Meet our new faculty: Susan Hannan

Susan Hannan, assistant professor of psychology, is a familiar face; Hannan has been teaching at Lafayette since 2017 as a visiting professor.

Area of study: Hannan researches traumatic stress. “I have always been fascinated by the idea that two people can experience two (seemingly) identical traumatic events, and yet one person fully recovers from the trauma and another person’s life is just completely shattered,” she says. She studies social aspects of emotion regulation in trauma survivors and recently has been studying the link between interpersonal trauma (such as campus sexual assault) and institutional betrayal.

Fall courses: Abnormal Psychology and Quantitative Methods

On the impact of COVID: “Due to COVID, there is just so much contingency planning and learning new technology. It has also been immensely difficult to focus on research activities because of this. On a brighter note, I do appreciate the new technology that I am learning. I also believe that I will keep some of the new technology tools/strategies I am implementing in my fall classes in semesters to come.”

On fostering inclusivity: “We need time to check in with each other and see how we’re doing. We’re trying to create a cohesive, collective environment, and we need to be actively aware of how to give students the space to share and to implement that in the classroom.”

My moment of zen: “I have actually had many moments of zen over the past several months due to my increased practice of mindfulness and meditation. April was a difficult month for me both mentally and physically; the stress that I was experiencing really reminded me that I needed to get back into a practice of daily meditation. Now that I am back at a daily practice I am reminded daily of the joy of just sitting outside under a tree and being mindful.”

What I like about Easton: “All of the trails around the rivers and creek! I am a big fan of trail running.”