Gerald (he/him) is currently a doctoral candidate in Psychology (Social area) at the University of California, Los Angeles. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, he received his BA in Psychology with honors and distinction from Stanford University in 2014 and his MA in Psychology from UCLA in 2017. His research integrates social and cultural psychology to explore the role of history as critical contextual information that shapes identity, identity-based biases, and, at times, also becomes the focus of perception itself. Specifically, he has examined history’s influence on how dominant and marginalized group members perceive themselves, the groups they value, and members of other groups. In ongoing research, he tests how cognitive representations of oppressive histories shift as a function of group membership, revealing systematic and motivated biases. His work has theoretical and practical implications for meaningful societal contexts, including, but not limited to, higher education, public policy, and the workplace.
