Let’s work together: SC lecture to discuss conflict, cooperation, and morality

The Sheridan College Foundation will kick off the 2021-22 Thickman Lecture Series with a talk by psychology instructor Dr. Rachel Kristiansen on at 7 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 9, at the Whitney Center for the Arts. 

The lecture is titled “Why Are We So Divided? Conflict, Cooperation, and Morality”. A livestream of the talk will also be available at www.sheridan.edu/lectures.

Kristiansen will present a discussion on social dilemmas, how morality affects cooperation, social norms, group behavior and the effect of culture. She will also discuss how subtle changes can make a large impact on cooperation and success.

Kristiansen, a Sheridan native, is a full-time tenured faculty member at Sheridan College in the psychology department. She received her PhD in experimental psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2011. 

According to a release from Sheridan College, during her graduate career, Kristiansen studied various species of cetaceans (dolphins and whales) in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean and served as a research assistant for several projects with small primates. Her doctoral dissertation examined a factorial analysis of personality in horses across the globe. Publications of her research may be found in peer-reviewed journals such as Zoo Biology, the International Journal of Comparative Psychology and the Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior and Cognition. In 2017, she completed a master’s degree in veterinary sciences with a focus on animal shelter medicine from the University of Florida, as well as a graduate certificate in nonprofit leadership. Kristiansen currently serves as the animal care director for Second Chance Sheridan Cat Rescue.