Rider Hosts Fifth Annual Marvin W. Goldstein Lecture on Prejudice Reduction on October 20

Rider University will host the fifth annual Marvin W. Goldstein Lecture on Prejudice Reduction on Thursday, October 20, at 7 p.m. in the Yvonne Theater of the Fine Arts Center on the Lawrenceville campus. The event is free and open to the public.

This year’s lecture, “Worlds Apart: Asymmetrical Goals and Experiences in Interracial Interactions,” will feature J. Nicole Shelton, Ph.D., professor of Psychology at Princeton University.

After receiving her B.A. in Psychology from the College of William & Mary in 1993, Shelton earned a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Virginia in 1998, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan from 1998 to 2000.  Her primary research, which has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Science Foundation, focuses on how “Whites” and ethnic minorities navigate issues of prejudice in their interracial interactions. Specifically, Shelton is interested in how white people’s concerns with appearing prejudiced, and ethnic minorities’ concerns with being the target of prejudice, influence affective, cognitive and behavioral outcomes during interracial interactions. 

Shelton’s secondary line of research focuses on the consequences of confronting perpetrators of prejudice. In particular, she is interested in the interpersonal consequences of confronting perpetrators and the intrapersonal consequences of not confronting perpetrators of prejudice.

The Marvin W. Goldstein Endowed Lecture Series on Prejudice Reduction, presented by the Department of Psychology, brings researchers and professors from the field of psychology to Rider each fall to discuss issues related to prejudice; cultural, racial and gender bias. The endowed lecture series honors the 38-year career of Marvin W. Goldstein, Ph.D., a member of the Rider University Department of Psychology and the co-director of The Julius and Dorothy Koppelman Holocaust and Genocide Resource Center at Rider.

Dr. Anne Law, chair of the Department of Psychology at Rider, said the lecture series brings the University the best in contemporary scholarship on questions of prejudice and prejudice reduction. 

“We are honored to bring Dr. Shelton to Rider to discuss her research, and we know that the audience will appreciate the careful scientific foundation it has created, and will leave understanding more about the barriers that can influence even basic human interactions,” Law said. “It’s our hope that this understanding would be used in ways that can reduce prejudice and create a more tolerant society.”