Kimberly Eretzian Smirles

Psychology > Faculty & Staff > Kimberly Eretzian Smirles

Department Chair
Associate Professor of Psychology
B.A., Boston College; M.A., Ph.D., University of New Hampshire

Office hours:
Mon 2:00-3:00
Tue 3:30-4:30
Wed 3:00-4:00
Other times by appointment

Office: St. James, Room 404
Phone: 617-735-9733
Email: smirles@emmanuel.edu

I am an experimental social psychologist with research interests in sexual harassment, the effects of media on identity and social perception, and pedagogical techniques. I believe strongly in conducting applied research that can directly benefit others. My activity in professional organizations, such as the Association for Women in Psychology, provides me with the opportunity to collaborate with colleagues on issues of common interest (e.g., teaching techniques, attitudes toward sexual assault) and work towards positive social change. All of this experience contributes back into my teaching, which is my highest priority. My goal is to help students create meaningful knowledge through active learning and critical thinking.

Courses

PSYCH1201 - General Psychology
PSYCH2203 - Social Psychology
PSYCH3101 - Psychology of Women
PSYCH3211 - Theories of Personality
PSYCH4100 - Experimental Psychology
PSYCH4282 – Senior Directed Research
FYS1101 - Social Construction of Difference

Recent Publications & Professional Activity

Professional Positions

Chair, Psychology Department, Emmanuel College

Coordinator, Women's Studies Program, Emmanuel College

Member, Board of Directors, New England Conference on Inclusive Teaching (NECIT)

Publications and Professional Presentations

Brown, C., Gibbons, J. L., & Smirles, K. E. (2007). Tribal teachers are important to American Indian Adolescents. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 31 (2) (in press).

Hains, R. & Smirles, K. E. (June, 2007) Sex role and narrative structure in television advertisements: A content analysis. Poster to be presented at the annual National Women’s Studies Association Conference, St. Charles, Illinois.

Smirles, K. E. & Stork, D. (2007). Addressing the IRB “Fear Factor.” Poster presented at the annual Teaching Institute of the Association for Psychological Science Conference, Washington, DC.

Smirles, K. E., Hains, R., & Shanahan-Roberge, D. (2007). Sex Sells: Content analysis of primetime television advertisements. Poster presented at the annual Association for Psychological Science Conference, Washington, DC.

Smirles, K. E. (2007). Feminism 101. Invited presentation at the annual Women’s Leadership Conference, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, MA.

Crisostomo, M., Smirles, K. E., Baber, L., & Shanahan-Roberge, D. (2006). First year seminars and inclusive teaching: Understanding the long-term impact of pedagogical practices on student academic success. Panel presentation at the annual New England Center for Inclusive Teaching (NECIT) conference. University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA.

Smirles, K. E. (March, 2006). Women in a Male Dominant Society. Presentation at Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, MA.

Brown, C. & Smirles, K. E. (2006). Examining bicultural ethnic identity of adolescents of a northeastern Indian tribe. American Indian Culture and Research Journal.29 (3), 81-100.

Smirles, K. E. (2005). Test Bank for Franzoi’s Social Psychology 4th Ed.. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill Publishers.

Smirles, K. E. (Invited Panelist) (2005). Multidisciplinary and Multi-institutional Collaboration for Inclusive Teaching and Learning. Panel conducted at the annual New England Center for Inclusive Teaching conference, University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Smirles, K. E. & Malavasi, K. (May, 2005). Telling Their Stories: An Analysis of Women’s Experiences with Unwanted Sexual Behavior. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Society, Las Angeles, CA.

Smirles, K. E. & Malavasi, K. (May, 2004). Examining Narratives of Sexual Harassment: A Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Society, Chicago, IL.

Smirles, K. E. & Reis, B. M. (May, 2004). Using Film to Create Meaningful Knowledge: Talking about Women in Community. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Society, Chicago, IL.

Cardente, E. & Smirles, K.E. (February, 2004). Self-Efficacy and Social Perceptions as Related to Perceived Sex-Role Stereotyping in Popular Film. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Women in Psychology, Philadelphia, PA.

Smirles, K.E. (2004). Attributions of responsibility in cases of sexual harassment: The person and the situation. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34(2), 342-365,

Smirles, K. E. (2003). Sex and the media: Understanding the impact of gender stereotypes. Presentation given at New England College, Henniker, NH.

Brown, C. & Smirles, K. E. (2003a). Examining Bicultural Ethnic Identity of American Indian Adolescents (Report No. CGO32695). Paper published in the ERIC database (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED480493).

Brown, C. & Smirles, K. E. (2003b). Measuring Bicultural Ethnic Identity of American Indian Adolescents. Poster presented at the annual conference of the American Psychological Association.

Smirles, K. E. (January, 2002a). Experimental Psychology Syllabus [On-line]. Available: http://www.teachpsych.org. [copyrighted]

Smirles, K. E. (January, 2002b). Theories of Personality Syllabus [On-line]. Available: http://www.teachpsych.org. [copyrighted]

Smirles, K. E. (Summer, 2001a). General Psychology Syllabus [On-line]. Available: http://www.teachpsych.org. [copyrighted]

Smirles, K. E. (Summer, 2001b). Social Psychology Syllabus [On-line]. Available: http://www.teachpsych.org. [copyrighted]

Smirles, K. E. (Summer, 2001c). Psychology of Women Syllabus [On-line]. Available: http://www.teachpsych.org. [copyrighted]

Smirles, K.E. (Invited Presenter) (2000a). Everything I needed to know about life I learned from my television: The effect of media on the development of adolescents. Professional Development Workshops for School Guidance Counselors, Emmanuel College.

Smirles, K.E. (October, 2000b). Understanding Social Issues: From the Culture to the Individual. Paper presented at the annual Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching.

Smirles, K.E. (Invited Presenter) (2000c). Gender Revealed: Social Behavior and Sexual Harassment In and Out of the Classroom. Presentation and facilitated discussion at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts School Counselors Association.

Smirles, K.E. (Invited Speaker) (2000d). Domestic Violence and the Church. Emmanuel College Urban CPE Internships Course.

Smirles, K.E. (Invited Speaker) (2000e) Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. Emmanuel College Business Internship Course.

Smirles, K.E. (Invited Facilitator) (2000f). Ethical Issues and Pornography. Presentation and facilitated discussion in Emmanuel College Second Year Honor’s Course.

Smirles, K.E. (1999a) Internet vs. Campus Mail Research: Similarities and Differences. Paper presented as part of a symposium on Internet Research at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Boston, MA.

Smirles, K.E. (Invited Speaker) (1999b). Hormones or Harassment?: The Psychology of Sexuality in Adolescents. Professional Development Workshops for School Guidance Counselors, Emmanuel College.

Smirles, K.E. (Invited Speaker) (1999c). The Hierarchy of Sexual Harassment: A Statistical Analysis of Power, Attitudes, and Sexual Behavior. Talk given for the Delta Chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, Boston, MA.

Smirles, K.E. (1999d). Addressing diversity in the classroom: Pedagogical issues and techniques. Paper presented at the annual Association for Women in Psychology conference, Providence, RI.

Smirles, K.E. (1999e). Sexual harassment education: Assessment and future directions. Poster presented at the annual Association for Women in Psychology conference, Providence, RI.

Smirles, K.A. (Invited Presenter) (1998a). Symposium: Social-sexual perspectives as a framework for understanding cross-cultural differences in perceptions and attributions of sexual harassment. Presented at the annual Eastern Psychological Association Conference, Boston, MA.

Smirles, K.A. (1998b). Sexual harassment in graduate school: Experiences and perceptions. Colloquium presented at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH.

Peterson, B. E., Smirles, K. A., & Wentworth, P. A. (1997). Generativity and authoritarianism: Research on personality, parenting, and political involvement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72 (5), 1202-1216.

Smirles, K.A. (Invited Presenter) (March 1997a). Feminist pedagogy and the teaching of psychology: Examples from the class room. Symposium held at Association of Women in Psychology Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Smirles, K. A. (1997b). Approaches to showing videos in class on sensitive issues. Social Psychology Update, 4 (4), 5-8.

Smirles, K.A. (1997c). (Organizer, Chair, Discussant) Social and legal consequences of reporting sexual harassment. Conversation Hour at annual meeting of the American Psychological Society Conference in Washington, D.C. Presenters: Janet Sigal, Ph.D., Fairleigh Dickinson University Lynne Berendsen, M.A. & Jan Yoder, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin John B. Pryor, Ph.D., Illinois State University Barbara Gutek, Ph.D., University of Arizona

Smirles, K.A. (1997d). (Facilitator, Organizer) Freedom of speech or sexual harassment?: Issues in the classroom. Participant Idea Exchange at annual American Psychological Society Institute on Teaching of Psychology in Washington, D.C.

Smirles, K.A., Davey, B.T., & Czarnecki, F. (1997). A comparative analysis of women’s experiences with sexual harassment. Paper presented at Association of Women in Psychology Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Smirles, K.A. & Mincer, S. (1997). Sexual harassment: Ethical issues and guidelines for instructors. Colloquium presented at the University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH.

Smirles, K.A. & Cohn, E.S. (1996). Who's to blame?: Victim and perpetrator responsibility in sexual harassment. Poster presented at the annual American Psychological Association conference in Toronto, Canada.

Peterson, B.E., Smirles, K.A., & Wentworth, P.A. (1996). Implications of generativity for parenting and politics. Paper presented as part of symposium (Legacies of Self Directed Toward Younger Generations- Scholarship Regarding Generativity) at annual American Psychological Association conference in Toronto, Canada.

Smirles, K.A. (November, 1995a). Psychology and women's suffrage: The effects of social change on gender research. Paper presented at the Sixteenth History and Theory of Psychology Colloquium, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH.

Smirles, K.A. (June, 1995b). Attributions of responsibility in sexual harassment: The person-situation interaction. Poster presented at the annual American Psychological Society conference, New York, NY

Research In Progress

Smirles, K. E. & Hains, R. Females perceptions of media images of women and girls. Pilot data collected and methodology under revision.

Hains, R & Smirles, K. E. Content coding for gender roles and narratives in television commercials. Data being analyzed, new content coding procedure under development.

Smirles K.E. & Stork, D. Undergraduate student research and the IRB. Survey in preparation.

Presentations for the Emmanuel Community

(Discussant) Mean Girls. Film and discussion presented for students in Loretto Hall (April, 2007)

(Presenter) Sex and Gender in the Media: The Impact of Social Stereotypes. Presentation made as a part of Accepted Student Visit Day (April, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)

(Panel Member) Transgenderism Sponsored by the Rainbow Connection (November, 2006)

(Discussant) Ethics Conversations: White Privilege. Sponsored by Campus Ministry (Fall, 2006)

(Panel Member) Madam President: Women, Leadership, and Social Stereotypes. Sponsored by the Feminist Coalition. (April, 2006).

(Discussant) Conversations on the film North Country: Issues of sexual harassment and women at work. Sponsored by the Social Justice Club (Fall, 2005)

(Discussant) Ethics Conversations: Hurricane Katrina. Sponsored by Campus Ministry (Fall, 2005)

(Presenter) Constructing a Syllabus, Presentation made as a part of the Faculty Teaching-Learning Discussions (April, 2005)

(Panel Member) The F Word: Women & Voting. Sponsored by the Feminist Coalition. (October, 2004)

(Presenter, Facilitator) Slim Hopes. Presentation and discussion concerning the media and eating disorders made for Emmanuel students. (April, 2004)

(Panel Member) The F Word: Understanding Feminism. Sponsored by the Feminist Coalition. (April, 2004)

(Facilitator) Zimbardo and the Stanford Prison Study. Presentation and discussion made to Emmanuel students, faculty, and administrators. (September, 2003)

(Panel Member) Applying to Graduate School. Sponsored by the Office of Internships and Career Development and the Academic Resource Center.

(Presenter) Gender and Sexuality in the Media: Growing Up in a Multi-Media Society. Presentation made as a part of Accepted Student Visit Day (April, 2003)

(Presenter) Title IX: Issues and Implications. Presentation made as part of Women’s History Month at Emmanuel College (March, 2003)

(Panel Member) Understanding September 11th: Social Thought and the Future. Presentation made as part of a faculty panel series (October, 2001)

(Presenter) Sex Goes Pop: The Use of Sex in Music Videos. Presentation/Discussion of the use of sex and sexuality in music videos and their social impact. Sponsored by the Class of 2001 (Spring 2001)

(Presenter, Facilitator) Eminem: Music and Violence Against Women. Presentation/Discussion of the artist Eminem and the implications of his lyrics on violence against women. Sponsored by the Emmanuel College Class of 2001 (Fall 2000)

(Presenter) A Social-Psychological View of Race and Racism. Interdisciplinary Perspective on Race in U.S. Society, Campus Week of Dialogue on Race (Fall, 1999).