News & Events

Nolan appointed as APA representative to the UN
Seton Hall > News & Events 

Tuesday, January 13, 2009
by: Miriam Lyons-Frolow

Susan A. Nolan, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology, has been appointed by the American Psychological Association (APA) to a five-year term as a representative to the United Nations (UN). At the UN, the APA holds special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, is affiliated with the Department of Public Information, is accredited to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and is a member of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Status with the United Nations (CONGO).
 
APA's six-person team of accredited representatives contributes research-based information from psychology to UN policy makers and their staff, as well as informs APA's members of global initiatives to which psychologists might contribute. As part of this team, Dr. Nolan will spend Thursdays at the UN, attending briefings and serving on committees. In particular, she hopes to work on issues related to international aspects of gender equality and mental health treatment and prevention.
 
Dr. Nolan also is interested in UN initiatives in statistical capacity building with respect to social science research; statistical capacity building refers to the process through which people in developing countries are trained to become self-reliant in terms of research design, data collection, data analysis, and dissemination of findings. During her 2005-2006 sabbatical year in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dr. Nolan became interested in grassroots statistical capacity building when she trained non-governmental and local municipal employees to conduct their own research and statistical analyses.
 
Dr. Nolan is teaching a special topics course in International Psychology in Spring 2009, and plans to integrate her UN experiences into her course.

For more information please contact:
Miriam Lyons-Frolow
(973) 761-9698
lyonsfmi@shu.edu