Dr. Tara Mandalaywala

On Tuesday, April 20, 2021, the psychology departments at Yeshiva College and Stern College for Women, together with the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program at Yeshiva College, hosted Dr. Tara Mandalaywala, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in Amherst, Massachusetts. In her lecture, “A Kid’s Eye View of Race and Social Status,” Dr. Mandalaywala shared her research on young children’s thoughts and observations on the important issues of race and social status, work that comes out of Dr. Mandalaywala’s Cognition Across Development Laboratory at UMass Amherst, which explores the development of social cognition across human and nonhuman primates. Her research examines how young individuals make sense of and cope with the complex social world around them. Honors student Baruch Lerman ’23YC, who attended the talk, recalled, “I really enjoyed the presentation from Dr. Mandalaywala on this topic and found the possible differences between how children and adults perceive the world very interesting.” Dr. Eliezer Schnall, clinical professor of psychology and director of the Schottenstein Honors Program joined the students in enjoying hearing about Dr. Mandalaywala’s fascinating research, noting, “Dr. Mandalaywala’s lecture was an important and timely contribution to the ongoing dialogue about issues of race in this country.”