The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence

Kathleen Stassen Berger transferred from Stanford University to Radcliffe, earning a B.A. and M.A.T. from Harvard University, and then an M.S. and Ph.D. from Yeshiva University, all while teaching adolescents. Her broad experience as a learner and educator includes directing a preschool, chairing philosophy at the United Nations International School, and teaching human development to graduate students at Fordham University, undergraduates at Montclair State University, aspiring professionals at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut, and incarcerated individuals at Sing Sing Prison. For most of her professional career, Berger has been a professor at Bronx Community College of the City University of New York.

Berger is also the author of  Invitation to the Life Span, The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, and  A Topical Approach to the Developing Person Through the Life Span, as well as Grandmothering: Building Strong Ties with Every Generation. Berger’s research interests include adolescent identity, immigration, bullying, and grandparents, and she has published articles in the Wiley Encyclopedia of Psychology, Developmental Review , and Human Development, and in publications of the American Association for Higher Education and the National Education Association for Higher Education. She continues teaching and learning, not only from students and friends but also from four daughters and three grandsons.

Kendra Thomas is an associate professor of psychology at Hope College, earning a Ph.D. from Ball State University. She has taught both undergraduate- and graduate-level human development to future nurses, teachers, and mental health professionals for 10 years. Originally from Londrina, Brazil, Thomas has long-standing research collaborations with the University of São Paulo and the Federal University of Paraná as well as a South African community development organization. Through a research-practice partnership, she and colleagues have expanded the research of hope, especially in contexts of adverse family circumstances and home-visitation interventions. She is passionate about using research as a tool for building sustainable community development initiatives.

Thomas is an active researcher who has published in journals including Journal of Adolescence, Human Development, Applied Developmental Science, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, and International Journal of Behavior Development. She has also written about human development for TIME, Newsweek, Templeton Ideas, and Scientific American magazine.

She lives in Michigan with her husband, two children, and their old dog. Her hobbies include picking up random socks around the house and reading picture books at night.