Derrick Hassert

associate professor of psychology

on faculty since 2003

Phone: 708.239.4862
Fax: 708.597.5858
E-mail: derrick.hassert@trnty.edu 

Education

Ph.D., Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Carbondale, Illinois, 2000
M.A., Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Carbondale, Illinois, 1998
A.S., Joliet Junior College, Joliet, Illinois, 1995
B.A., Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Carbondale, Illinois, 1994
A.A., Joliet Junior College, Joliet, Illinois, 1993

Professional and Personal Interests

If Dr. Derrick Hassert could write his own job description, it would sound just like the one that caught his attention while he was completing his post-doctoral fellowship in behavioral neuroscience at the University of Virginia in 2003. Now an associate professor at Trinity, Hassert found the ideal academic environment in which to teach courses in research methodology, experimental psychology, biological psychology, animal learning, and cognitive psychology.

“As a professor, I emphasize the empirical and scientific basis for psychology as an academic and applied discipline,” said Hassert. “The discussions I share with students in and out of class help me broaden my knowledge of how people experience the world around them. I use this knowledge to enhance how I communicate ideas and concepts to others in the discipline of psychology.”

Hassert brings a strong and varied professional background to his position on Trinity’s faculty. After receiving his Ph.D. in 2000 from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, he taught statistics and research methodology as an adjunct instructor at Roosevelt University and worked as a research coordinator at Northwestern University’s Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center. Hassert also was engaged in behavioral neuroscience research at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Virginia, focusing on the neurobiology of learning and memory. 
     
His avid interest in bioethics and neuroethics led Hassert to the Center for Christian Studies in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he taught a course in neuroscience and ethics while working as a researcher at the University of Virginia. During that time, he began to explore the tension between advances in science and the value of human life. Hassert writes and gives presentations that address ethical issues in biological and behavioral research within the area of neuroethics, which he incorporates into his courses. He is a member of the Society for Neuroscience, the International Neuropsychological Society, and the Association for Psychological Science.

Being a faculty member at Trinity provides opportunities for Hassert to maintain a broad perspective on scientific psychology as a whole, rather than being narrowly focused on a single aspect of the discipline. According to Hassert, he finds joy in his profession “because my passion is the teaching of psychology.  My goal is to develop the students’ knowledge base as well as their critical thinking skills by integrating lecture, discussion, hands-on demonstrations, and multimedia presentations in the classroom to enhance comprehension and retention of the material.” 

Hassert has realized the satisfaction of knowing that his course content remains with his students long after a class is over. “Often students will speak with me a year after they’ve taken one of my classes and say something like, ‘Now when I read an article in a newspaper or magazine about a psychological study, I always ask the questions you taught in your class.’”

A native of Shorewood, Illinois, Hassert and his wife live with their daughter in Tinley Park, Illinois. The family attends St. Andrew’s Reformed Episcopal Church where Hassert serves as associate pastor. His hobbies include drawing, sculpting, and making ventriloquist figures.

Courses Taught

• Advanced General Psychology
• Animal Learning and Cognition
• Applied Behavior Analysis
• Basic Research Skills
• Behavioral Pharmacology
• Brain and Cognition: Human Neuropsychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Emotion and Motivation
• Introduction to Psychology
• Psychobiology: Behavioral Neuroscience
• Statistical Reasoning for Behavioral Sciences

Professional Society Membership

• Association for Psychological Science
• International Neuropsychological Society
• Society for Neuroscience
• Association for Behavior Analysis International (associate member)

Papers Published and/or Presented

• Neuroethics and the Person: Should Neurological and Cognitive Criteria Be Used to Define Human Value? Ethics and Medicine, 2007. 
• Neuroethics and the Nicene Creed. Paper presented at the 13th Annual International Bioethics Conference, 2006, Deerfield, Illinois.
• Teaching the Brain While Minding the Organism. Society for Neuroscience Abstracts, 2005.
• Hassert, D.L., Miyashita, T., & Williams, C.L. The Effects of Peripheral Vagal Nerve Stimulation at a Memory-modulating Intensity on Norepinephrine Output in the Basolateral Amygdala. Behavioral Neuroscience. 2004.