Approximately one-third of all college students are affected by interpersonal violence in one way or another.

Melanie Hetzel-Riggin, associate professor of psychology at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, will discuss theories of bystander intervention as well as a multi-method bystander intervention program used to reduce interpersonal violence at the next Colloquium Series in Psychological Sciences and Human Behavior at the college.

Her discussion, titled “I Can Make A Difference: The Bystander’s Role in Ending Relationship Violence,” begins at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 17, in room 180 of the of Jack Burke Research and Economic Development Center, 5101 Jordan Road. Admission is free and open to the public.

Hetzel-Riggin holds an advanced certificate in traumatic stress studies from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies. She has done extensive research on the identification, prediction, classification and prevention of the effects of traumatic experiences on mental health, relationships and coping, especially in survivors of interpersonal violence.

“I Can Make A Difference: The Bystander’s Role in Ending Relationship Violence” is hosted by Penn State Behrend’s B.A. and B.S. in Psychology degree programs and by the student Psychology Coalition with support from the Susan Hirt Hagen CORE (Community Outreach, Research, and Evaluation), the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Student Activity Fee. For additional information, contact Carol Wilson, assistant professor of psychology, at 814-898-6082 or clw33@psu.edu.