Dr. Benjamin T. Blankenship (he/him)
Primary Investigator
Dr. Blankenship is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at James Madison University. His research is primarily focused on the effects of identity, identity dimensionality, and intersectionality across various contexts, especially in socio-political domains. He currently teaches Cultural Psychology and Research Methods at James Madison University. Learn more at btblankenship.com.
Collin Brown
Research Assistant
Collin is a senior Psychology major with a minor in Sociology. He has been working in the SOFAB Lab for three semesters. His favorite part of being in the SOFAB Lab is obtaining the experience of presenting research findings at professional psychology events. Collin aspires to become a researcher on social identities. When he’s not in the lab, Collin can be found playing video games, baking, and spending time with his cat!
Zach Ginsberg (he/him)
Research Assistant
Zach is a junior Psychology and Interdisciplinary Religions Major. This is his first semester as a research assistant for the SOFAB Lab. He looks forward to researching identity and advocacy while also becoming more confident in hands-on lab skills. Zach plans on attending graduate school for psychiatric social work or clinical mental health counseling. Outside of classes and lab, Zach loves observing Shabbat with JMU Hillel, being a member of the Marching Royal Dukes, a brother of Kappa Kappa Psi, and watching classic y2k movies over the weekends!
Akira Hicks (she/her)
Research Assistant
Akira (she/her) is a junior General Psychology and Justice Studies major with an Honors Interdisciplinary minor. This is her second semester being a research assistant with the SOFAB lab and she’s looking forward to strengthening her research skills by analyzing data and starting a new study! Akira plans on going to graduate school to become a school psychology Outside of school and lab, Akira plays clarinet in the Marching Royal Dukes and Concert Band and is a sister of Tau Beta Sigma, and she loves animals, Taylor Swift, coffee, watching football, traveling, and spending time with friends!
Vanessa George
Research Assistant
Vanessa is a senior Psychology major with a Pre-Physician's Assistant minor. This is her second semester working with the S.O.F.A.B Lab. What interested her in this lab was research in intersectionality. Vanessa aspires to go to graduate school to become a Psychiatric Physician's Assistant. When Vanessa isn’t working on lab tasks, she can usually be found hanging out with her friends or watching RuPaul's Drag Race!
Hana Mahyoub
Hana Mahyoub is a junior Psychology major with minors in Arabic and Middle Eastern Communities and Migrations. She’s very passionate about the research she’s doing with the SOFAB Lab, and she hopes to use this and future work in counseling or research towards the service of Middle Eastern/North African (MENA) refugee communities. She also works towards this impact through her experience on the JMU Policy Debate team, being President of JMU’s Muslim Student Association, and working on her Honors Thesis. In her free time, she loves reading and spending quality time with friends and family.
Samantha Steele
Samantha is a sophomore majoring in Psychology (B.S.) with minors in Pre-Med and Honors. This is her first semester in SOFAB, and she is excited to explore research on identity and intersectionality. Her favorite part of working in the lab is gaining hands-on experience in psychological research and collaborating with others who share similar interests. She aspires to become a psychiatrist, and outside of the lab, she enjoys painting and reading.