Maram Hallak

Background
I arrived at BMCC September 1, 2001 excited to be doing what I had worked so hard to prepare to do: Assistant Professor of Psychology. Having grown up under an oppressive regime and a civil war, and completing much of my school work while working full time and raising three children, I was looking forward to focusing on my students and my own scholarship. While my master’s degree focused on Counseling, my doctoral work was in Experimental Psychology; more specifically the social psychology of nonviolence and peace studies, with particular emphasis on gender and multicultural psychology.

Teaching
My philosophy of teaching is to provide opportunities for students to get a taste of self actualization, and to open new venue with focus on possibilities. Although it might be clichéd, I believe that as a teacher, it is not enough to share wisdom and disseminate knowledge; rather, my role is to empower students to love learning, and to help them expand the threshold of their own strengths and interests. To achieve this, I have found it important to learn more about our students and to provide them with a cooperative learning environment that is inclusive and energetic. This aspiration also assists in tailoring classroom lectures and activities according to their motivation, perception, and learning styles. Keeping in mind that our students will soon move to carry important roles in meeting the challenges of our society, I encourage them to question ongoing assumptions as I help prepare them for their upcoming responsibilities.

Scholarship
My scholarly work has been seamless with my teaching and service, moreso than I had anticipated. While I have maintained my emphasis on a better understanding of violence prevention and multicultural education, I have found a niche I hadn’t anticipated.

In the aftermath of September 11, I was privileged to be invited, in late 2001, to facilitate a group of young Muslim women experiencing a myriad of post-9/11 reactions. My work with them convinced me that more needed to be told from their perspective. This led to a qualitative research study that was presented at several academic and professional settings, and was published as an article in Sex Roles: A Journal of Research.

Service
I believe my commitment of service to my college, my community at large is evident in my various involvements. On a department level, I acted as co-advisor for the Human Services Club, and I served on the Board of the Teaching and Learning Center at my college. I also executed the position of Editor for our college¿s Faculty Focus publication.

My service to the profession spans several national and international psychology organizations. Over the past decade, I have served officially on boards of prominent psychological and international organizations. As the representative of AWP (the Association for Women in Psychology-one of the earliest and most respected women¿s psychological groups in the nation) to the United Nations, I was elected to serve on the Executive Committee of the Non-Government Organizations/Department of Public Information-a unique post that allowed me to experience first hand special humanitarian issues, political diplomacy, and communication strategies between agencies with specific agendas. I am honored to reveal that i designed a training program as part of the United Communications Seminars for their NGO community.

I have been also involved in conference planning and executing. This included vital appointed and elected positions including chairing and co chairing program committees for AWP, the APA’s Division 48 (Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict Resolution, and Violence-an international organization), as well as the United Nations¿ Annual Conference of Non-Government Organizations/Department of Public Information.