The Berger Institute at Claremont McKenna College provides the intellectual and experiential home for research and programming focused on contemporary social issues. The Berger Institute produces and disseminates high quality research with implications for policy, practical applications, and theory.
The central theme for our research and programming is How We Thrive. Our research focuses on understanding risk and resilience factors, while our programming emphasizes the development and cultivation of skills that are necessary for successful adaptation in a rapidly changing society. We focus on individual and social factors that impact how children develop, how families thrive, and how people navigate major transitions and milestones. Examples of our work include understanding how to nurture the well-being of individuals from a wide range of social-economic and demographic backgrounds (including gender, culture, race, age), the changing nature of gender and family roles, and understanding the demographic, technological, financial, and political changes impacting our society today.
Berger Alumni Panel Discuss Graduate School
On October 18, 2024 The Berger Institute invited Alumni Dr. Frida Liu ‘04, Joceyln Chang ‘23, and Isabel Mendiola ‘18 to hold a graduate student panel. Each panelist gave personal insight into their experiences obtaining their graduate degrees in psychology, medicine,...
Cara Hagan: Where Ritual and Civic Practice Meet
The Berger Institute teamed up with the Gould Center for Humanistic Rights to invite Cara Hagan to the Athenaeum on January 29th, 2024. Cara Hagan, Associate Professor and Program Director for the MFA in Contemporary Theatre Performance at The New School, describes...
Stressed Out and Fed Up: The Relationship between Maternal Stress, Feeding Behaviors, and Executive Functioning
Over 10% of children ages two to five have obesity, and these children are five times more likely than others to face obesity in adulthood. Research has suggested that stress and parental feeding practices play an influential role in childhood obesity. For example,...
A Mother’s Touch: Preschool-aged Children are Regulated by Positive Maternal Touch
Have you ever considered how something as simple as a hug can shape a child’s future? Research findings from our lab suggest that touch can shape how children’s bodies respond to stress. The researchers studied a diverse group of 114 mothers and their preschool-aged...