Events

Stephen D. Whitney is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Missouri, where he has been on faculty since 2005. He holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Washington.

Steve's research spans two interconnected programs: complex dynamic systems and developmental factors that shape academic achievement, motivation, and socioeconomic context, and a cross-cultural examination of sexual consent with collaborators in the United States, Greece, South Africa, and Nigeria. His most recent work turns a critical methodological lens on complex dynamic systems research itself, examining the limits of emergence as an explanatory concept in the social sciences and making the epistemological case for Bayesian approaches as the appropriate framework for the field.

A founding member of the Interdisciplinary Complexity Research Association for the Social Sciences (ICRASS), Steve also created and leads a faculty-led study abroad program in Athens, Greece that engages students with vulnerable and refugee populations, and has served as Honors Director for his college since 2006. He is an active mentor of doctoral students and a sustained collaborator with colleagues across Europe and Africa.