Warner School Professor Awarded Fulbright Scholar Grant to Study Human Motivation in Russia

Associate Professor Martin Lynch from the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to teach and conduct research in Russia.
 
Lynch’s award will take him to Kazan Federal University (KFU) for the 2014-15 academic year to teach in the Department of Psychology. While in Russia, Lynch will conduct research on the beliefs of local childcare and child development experts on what is needed to help children develop and thrive in psychologically and emotionally healthy ways.
 
Lynch will travel to Kazan, Russia in September to begin his research, which will include a qualitative study among individuals working directly with children in both professional and non-professional settings. Using an approach that studies individuals in personal, in-depth detail to achieve a better understanding of them, Lynch will work with a team of student researchers from the psychology department to collect data from parents, elementary school teachers, medical professionals, social workers, and childcare providers within two cultural groups (Tatar and Russian) about the cultural beliefs and practices relevant to understanding links between motivation, basic psychological needs, and well-being.
 
“I am grateful for this opportunity to continue my cross-cultural research in Russia,” says Lynch. “Not only will this Fulbright award deepen my knowledge of higher education there and provide an opportunity to improve my knowledge of academic Russian, but it will also benefit my discipline of studies in motivation by providing a first-ever opportunity to study basic needs ideographically and to understand what they may mean to representatives of the local culture.”
 
Lynch chose KFU in Russia as the site for his research because psychology has deep roots in Russia, where key social scientists and figures in Russian psychology have made significant contributions to the field around behavior and activity and the physiological bases of motivation. Additionally, the city of Kazan represents a unique opportunity for Lynch to continue his cross-cultural work within an area that is roughly equally divided between two distinct ethnic groups.
 
By examining the links between basic needs and well-being in Russia, Lynch believes that his work in motivation will have important implications for theory building as well as practical implications for the local host culture. The findings of his research will be published in scholarly journals, such as the Journal of Counseling and Development, Motivation and Emotion, and the Journal of Positive Psychology, and the Russian-language journal Psikhologiya. Additionally, results will be disseminated at scholarly conferences, such as the International Conference on Self-Determination Theory, the International Conference on Positive Psychology, and the conference of the American Counseling Association.
 
Lynch, an alumnus of the University of Rochester, completed his PhD in clinical psychology and joined the counseling and human development faculty at the Warner School in 2008. He focuses his research on cross-cultural studies and the understanding of intercultural relations and experiences, and is involved in applied motivational research in the areas of health care, work, and psychotherapy. Lynch, who is fluent in Russian and has lived and worked in Russia, brings a unique perspective to cross-cultural studies and the understanding of intercultural relations and experiences. His work has been published widely in both western and Russian journals. Prior to the Warner School, Lynch taught at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee.
 
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and established in 1946 by the U.S. Congress, the Fulbright Scholar Program is an international exchange program offering opportunities for students, scholars, and professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide. Named after Senator J. William Fulbright and charged with a mission of “fostering leadership, learning and empathy between cultures,” this highly selective program provides roughly 1,200 U.S. scholars each year with the opportunity to study, teach, or conduct research abroad. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields.  For more information about the Fulbright Scholar Program, click here or visit: http://www.cies.org/.  
 
About the Warner School of Education
Founded in 1958, the University of Rochester’s Warner School of Education (www.warner.rochester.edu) offers master’s and doctoral degree programs in teaching and curriculum, school leadership, higher education, educational policy, counseling, human development, and health professions education. The Warner School of Education offers a new accelerated option for its EdD programs that allows eligible students to earn a doctorate in education in as few as three years part time while holding a professional job in the same field. The Warner School of Education is recognized both regionally and nationally for its tradition of preparing practitioners and researchers to become leaders and agents of change in schools, universities, and community agencies; generating and disseminating research; and actively participating in education reform. 
 

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