Mark Oakes

Dr. Mark A. Oakes will serve as the Faculty Mentor for the men's and women's tennis teams in the 2012-13 season.

Dr. Oakes joined the St. Lawrence Psychology Department as an Assistant Professor in 2011. Prior to joining the St. Lawrence faculty, Oakes was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology at Hamilton College, where he helped coach both the men's and women's squash and tennis teams. He received his BA in Psychology and English from Western Washington University and his Ph.D. from the University of Washington.

Current Professional/Research Interest:

Dr. Oakes's current research interests involve self-esteem, stereotypes and prejudice, and embodied cognition. Recent collaborations with students include projects on fragile and implicit self-esteem, reducing implicit prejudice, mate preference, relational aggression, and forgetting.

"Psychology-the study of behavior and the mind-has always fascinated me. I am continuously amazed by how past experiences (recent and dated), emotions, expectations, thoughts, and movements can automatically influence our behavior without our slightest realization. There is no doubt that these automatic processes can be richly rewarding. For example, when we reflexively recognize the spin on a kick serve or provide the answer to a complex question with little thought. However, these processes can be equally devastating when they are in error, such as perceiving a wallet as a gun (e.g., Amadou Diallo case). In short, automatic processes (and our inability to control and even recognize them) will continue to confound and amaze me for years to come."

Teaching Interests:
Introductory Psychology
Research Methods in Psychology
Social Psychology
Stereotypes and Prejudice
The Self