Full-Time Faculty
LeeAnn Bartolini
Professor, Psychology
BA, Dominican College of San Rafael
MA, PhD, California School of Psychology
Dr. Bartolini is a clinical psychologist who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. She has been teaching at Dominican since 1985, joining the Psychology Department full-time in 1993. Currently, LeeAnn co-chairs the department and is involved in teaching both undergraduate and graduate psychology courses, as well as courses in the humanities and in the Women and Gender Studies minor. She maintains a local private practice and is involved in a wide-variety of community work.
Matthew S. Davis
Professor, Psychology
BA, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
MA, College of William and Mary
PhD, University of California, Irvine
Dr. Davis earned his MA in Experimental Social Psychology and his doctoral degree in the interdisciplinary field of Social Ecology with a focus on both Social Psychology and on the geological processes that create earthquakes and volcanoes. His dissertation focused on how residents of southern California perceive the threat posed by earthquake hazards. After a few years of teaching at several campuses of the California State University system, Dr. Davis came to Dominican full-time in 1994. He regularly teaches courses in social psychology, social influence, statistics and research, human sexuality, media psychology, as well as a seminar called Natural Disasters: Societal & Individual Reactions to Risk. He has travelled extensively within the United States, across Europe, and around the Pacific rim, and most recently to Ecuador. He has recently completed research projects on public awareness of warning and evacuation procedures for volcanic mudflow hazards at Mt. Rainier, Washington, perceptions of tsunami hazards along the northern California coast, and the public's perceptions of volcanic hazards in the vicinity of Naples and Mt. Vesuvius in Italy. Most recently he conducted an evaluation of the psychological effects of participating in the "Get Ready Marin" disaster preparedness training sessions that have been offered throughout Marin County.
Afshin Gharib
Department Co-Chair
Assistant Professor, Psychology
BA, Brown University
MA, PhD, University of California, Berkeley
Dr. Gharib's research interests include the cognitive and neural mechanisms of associative learning - focusing on the role of attention, timing, and response learning in operant conditioning - and age-related changes in learning and memory. He is particularly interested in the effectiveness of antioxidants in reversing age associated declines in cognition. His teaching interests include Introduction to Psychology, Physiological Psychology, and Statistics and Research Methods.
Gail Matthews
Professor, Psychology
BA, University of Richmond
MA, PhD, University of Kentucky
Dr. Matthews is a clinical psychologist who focuses on couples therapy, anxiety disorders, and life transitions. She is also a life and career coach, specializing in overcoming barriers to success and fulfillment. Her research on dealing with the "imposter phenomenon" (feelings among some successful people that they do not deserve their success and that they have fooled others who perceive them as competent) received national media attention and her research on blaming the victim (the "just-world hypothesis") is considered a classic in social psychology. Gail chaired the Psychology Department from 1977-1999, and developed the courses in Psychology of Career Choice and Career Development, which she currently teaches. She also regularly teaches Field Placement, Directed Research, Life Coaching, Creating Your Future, and Positive Psychology. Dr. Matthews is currently conducting research testing the effectiveness of life coaching teachniques.
Dr. William Phillips
Department Co-Chair
Associate Professor, Psychology
BS, MA, Phd, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
Dr. Phillips was raised (mostly) in Nebraska. Yearning for the warm winters and cool summers of California, he moved to the Bay Area and started teaching at Dominican University of California in the Fall of 2001. He teaches courses in Cognition, Learning, Evolutions, Statistics, Research Methods, Perception, Introductory Psychology, and Directed Research. His research interests include identifying perceptual dimensions of the Holtzman inkblots (they're just like the Rorschach inkblots) and the perceptual similarities/differences between vision and touch.
