Dr. Omid Fotuhi, project manager of the College Transition Collaborative and research associate at Stanford University’s Interventions Lab, will present the address “The Power of Beliefs: Adaptive Mindsets for Success in School” on Monday, Sept. 21, at 7:30 p.m. at Hope College in Winants Auditorium of Graves Hall. The public is invited. Admission is free.
The lecture is intended particularly for students and K-12 educators. The event is sponsored by the office of the associate dean for teaching and learning at Hope and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute program at Hope.
Fotuhi’s work focuses on ideas and techniques proven to boost college students’ achievement and well-being, while narrowing group disparities. Research has shown that students’ beliefs and mindsets can influence whether students succeed or do poorly and disengage, irrespective of prior academic achievement. Students with adaptive mindsets, which include positive beliefs about their school and their own abilities to learn and grow, tend to be more motivated and cope with difficulty and challenge better. Building on decades of research, Fotuhi will discuss strategies that can be used to foster more adaptive mindsets for both the self and in others.
Prior to working at Stanford, Fotuhi was a researcher with the World Health Organization. Fotuhi has also served as a research assistant with International Tobacco Control, as training manager and trainer with the Certified Technical Training Centre and as program manager and coordinator of the Canadian Bioinformatics Workshops at the University of British Columbia. Fotuhi received his master’s in 2009 and his Ph.D. in 2013, both at the University of Waterloo. He then was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford.
Graves Hall is located at 263 College Ave., between 10th and 12th streets.