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Alissa Lastres '12

2011 Soar Student

Major/minor: Psychology/English

Hometown: Bethlehem, PA

Project: Positive Psychology and Disability

Project advisor: Dana Dunn

Project details: My SOAR project consisted of doing literature reviews and aiding in the final draft of two essays dealing with Positive Psychology and Disability and also writing a book review for publication.

Why I wanted to participate in SOAR: I plan to attend graduate school, and I wanted to have research experience in different areas of psychology. I had conducted research for an independent study in the field of developmental psychology, and I also wanted to conduct research in social psychology.

Results: The work from this project resulted in three articles for publication in various journals, which, as an undergraduate student, was a very exciting opportunity for me.

Future plans: I believe that the field of positive psychology, both tied to and not tied to disability, is a fascinating field. If I do not focus on positive psychology and its relationship to dealing with and teaching about disability, I may explore the use of positive psychology in other arenas, such as in the workplace.