Eric Mania, PhD

Eric Mania joined the Quinsigamond Community College Psychology Department in the fall of 2009. He is a graduate of a community college himself, having earned an AA degree in Liberal Arts from Mohawk Valley Community College. He also holds a BA degree in Psychology from Syracuse University and a PhD in Social Psychology from the University of Delaware.

He has previously taught psychology courses at the University of Delaware, worked as a research consultant for educational initiatives at the University of Delaware and for the social justice organization, Seeking Common Ground. He also spent a year working in human services, providing vocational assistance to individuals with various barriers to employment, including mental illness and developmental disability.

Eric is passionate about psychology, teaching, and supporting his students. Until college he was not very academically engaged. However, when he enrolled in his first psychology course in community college he found the subject so captivating that it quickly turned his attitude toward academics around. Also instrumental to this change was the intellectually stimulating, yet supportive environment he found at community college. To this day he is grateful to the professors that sparked this change and strives to pay his gratitude forward by providing his own students with a captivating account of psychology delivered within a stimulating and supportive environment.

As an experimental social psychologist by training, Eric is also passionate about social psychological research.  Specific research interests are in the psychology of forgiveness and the psychology of prejudice. In collaboration with colleagues he has published articles on these topics and continues to conduct research in these areas. Eric is enthusiastic about engaging students in the research process. If you are interested in social psychological research you are encouraged to contact him.

Besides psychology and teaching, Eric enjoys spending time with his family, snowboarding, mountain biking, running, music (particularly if it is loud and fast), and reading non-fiction.