Phia Salter

I am a graduate of Davidson College, where I earned my B.S. in Psychology in 2005. I returned to Davidson in 2019 after earning my M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Kansas and spending several years teaching and conducting research at Texas A&M University. I am also a proud graduate of the NC School of Science and Mathematics.

My research utilizes cultural-psychological and critical race perspectives to inform my work on collective memory, social identity and systemic racism. Throughout my research, one can find an integration of testing basic research theory and applications to socially relevant issues. I am also dedicated to social justice initiatives for teaching and learning. I teach courses in cultural psychology (PSY 245; PSY 317), Black psychology (PSY 369) and history of psychology (PSY 402). In the classroom, I facilitate dialogue, critical thinking and action that empowers students to identify, challenge and dismantle various forms of oppression and injustice. In 2018, I was awarded an Outstanding Teaching & Mentoring Award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI), a professional organization that advances the integration of activist scholarship and public policy.