Position
Academic Background
Sample Courses
Teaching Philosophy
Research & Interests
Notable Academic Appointments and Awards
Publication Highlights
Selected Scholarly Presentations 

                                                                           View Other Faculty Profiles

Position            

• Professor of Psychology and Women's Studies

Academic Background         

• University of Massachusetts at Amherst
  • Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, 1976
  • M.S. in Clinical Psychology, 1974
• Pennsylvania State University - B.A. in Psychology, 1971

Sample Courses Taught at Providence College   

• Psychology of Women
• Abnormal Behavior
• Personality
• Behavior Disorders of Children
• Introduction to Women's Studies
• Representations of Motherhood (Women's Studies Capstone class)

Teaching Philosophy            

When I began teaching, I thought about the best teachers I'd had and what they had in common: they were very smart and very caring.  I told myself that teaching is based on a relationship... In recent years, I've been trying to keep that relationship in sight as the core of good teaching.  Yes, it is important to be smart and to know one's field well.  But it also is important to "start where the client is at," an old saying in psychotherapy circles.  To know where the student is "at," one must listen and one must care. 

I started my teaching career by relying on lectures but gradually realized that students learn more when there is dialogue rather than monologue.  These realizations have had a snowball effect on my teaching that has not ended yet.  Instead of relying so much on textbooks, I've been using more books and articles from a range of sources... and have been sending students out into the world to see what they see when they use the lenses provided by the classroom experience.  I've seen how much more powerful learning through experience can be than learning through listening.  

Research & Interests                  

Much of my work throughout my career has focused on the lives and experiences of women. This emphasis on women has sensitized me to some of the limitations as well as the strengths of psychological approaches to understanding people.  It has also made me aware of how very much context shapes experience, understanding, and development.

Since graduate school, I have been interested in how people cope with stressful life events.  These interests have taken me into studies of psychological androgyny, middle-aged women, and, most recently, bereaved children and families.  My current project involves what I call "grief narratives" in children's popular films.  While many people have expressed concern about the numbers of deaths children witness in movies and on television, I am interested particularly in the ways in which the grief process in children is portrayed in these media. It is my belief that these portrayals of grief are important sources of information for children about what grief is, how long it lasts, and how it is expressed.

My involvement with the Gordon School, a nursery-grade 8 independent school in East Providence, RI, allows me to bridge my academic interests in the social context of behavior and education, and my commitment to social justice.  Gordon is recognized nationally as a pioneer in multi-cultural education and in its diversity initiatives.  I delight in using my psychology skills in this venue and in the ongoing opportunities to learn.  At Gordon, I am a member of the Board of Trustees, a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, and the Chair of the Diversity Committee.

Notable Academic Appointments and Awards

• Elected to Fellow status, American Psychological Association (APA), 2001
• American Association of University Professors Academic Excellence Award, Providence College Chapter, 1995
• Clinical Fellow in Psychology, Harvard Medical School. Advanced post-doctoral training in systemic family therapy, Judge Baker Guidance Center/Children's Hospital Medical Center, 1984-85.
• Clinical Fellow in Psychology, Harvard Medical School. Post-Doctoral training in child and family evaluation and treatment, Judge Baker Guidance Center/Children's Hospital Medical Center, Boston, 1983-84.
• Honorary Societies: Psi Chi; Phi Beta Kappa, 1971-present

Publication Highlights

• Sedney, M.A. (2002). "Maintaining connections in children's grief narratives in popular films."  American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 72, 279-288.
• Sedney, M.A. (1999). "Children's grief narratives in popular films." Omega: Journal of Death and Dying, 39(4), 315-324.
• Baker, J.E. & Sedney, M.A. (1996) "How bereaved children cope with loss: An overview."  In C. A. Corr & D. Corr (Eds.), Handbook of childhood death and bereavement (pp 109-129). New York: Springer.
• Sedney, M.A., Baker, J.E., & Gross, E. (1994). "'The Story' of a death: Therapeutic considerations with bereaved families."  Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 20, 287-296.
• Baker, J.E., Sedney, M.A., & Gross, E. (1992) "Psychological tasks for bereaved children." American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 62, 105-116.
• Sedney, M.A. (1987). "Development of androgyny: Parental influences." Psychology of Women Quarterly, 11, 311-326.  Reprinted in C. Carlson (1990). Perspectives on the family: History, class, and feminism.  Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
• Sedney, M.A. & Brooks, B. (1984) "Factors associated with a history of childhood sexual experience in a non-clinical female population."  Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 23, 215-218.
• Kaplan, A.G., & Sedney, M.A. (1980) Psychology and sex roles: An androgynous perspective.  Boston: Little, Brown.

Selected Scholarly Presentations and Activities

• "Through the Lens of Popular Culture: Grief Narratives in Films." Invited participant, Grief and Bereavement Conference, in the Cambridge Hospital series of continuing education conferences for physicians and mental health professionals.  Boston, December 2004.
• "Violent Victimization of Substance Abusing Women with Schizophrenia: Contributors, Impact, and Treatment."  Discussant for symposium at American Psychological Association sponsored conference Enhancing Outcomes in Women's Health: Translating Psychosocial and Behavioral Research into Primary Care, Community Interventions, and Health Policy. Washington, DC, February 2002.
• "Grief Narratives in Children's Disney Films."  Presented at conference on Rethinking Disney: Private Control and Public Dimensions, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, November 2000.
• "Good Mothers and Bad Mothers: Western Historical and Cultural Perspectives." Presented as part of a structured discussion on Good Mothers and Bad: Cultural Ideology, Psychological Theorizing, Social Regulation at the annual conference of the Association for Women in Psychology, Salt Lake City, Utah, March 2000.
• "Interventions with Bereaved Children: Difference Across Time, Circumstances, and Therapeutic Modality" (with John Baker and Esther Gross). Presented at the annual conference of the Association for Death Education and Counseling, Miami, Florida, April, 1995.
• "Children's Grief Reactions: Changes Over Time" (with John Baker and Esther Gross).  Presented at the Fourth International Conference on Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society, Stockholm, Sweden, June 1994.

View Other Faculty Profiles