Mark Oakes

I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and graduated magna from Western Washington University in 1998. As an undergraduate, I divided my time between the English and Psychology departments. However, it was not until I was invited to work on research projects concerning false memory and implicit prejudice that I knew I wanted to go to graduate school in Psychology. After being accepted at the University of Washington, I studied both Cognitive Psychology, with Elizabeth Loftus and Susan Joslyn, and Social Psychology, with Anthony Greenwald. Because I was interested in both these areas of Psychology, I gravitated toward the field of Social Cognition, or the study of how people understand themselves and others. I received my Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 2005 and took a visiting job at Hamilton College. I spent six years at Hamilton College as a visiting professor (2005-2011), where I taught classes in Social Psychology, Social Cognition, Stereotypes and Prejudice, Human Memory and Cognition, as well as Introductory Psychology. I also supervised senior thesis and undergraduate research projects, several of which have been presented at national conferences. In addition to my teaching duties at Hamilton, I was an assistant coach for the men’s and women’s tennis and squash teams from 2008-2011. After receiving the Sidney Wertimer prize (awarded by the student body to a Hamilton faculty member who shows enthusiasm for teaching and supports students in their extra-curricular activities), I knew that I wanted to continue my career at a small liberal arts institution. Upon visiting St. Lawrence, I knew I had found a great fit; St. Lawrence’s emphasis on teaching and undergraduate research was what I enjoyed most about my job. I joined the faculty at St. Lawrence in 2011, and I teach Social Psychology, Research Methods, and Introductory Psychology. My current research interests involve self-esteem, stereotypes and prejudice, and embodied cognition. Recent collaborations with students include projects on fragile and implicit self-esteem, reducing implicit prejudice, mate preference, relational aggression, and forgetting. When I am not in the classroom or laboratory, I enjoy watching science fiction, playing sports, and hitting the links.