Popular Culture Meets Psychology

It had been a long day, and an even more excruciatingly long weekend. It was the end of our annual pilgrimage to the mecca of popular culture and uber-materialism...Orlando, Florida-home of Disney World...need I say more?! Read More

When they first moved into the house next door, I was dumbfounded. Seven children ranging in age from 10 months to twelve years. Home schooled! Both parents at home! Happy?!?!  Read More

I have two confessions to make...I am a psychology professor and I love The Big Bang Theory. No, not the one that started the universe...the television show featuring a cast of highly intelligent, yet socially clueless physicists, and their endearing and perennially bewildered neighbor, Penny.  Read More

By my reckoning, it has been quite a while since my last post.  A month in the blogosphere is equivalent to eons in geologic time.  Every day, I am tempted to reflect on a popular culture current event and its psychological significance, but I have refrained.  It is not for lack of interest because certainly much of interest has transpired. Maybe I haven't been inspired. Read More

In the fiery passion of a solstice ceremony, one hero rose above all others to reclaim the past... Read More

While killing 4 hours on a layover this past weekend, I happened upon these two advertisements, which ironically, were within fifty feet of each other.  Read More

I think I was seven or eight when I experienced my first horror movie.  I was channel surfing, which at the time was actually a full-body physical act, when I was, unexpectedly scared out of my wits.  Back then, Channel 11 in New York featured Chiller Theater, a melange of B-quality horror stories accompanied by images, that by today's standards Read More

     Last night, my wife and I experienced Andrew Lloyd Weber's  Phantom of the Opera in an opulent performing arts center.  Some people were dressed to the nines while others wore jeans and flip flops. Read More

If, as mythologist Joseph Campbell believed, dreams are individual mythologies and mytholgy collective dreams, what might be the meaning of the post-apocalyptic narrative in our culture?  Read More

I will likely end class a bit early tonight so that I may be couch-side for the debut of ABC's newest 'reality' show, "Find My Family." It will be a tear-jerker, no doubt...much like its blockbuster predecessor, Extreme Makeover-Home Edition. Read More

Every field of professional study has its giants; those who by virtue of their vision, creativity, tirelessness and dedication create meaning where none may have previously existed. Read More

On the way to school this morning, my eleven year old daughter reminded me that for some people, Halloween marks Satan's birthday.  Ever scouting the horizon for a useful metaphor, I pondered long and hard, and in the process recalled my visit to Target the night before. I remember standing in absolute awe before the Halloween section-which included a few plastic pumpki Read More

Where Have You Gone Gloria Steinham? Read More

I am a Jew, working in a Catholic University who is looking into the possiblility of attending a Unitarian Church with my family in the near future.  While I am pretty comfortable in my personal spirituality, I am searching for a brick-and-mortar place to nurture my family's religious growth.  Read More