a Mitacs Acceleration Internship and collaborators for this project include Melissa Fellin and Secil Erdogan.

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/jenniferlongphd/
E-Mail: jlong52@uwo.ca

Melissa Fellin, M.A., Ph.D.

Melissa Fellin received her PhD in anthropology with a specialization in migration and ethnic relations from The University of Western Ontario. Her research has focused on discrimination and equity, migration/immigration, refugee studies, children and childhood studies, health, education, and autism/disability. She has extensive experience in ethnographic fieldwork conducting long-term research in South Korea and with Somali individuals and families in Canada and the United States. Melissa’s research has been funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada and has been awarded with The University of Western Ontario Autism Centre of Excellence Research Award and the Dr. Benjamin Goldberg Research Award of the UWO Developmental Disabilities Division. She is currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Centre for Research on Migration and Ethnic Relations at The University of Western Ontario. Here she is working on a collaborative project with Secil Erdogan and Jennifer Long under the supervision of Dr. Victoria Esses and with industry partners the London Cross Cultural Learner Centre and The Achievement Centre on intercultural skills development of medium and large businesses in Ontario. The project is funded by the Mitacs Accelerate program.

E-Mail:mstachel@uwo.ca

Secil Erdogan

Secil received her PhD in sociology with a specialization in migration and ethnic relations from The University of Western Ontario. She conducted research with refugees from Turkey and from Burma. Secil’s research interests are in the areas of refugee studies, race and ethnicity, migration, inequality, integration, and identity. She is a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Research on Migration and Ethnic Relations. Her current project looks at intercultural communication and intercultural skills at the workplace. The project is funded by the Mitacs Accelerate program and the London Cross Cultural Learner Center.

E-mail: serdoga@uwo.ca

Stelian Medianu, B.A., M.Sc., Ph.D. Candidate

Stelian is a Ph.D. student in the Social Psychology program and the Collaborative Graduate Program in Migration and Ethnic Relations at the University of Western Ontario. He completed his B.A. in Psychology at the University of British Columbia in 2008 and his M.Sc. in Social Psychology at the University of Western Ontario in 2010. Stelian has two main lines of research at the moment. First, he is investigating the effects of media on attitudes toward immigrants and refugees. Second, he is examining factors affecting the economic integration of immigrants in Canada with a particular emphasis on the issue of immigrant underemployment.

E-Mail: smedianu@uwo.ca

Mandy DeVaul-Fetters, B.A., M.Sc., Ph.D. Candidate

Mandy completed her B.A. in Psychology at Benedictine College in 2004. She obtained her M.S. in Psychology at the University of Central Missouri. For her thesis, she focused on the U.S. Naturalization Test. Specifically, the relationship between the subjective nature of the test, prejudice towards certain immigrant groups, and how this relationship affected the final score assigned to them on the test. As a PhD student she will continue to explore how public attitudes towards immigrants affect immigration policy, prejudice towards immigrants/immigration, and the role of perceived realistic and symbolic threat in attitudes towards immigrants/immigration. She is also part of the Collaborative Graduate Program in Migration & Ethnic Relations.

E-Mail: adevaul@uwo.ca

Natalia Lapshina, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. Candidate

Natalia is a third-year Ph.D. Candidate at the Department of Psychology, and Collaborative Program in Migration and Ethnic Relations. Her research program is on Canadians’ attitudes towards immigrants with various cultural backgrounds. In particular, it focuses on hiring decisions and employment discrimination, and perceptions of discrimination claimants depending on their cultural background. She also explores factors that may contribute to these attitudes, and tests strategies for ameliorating negative effects.

E-Mail: nlapshin@uwo.ca

Kelly Barnes, B.A., M.A., Ph.D. Candidate

Kelly completed her B.A. in Psychology from Trinity Christian College in 2008. She then received her M.A. in Cognitive and Social Processes from Ball State University in 2010. There she completed a thesis regarding the relationships of blind patriotism, perceived threat, and stereotyping of minority groups. As a PhD student and member of the Collaborative Graduate Program in Migration and Ethnic Studies, Kelly plans to study how national identity and ideology are related to attitudes toward immigrants in both the US and Canada.

E-Mail:kbarne2@uwo.ca

Alina Sutter, M.Sc., Ph.D. Candidate

Alina received her M.Sc. in Psychology from the University of Zurich, Switzerland, in 2012. Broadly, she is interested in researching the relationships between national identity, perceived threat and prejudice as well as the underlying processes and consequences of the dehumanization of outgroups. Alina is also part of the Collaborative Graduate Program in Migration and Ethnic Studies.

E-mail: asutter2@uwo.ca

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