Jan Hitchcock

I’ve been a faculty member in Social and Behavioral Sciences at LAC since 1991, initially arriving as the sole full-time faculty member in this program. I am delighted with how the SBS program has grown, including through its versatility in preparing students for a wide range of career tracks. Advising individual students on how to make best use of the program and observing our growing network of SBS alumni working in the community is a great pleasure!

My teaching centers on development across the life span, including during adulthood, and on interdisciplinary topics such as spirituality, violence, risk, and poetry. Reflecting my undergraduate double-major in Anthropology and Psychology (from Pitzer College) and the anthropological focus of electives chosen as part of my graduate studies in Personality and Developmental Psychology (Harvard University), I integrate cross-cultural perspectives into many of my courses. I also regularly teach “Creative Critical Inquiry into Modern Life,” a Common Core course at the college, and the interdisciplinary Senior Seminar.

Immediately after receiving my Ph.D., I conducted research on topics bridging the social sciences and public health – smoking, substance abuse, and utilization of screening mammography – at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and at USM's Muskie School of Public Service. Intrigued by how the meaning of “risk” varied for different individuals and institutions, I framed one line of research around “risk perception” and have presented and published on that subject.

 My more recent scholarship focuses on the interrelationships between poetry and psychology, including, more specifically, dreaming. I’ve presented on varied configurations of these topics nationally and internationally. A recent publication, in the Journal of Poetry Therapy, co-authored with clinician Sally Bowden-Schaible, describes the therapeutic potentials, both individual and collective, associated with poetry. I also write poetry and have had poems in literary magazines and anthologies. 

 A designated “relief weeder” for the household garden, I am fascinated by the flock of chickens we keep for eggs, and enjoy also the energy brought to the home by Maisie, a Corgi-Wheaton Terrier mix!