Creighton University Psychology Department

03/16/2026

Creighton University Psychological Science Department students Marilou Kilian and Maria Christoffersen presented research as members of Dr. Jill Brown's lab at the 53rd annual Society for Cross Cultural Psychology Conference in Antigua, Guatemala.

Marilou Kilian, a senior majoring in Psychological Science and Political Science was awarded the Judith L. Gibbons Award for Research on Culture and Gender for her research entitled The Aftermath of Conflict: Understanding Variation in Gender-Based Violence Reduction Across Nations which was co-authored with Dr. Erika Moreno, a faculty member in the Department of Political Science. This award is given to graduate students (though in this case, an undergraduate student) for the best presentation researching gender and culture.

Maria Christoffersen presented her research, The Hidden Art of Giving: A Multiple Case Study of Sharing in Namibia, Southern Africa co-authored by Dr. Jill Brown and Dr. Ndumba Kamwanyah. Maria was invited to present her research at the UCLA graduate seminar in Mixed Methods research, hosted by Dr. Patricia Greenfield in May 2026.

Pictured: Jill Brown, Ted Bartholomew (Creighton alumni), Robert Hitchcock, Maria Christoffersen, and Marilou Kilian.

07/31/2025

Congratulations to Dr. Fairchild's poster team consisting of Addison LeGrand, Jaelyn Bentzinger, Katie Pfeiffer, and Davin Rucker for winning the Best Poster Award at the INGRoup Conference in the Netherlands.

They were awarded 1st place out of 56 total posters and were the only group to consist of undergraduate students!

The poster was entitled Information Sharing in Distributed Teams: The Impact of Psychological Safety, Collective Efficacy, and Emergent Leadership. Additional student authors on the poster include Surya Yuvaraj, Will Osborne, and Joseph Hertzel.

07/10/2025

Creighton researcher and collaborators uncover how visual focus can boost running performance

04/16/2025

Congratulations to senior psychology major Ariana Elsden for winning the Best Undergraduate Social Sciences Poster Presentation Award during the 2025 University Research Week! The award was given for her research poster presentation titled "Do Judgments of Learning Improve Learning of Foreign Language Vocabulary?"

04/01/2025

Ware-Johnk Lecture in Psychological Science

When: Thursday, April 3rd, 5-6pm
Where: Harper Auditorium

The department of psychological science is hosting it's 5th annual Ware-Johnk Lecture in Psychological Science. This year's speaker is Daniel Krauss, JD, PhD, Crown Professor of Psychology and George R. Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College who will present a lecture entitled "Crime Control Theater: What does the Public Think and Can Their Attitudes Be Changed."

Krauss will discuss the psychology of why laws such as Amber Alerts, Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Laws, 3-Strike Laws, and Safe Haven Laws remain popular despite the evidence showing these laws to be ineffective at their stated goals. The lecture will explore what the public thinks about these laws, and Krauss will discuss research that examines psychology-based interventions targeted to change the public's attitudes toward these laws.

02/04/2025

10/22/2024

https://www.creighton.edu/news/nih-awards-dustin-stairs-phd-400k-grant-study-cannabis-abuse-potential

The grant will support cannabinoid abuse cause and prevention research in adolescents while providing undergraduate students hands-on research experience.

10/22/2024

Creighton Psychological Science Department professor Dr. Jill Brown selected as a Kingfisher Fellow for the 2024-2025 academic year for her interdisciplinary collaboration with Dr. Surbhi Malik in the English Department and Dr. Britta McEwen in the History Department. Their work is adopting an interdisciplinary approach to examine the role of intangible aspects of the human experience in the production of knowledge. They'll collaborate on the project throughout the year, and then they will present their work as part of a Kingfisher Institute showcase to the Creighton community next fall.

05/22/2024

The Psychological Science department held our annual open house to celebrate the graduating senior class of 2024. Graduates and their families were invited to meet and greet with faculty and celebrate student accomplishments. Congratulations to the psychology majors of the class of 2024!

05/02/2024

Congratulations to senior psychological science student Kate Hessman for being awarded the highly competitive Fulbright Scholarship. Supported by the award, Kate will move to the Czech Republic to work as a teaching assistant and to immerse herself in the local culture and lifestyle.

Seniors Benjamin Kinkor and Kate Hessman were awarded scholarships for 2024-2025 through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

03/12/2024

Two Creighton Psychological Science Students, Kate Hessman and Ava Szatmary, will be taking part in the Big East Research Symposium in New York City later this week. The students are mentored by Psychological Science Department faculty Dr. Josh Fairchild and Dr. Jill Brown.

We wish Kate and Ava good luck on their presentations this week!

With the men’s Big East basketball tournament set to tip off this week in New York City, Creighton fans have more than the basketball team to cheer on.

02/19/2024

"Climate Change, Violence, and Mitigating Actions"

The Ware-Johnk Lecture Series in Psychological Science presents Dr. Craig Anderson's guest lecture on the relationship between climate change and aggression.

Dr. Craig Anderson, Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Iowa State University, will present a lecture at Creighton University's Omaha Campus. Dr. Anderson will speak about the relationship between climate change and global violence based on his research into both the direct and indirect links between increasing global temperatures and incidents of civil unrest, ecomigration, genocide, and war.

The Psychology Department at Creighton University welcomes you to attend this public lecture.

Date: Thursday, March 14th, 2024
Time: 5:00pm - 6:00pm
Location: Harper Auditorium, Creighton University Omaha Campus