Degrees: PHD, 1994, Purdue Univ; MS, 1986, Purdue Univ; BA, 1982, San Diego State Univ

Bio:

Assistant Professor Renoir McDonaugh earned her Ph.D. in 1994 from Purdue University. She has experience teaching in both Psychology and African-American Studies Departments, and has expertise in social, ethnic, and media psychology. At present, she teaches a variety of undergraduate courses in the Psychology Department and in Hofstra's New College including Social Psychology, Psychology of Prejudice, Fundamental Perspectives in Psychology, Social Psychology and the Media, and Psychology of the African-American Experience.

Dr. McDonaugh is especially interested in the consequences of stereotyping and how multiple status characteristics combine to influence perceptions, attributions, and evaluations in a variety of domains. Recent research includes a study presented at the American Psychological Society that examined the impact of spectator ethnicity and racial identification on sensitivity and affective reactions to stereotypical black representations in film, as well as an article in Listening: Journal of Religion and Culture that critically reviews black representations in film and the impact those representations have on promoting stereotypes, prejudice, and racism. Research in progress addresses topics such as whether black representations in movie comedies about race-relations remedy or reinforce racial stereotypes and the combinatorial effects of attractiveness, gender, and ethnicity on selection and retention in hiring.