Psychology: Transforming Science and Practice
In honor of the 50th Anniversary Celebration for the University of Rhode Island Department of Psychology
Ritch C. Savin-Williams, PhD,
Professor and Chair, Department of Human Development
Director, Sex and Gender Laboratory,
Cornell University
Will speak on Monday, May 2nd, 2011 at 3:15pm in Chafee 277 on:
The New and Improved Gay Teenager
Dr. Ritch C. Savin-Williams earned an MA in Religious Studies and a PhD in Human Development from the University of Chicago. He has written seven books on adolescent development including: "...and then I became gay." Young Men's Stories (Routledge, 1998), "Mom, Dad. I'm Gay." How Families Negotiate Coming Out (American Psychological Association, 2001), and his latest, The New Gay Teenager (Harvard, 2005).
Dr. Savin-Williams is currently writing about the resiliency and mental health of sexual-minority youth and the sexual development of heterosexual youth. His research on differential developmental trajectories attempts to supplant our genetic, stage models of identity development with a perspective that explores the similarities of sexual-minority youth with all youth and the ways in which sexual-minority adolescents vary among themselves and from heterosexual youth.
Dr. Savin-Williams has served as an expert witness on same-sex marriage, gay adoption, and Boy Scout court cases. He has been a consultant for MTV, 20/20, the Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN and his work has been cited in Newsweek, Time, Utne Reader, Rolling Stone, New York Times, Washington Post, among other national publications. Dr. Savin-Williams received the 2001 Award for Distinguished Scientific Contribution and the 2005 Outstanding Book Award from Division 44 of the American Psychological Association. He has also written junior high school curriculum materials for the Unitarian Universalist Association, Beyond Pink and Blue: Exploring Our Stereotypes of Sexuality and Gender.