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Biographical
Information
I grew up in Brooklyn New York. After graduating high school in 1963, I
enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley where I had the blind good
luck to experience the sixties from hippy central. After graduating from
Berkeley in 1967, I went on to get a master's degree in clinical psychology
from Florida State University in 1969 and a Ph.D. in personality/social
psychology from New York University in 1974. I've been a Professor of
Psychology at California State University, Fresno ever since, with stints as
Chairperson of the Department and as Associate Dean of the College of Science
and Mathematics. Over the years I've also served as a Visiting Professor at
Universidade Federal Fluminense in Niteroi, Brazil, at Sapporo Medical
University in Japan, and at Stockholm University in Sweden.
I've written four books. The first, A
Geography of Time (Basic Books/Perseus, 1997 was awarded
the Otto Klineberg Intercultural and International Relations Award. It has
been translated into six languages. The German translation (Eine Landkarte der Zeit)
has also won awards, including being named "Non fiction Book of the
Year" by the German science magazine Bild der Wissenschaft in 1999.
Second, my colleague Aroldo Rodrigues and I co-edited Reflections on 100 Years of
Experimental Social Psychology (Basic Books/Perseus,
1999). This book grew out of a remarkable conference held in Yosemite
National Park to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Triplett's seminal study
of bicycle racers-an experiment which has often been cited as the beginning
of modern experimental social psychology. We brought nine giants of social
psychology to Yosemite National Park to reflect upon the field which they have
been so instrumental in creating: Elliot Aronson, Leonard Berkowitz, Morton
Deutsch, Harold Gerard, Harold Kelley, Albert Pepitone, Bertram Raven, Robert
Zajonc, and Philip Zimbardo. They each contributed chapters to the book.
Third, The Power of
Persuasion: How We're Bought and Sold (John Wiley &
Sons, 2003; updated paperback edition published in 2006) targets the mindsets
of those who prod, praise, debase, and manipulate others to do things they
never thought they'd do-and are sometimes later sorry they did. I took a
hands-on approach in my research by, for example, taking jobs as a
door-to-door salesman and a used car salesman. It was a fascinating
experience. The book has now been translated into eight languages. It was
named one of the "Ten Most Influential Books of 2003" by one
international book group.
Finally, I co-edited Journeys in Social Psychology:
Looking Back to Inspire the Future (Psychology Press, 2008) with my
colleagues Aroldo Rodrigues and Lynnette Zelezny. This
book consists of first person, narrative accounts of the career journeys of 13
of our most eminent social psychologists. Contributors include: Ed Diener,
Robert Cialdini, Shelley Taylor, Alice Eagly, Bernard Weiner, Philip
Zimbardo, Aroldo Rodrigues, Robert Rosenthal, Harry C. Triandis, Bertram
Raven, Morton Deutsch, the late Harold Gerard, and the late Harold Kelley.
I love teaching and have had the good fortune
to win several teaching awards. I teach courses in social psychology,
including a special topics course, "The Psychology of Persuasion and
Manipulation" (my favorite course), and am currently teaching the
psychology department honors seminar.
I am active at Poverello House, a local organization that provides meals,
services and shelter to the homeless. My major current project there is a
tent city community we began in January, 2004, named "The Michael
McGarvin, Jr. Village of Hope" in honor of the late son of the founder
of Poverello House, "Papa Mike" McGarvin, Sr. The Village is a
unique and ambitious enterprise in which a group of homeless people have come
together, at their own initiative, to build a mutually supportive,
self-governing community and, in the process, try to reclaim control of their
lives. It has been a remarkable, educational and humbling experience to be part
of this experimental community project. For more information about the
Village go to my article in the UN Human Settlements NGO
Newsletter. For more about Poverello House, see the Poverello House website.
I love creating art work-both paintings and sculpture. My work can be seen at
the Chris Sorensen Studio, 2205 S. Van Ness in Fresno or by appointment.
I am married to Trudi Thom, who works as a school psychologist with Fresno
County schools. We have two sons: Andy, who is working for the non-profit
organization New Leaders for
New Schools in New York City while simultaneously studying for his Master’s
Degree in the Sociology of Education at Columbia Teacher’s College and Zach,
who is an undergraduate at Columbia University with an emphasis in medical
anthropology.
For details of my work, see my VITA
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Brief Biographical
Blurb:
Robert Levine is a Professor of Psychology and former Associate Dean of the
College of Science and Mathematics at California State University, Fresno
where he has won awards for both his teaching and research. He is a
Fellow in the American Psychological Association. In 2007 he was both
named Outstanding Teacher of the year by the Western Psychological
Association and received the Provost's Award for Teacher of the Year at
California State University, Fresno. He has published many articles in
professional journals as well as articles in trade periodicals such as
Discover, American Demographics, The New York Times, Utne Reader, and
American Scientist. His book, A Geography of Time (Basic Books,
1997), was the subject of feature stories around the world, including
Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine, CNN, the BBC, ABC's Primetime, and
NPR's All Things Considered and Marketplace. It has been translated into six
languages. His recent book, The
Power of Persuasion: How We're Bought and Sold (John
Wiley & Sons, 2003), has been translated into seven languages. An
updated, paperback revision was published in 2006.
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