CUNY Writing Fellows- Jason Krellman

I earned a BA from the Richard Stockton College, where I majored in psychology and dabbled in empirical research examining the role of personality in relationship formation. While at Stockton, I developed an interest in the biological basis of behavior and set my sights on doctoral training in behavioral neuroscience. In addition, my long-standing interest in writing led me to become a writing tutor and parlay a varied collection of pieces I'd written into a portfolio that allowed me to graduate as a minor in writing.

I then returned to my native Queens to enter the Ph.D. program in clinical neuropsychology at the City University of New York, through which I have thus far earned my M.A. and M.Phil degrees. Over the past five years in the program, I've received training in basic neuroscience and the clinical practice of neuropsychological assessment and psychotherapy, and I've participated in research investigating the role of inflammation in cerebral blood vessel formation. My dissertation research, however, focuses on assessment of the neuroanatomy and behavior of mice genetically altered to lack a protein integral to central nervous system development, data that might have implications for the origin of pervasive developmental disorders such as autism.

I've also held adjunct positions at several CUNY colleges, teaching courses in behavioral neuroscience and the psychology of aging. Most pertinent to my role as a Writing Fellow, I've just finished a four-year stint teaching a writing intensive course in experimental psychology here at Queens College, a course I endeavored to make an introduction not only to research methodology but to scientific writing as well. Of course, that meant teaching the structure and content of the APA-style manuscript and discussing linguistic subtleties such as the difference between "than" and "then." It also meant that I had to create a forum in which students could develop their own identity as writers, to recognize their status as independent thinkers and the ability of every scientific manuscript they produced to reveal the reasoning underlying the hypotheses they asserted. I urged students to value the opportunity to demonstrate their individual views through their writing and watched many become truly invested in the writing process as a result.

As a tutor, a college instructor, a research scientist and a clinician, I have yet to find a venue in which the ability to clearly convey one's individual thought and reasoning through writing isn't at least useful and at most vital. Therefore, I'm very enthusiastic about my work as a Writing Fellow and the opportunity to take part in writing education within the department of psychology and the broader range of disciplines within the division of mathematics and the natural sciences.