Sister Agnes Hughes, IHM, Ph.D.

Title: Professor Emerita of Psychology

Department: Psychology and Counseling

Office: Loyola Hall 332

Phone: (610) 647-4400 Ext: 3290

Education:Ph.D. in Psychology, Fordham University, 1967
M.A. in Experimental Psychology, Fordham University, 1964
A.B. in Theology, Immaculata University, 1958

Biography

Sister Agnes Hughes, IHM, Ph.D., is professor emerita of psychology at Immaculata University and its first department chair. She completed postdoctoral studies at the Jungian Institute in Zurich, Switzerland and with Erik Erikson through the International Institute for Humanistic Studies in Vermont.

Throughout her teaching career, she worked to blend her background in both theology and psychology into an understanding of the truth that grace builds on nature, or in other words, to demonstrate that the pursuit of wholeness and holiness is indeed a single goal in the life of each person.

Teaching experience:

Professor of Psychology at Immaculata University, 1963-present
Lecturer at St. Charles Seminary, 1973-1989
Instructor at Cardinal Dougherty High School, 1956-1962

Research Interests:

Assessment of stages of faith development across stages of human development
Self-esteem issues in children and adolescents
Positive aspects of aging
Conflict resolution strategies
Integration of psychology and spirituality

Publications:

The Christian Perspective on Individuation: Psychological and Spiritual Helps for the Journey to Wholeness, Journal of Pastoral Counseling, XXII, Spring-Summer, 1987, 24-32.
Effects of Syntactical Meditation, Age, and Modes of Representation in Paired-Associate Learning, Child Development, 1972, 42, 1827-36.
Prejudice and the Christian, Journal of Pastoral Concern, 1970, 2, 152-57.

Presentations:

Over 250 lectures and workshops, 1970 to the present, on topics such as human growth and development, moral development, group process, communication skills, and self-discovery.

Lectures on the stages of development; summers 1996-2001 in California, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

Fifteen additional workshops, 1996-1999, on topics including leadership, motivation, empowerment, loss and grieving.

Grants:

International Institute of Humanistic Studies: Postdoctoral Fellowship Seminar with Erik Erikson, 1978
University of Maryland Postdoctoral Fellowship, 1973
National Institute of Mental Health Predoctoral Fellowship, 1965-1967

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