Edman presents Manchester College convocation speech

Dr. Laird Edman, associate professor of psychology at Northwestern College, gave the opening convocation address at Indiana’s Manchester College on Sept. 4.

Speaking on “Unlearning the Culture: Revolutionary Thinking,” Edman focused on the importance of critical thinking and the difficulties involved in being a person of good judgment.

While at Manchester, Edman also addressed the college’s freshmen about the kinds of thinking in which they should expect to grow. In addition, he met with Manchester’s faculty as a follow-up to a full-day workshop he presented in May on teaching critical thinking and student cognitive development.

A member of Northwestern College’s faculty since 2002, Edman earned a doctorate in educational psychology that focused on cognition and learning from the University of Minnesota, as well as master’s degrees in counseling psychology and English literature from the University of Notre Dame.

Edman’s research has been printed in such publications as Psychological Reports, the Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, Resources in Education, and the National Honors Report. He has also presented papers, workshops and seminars at the annual conferences of the American Psychological Society, American Psychological Association, National Collegiate Honors Council, and American Educational Research Association.

Prior to joining Northwestern’s faculty, Edman taught at Iowa State University, Luther College and Waldorf College.