Psychology Experts Launch Podcast Series on Human Condition

Curious to hear what a Pulitzer-prize nominee has to say about eating disorders?

What about a love story from a Beverly Hills chocolatier?

As Web 2.0 expands its reach, Texas Tech psychology experts have begun plying their trade to the world of podcasting.

The Department of Psychology has initiated a new educational podcast series, covering a broad range of topics in psychology from suicide, eating disorders and life stress, to persuasion, giftedness and consumer product usability among a host of others.

The series was created by psychology professor Frank Durso who initiated and directed the project, along with the assistance of doctoral students Paul Derby and R.B. Watts. Most of the episodes include a faculty member, along with a prominent national expert on the selected topic.

“Psychology has a lot to offer,” Durso said. “But it is often difficult to get the information to the people who need it most and I knew iTunes and podcasts were a way to customize information to suit a particular audience.”

“I hoped we would reach a number of students interested in psychology. I never imagined we’d be hearing from listeners in Japan or that we’d become the most popular psychology podcast on iTunes.”

Since the psychology department launched the Psychology Podcast series on iTunes, it has received thousands of hits from all over the world, said David Rudd, chairman of the Department of Psychology. Currently the series is featured in the Higher Education section of iTunes, ranked as the 10th most popular, ahead of both Princeton and Harvard.

“Dr. Durso developed this idea in order to make people more aware of what we’re doing,” Rudd said. “That’s how it got started. It’s a great tool for outreach. I’ve gotten emails from a teacher in Japan whose students love them so much they are translating the podcasts from English to Japanese.”

 

Story produced by the Office of Communications and Marketing, (806) 742-2136.