Alaina Brenick

Associate Professor
Human Development & Family Sciences

Education:

• Post-doctoral Fellowship, Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena, Germany

  • Human Behaviour in Social and Economic Change
    

• Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park, USA

  • Human Development, Developmental Science

  • 5-year NIH Pre-doctoral Training Fellowship, 4.0 GPA

• B.A., University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), USA

  • Psychology

  • Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude, Departmental Honor

Professional Roles at UConn:

Associate Professor:

• Human Development and Family Sciences

Director of the Honors Scholars Program in Human Development and Family Sciences:

• HDFS Honors Scholars Program

Faculty Affiliate:

• Center for the Study of Culture, Health, and Human Development
• Collaboratory on School and Child Health
• Human Rights Institute
• Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy
• Ronald and Nancy Rohner Center for the Study of Interpersonal Acceptance and Rejection
• Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Dr. Brenick is currently accepting new students.

Research areas:

• The intergroup stereotypes and attitudes of adolescents and children, especially those living in areas of high conflict or identifying as a member of a group in conflict
• Social and moral reasoning regarding intergroup exclusion, discrimination, bullying, and victimization
• The influence of culture, context, and identity on evaluations of intergroup relations
• Immigration and the changing conceptions of self and other identity and their role in intergroup dynamics
• The influence of group norms and prototypes in the development of adolescent intergroup attitudes and stereotypes
• The role of intergroup contact in reducing prejudice
• The role of the media in promoting or eliminating stereotypes
• Media and contact based intervention development and evaluation

Contact Dr. Brenick:

alaina.brenick@uconn.edu

(959) 200-3767