Resilience in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood

Adolescence is a time of exploration, transformation, and possibility. How do we navigate this period of self-focus and transition? How do we know when we’re an adult?

In this program, we will examine the processes by which adolescents find identity, meaning, and belonging in communities as we transition into adulthood. Our studies will review physical, cognitive, and social development during adolescence and emerging adulthood.  As we investigate socialization and identity development among adolescents and young adults, we’ll search for commonalities and differences both within and across cultures and social groups.

We’ll take a strengths-based approach to our studies, focusing on areas of resilience and growth in processes such as gender socialization and rites of passage. A central feature of our inquiry will be on the ways that media contribute to the attitudes, behaviors, and identities of adolescents and young adults. Through qualitative (e.g., media content analyses, autoethnographic writing) and quantitative methods, students will study and reflect on the contexts of their own development.

This program will lead students through advanced work in the social sciences as part of the Psychology, Health, and Community Path of Study. The program will be reading, writing, and research intensive. Students will be expected to demonstrate the development of skills involved in autoethnography, field observation and analysis, quantitative research design, reasoning about results, and scientific writing.  Students will work on a quarter-long collaborative project with others who are at the same level of preparedness.