Bio:
Ludo C.P. Scheffer, PhD, is a teaching professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, and the current Director of the Psychology Undergraduate Studies Program. He has served as a faculty member in the department for more than 22 years. Ludo holds a BS in Elementary and Middle School Education from the National Teachers College (The Netherlands), Doctorandus (PhD–abd) in the Science of Education and Schooling (Educational Psychology) from the Free (Reformed) University of Amsterdam, and a PhD in Education/Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education (Psychology in Education Division).
Ludo lives in Philadelphia within walking distance to the university and serves on a variety of Boards of community organizations: Chair of the Board of Trustees (and past Acting President & CEO) of International House Philadelphia, Vice President of the Board of the Fair Housing Rights Center, Secretary of the Indochinese American Council, and Board Member of Young Soon Kim Dance Co. in New York/Brooklyn. Besides being active in the non-profit world, Ludo has been active in faculty/university shared governance for more than 10 years, most recently serving as the Chair of the Faculty Senate of the University for five years, before stepping down. He is the recipient of the Provost’s Award for academic excellence.
Engaging and Supporting Students:
As a teaching professor, I am guided by five values: Social Justice; Self-determination & Participation; Caring & Compassion; Heath; and, Human Diversity. Together, these values provide a foundation on how I engage the students in thinking about the subject and its components at hand in a course. While engaging the students in the material, I am also engaging them in thinking about how we can reframe that topic/issue in a broader context. I hope students don’t only come to understand the text of the topic, but also the context in which these topics/issues occur, as this influences how we come to see the phenomena we study. Thus, thinking about how knowledge develops is as important as under what conditions, from what perspective it develops. And, the classroom atmosphere is one in which we banter, argue, explain, understand and empathize with each other as we try to struggle with the material. Some of the courses I teach are: Psychology of Hate; Psychology of Sustainability; Psychology: Injustice & Inequity; I/O Psychology, and Sport Psychology.
In my role as Program Director, I oversee both the on-campus and online undergraduate program, with the great support of my colleagues and staff. We continuously strive for excellence in offerings, aiming to provide all of our students with the best possible preparation for careers and ongoing, graduate studies after they graduate. In our program, we provide students with a variety of opportunities for engaging in leadership and service (student clubs and labs), and opportunities to engage in scholarship through lab experiences that may guide them to publications/poster presentations on topics of their interest within my colleagues’ labs. To support our students in that endeavor, I have created the Undergraduate Psychology Research Fund, which provides financial support for student presentations at conferences. Ultimately, I believe my role as Director, in collaboration with the Senior Academic Adviser, colleagues, and staff, is to support an environment that makes students feel they belong, and that supports and helps develop their goals for their academic journey.