For Immediate Release
Sylvia Williams, Director of Communications
Fielding Graduate University
2112 Santa Barbara Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
805.898.2947
sawilliams@fielding.edu

Santa Barbara, CA (September 19, 2007) ...Fielding Graduate University welcomed eighteen students into its newly created PhD Media Psychology Program, the only doctoral program of its kind in the world. “The students are all mid-career professionals from organizations as varied as Disney, The University of Vermont, and Sony Entertainment. Fielding’s distributed learning model allows the students to maintain their professional, family, and community commitments while earning their advanced degrees,” said Dr. Bernie Luskin, director of the program.

The media psychology curriculum is designed for professionals who come from a wide variety of disciplines and who want to study the effects of media on human behavior. Throughout their studies and doctoral research they address the convergence of media, technology, communication, art, and science.

Dr. Luskin believes the field is personified by the term "pscybermedia," a blend of psychology, artificial intelligence, cybernetics, and media.

Both an art and a science, the emerging field represents significant opportunity to use media in new and creative ways by understanding how psychology and media work together. Psychological theories are applied to emerging e-Learning in pioneering ways. "Psychology is fundamental in the world of new media for understanding media impact on society and in developing media-centric products and services affecting our lives," Luskin says.

Fielding's president Dr. Judith Kuipers says "the response for the program has been extremely positive. The Media Psychology Program is one of the most innovative new PhD programs in all of higher education, and Fielding is a world leader in distributed learning in doctoral education,” Kuipers said.

"This PhD program has been transformational for me,” noted Rachel Bishar, PhD, who in July 2007 became the first doctoral graduate in media psychology from any university in the world. “Rachel is now qualified for the Guinness Book of World Records” noted Luskin.

Fielding Graduate University is headquartered in Santa Barbara, CA, where it was founded in 1974. It is a world-recognized leader in graduate education, having created one of the first and most successful distributed learning models for mid-career adults. Fielding is an accredited, nonprofit graduate university offering programs within three schools: Psychology, Human & Organization Development, and Educational Leadership & Change. The Fielding community is dedicated to lifelong learning; social justice and change; and innovation in organizations, communities, and society. For more information, visit www.fielding.edu.