Champika K. Soysa
Contact Information
Office: Sullivan 241G
Phone: (508) 929-8703
Email: csoysa@worcester.edu
Education
PhD - Clark University
MA - Clark University
BA - Mount Holyoke College
Area of Specialization
Dr. Soysa’s main research interests are in the areas of 1) Stress and resilience (e.g., Is there a relationship between social support from friends and school stress? Are there gender/ethnic differences in the pattern of coping strategies used when people experience stress?), 2) Ethnic/gender differences in the experience of mental distress 3) Gender issues 4) Prejudice and 5) Ethnic identity
Academic Appointments
Director of Women's Studies
Academic Journal Affiliations
Editorial Board Member: Journal of Integrated Social Sciences (JISS)
Reviewer: Genocide Studies and Prevention
Reviewer: Culture and Psychology
Scholarly Activity
Publications
Soysa, C. K. (in press). Psychosocial perspectives of the Sri
Lankan tsunami experience. In L. Fuller (Ed.), Tsunami 2004:
Communication perspectives. Hampton Press.
Soysa, C. K., Dawson, L. J., Kanner, B. G., Wagoner, M. J., &
Soltano, E. G. (2009). Assignments and course content in
teaching diversity. In R. A. R. Gurung & L. R.Prieto (Eds.),
Getting culture: Incorporating diversity across the curriculum.
Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.
Russell, B. R., Soysa, C. K., Wagoner, M. J., & Dawson, L. J.
(2008). Key elements and pedagogical techniques for inter-
personal violence prevention. In Journal of Primary Prevention,
29(5), 413-433.
Soysa, C. K. (2007). If a path doesn’t exist, how about making
one? In R. J. Eidelson & J. Laske (Eds.), Peacemaker 101:
Careers confronting conflict (pp. 106-110) Philadelphia:
Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict.
Soysa, C. K. (2003, November). PTSD symptomatology in Sri
Lankan children exposed to war. The Child Survivor of
Traumatic Stress, 4-5, 10.
Azar, S.T. & Soysa, C. K. (2000). How do I assess a caregiver's
parenting attitudes, knowledge and level of functioning? In H.
Dubowitz & D. DePanfilis (Eds.), The handbook for child
protection practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.
Azar, S.T. & Soysa, C. K. (1999). Legal issues in the
assessment of family violence involving children. In R.T.
Ammerman & M. Hersen (Eds.), Assessment of family
violence: A clinical and legal sourcebook. New York:
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Addis, M. E., Hatgis, C., Soysa, C. K., Zaslavsky, I. & Bourne, L.
S. (1999). The dialectics of manual-based psychotherapy. The
Behavior Therapist, 22, 130-132.
Samarasinghe, G. & Soysa, C. K. (1992). The assessment of early
child development instruments used in Sri Lanka. Early child
development assessment instruments: International
collaborative project. New York: UNICEF.
Soysa, C. K. & Soysa, P. E. (1990). The influence of family
dynamics and child-carer behaviour on the nutritional status of
children from the same, poor socio-economic group.
Proceedings of the National Convention on Women's Studies.
Colombo, SriLanka: Center for Women's Research (CENWOR).
Soysa, C. K. (1990). Corridors of Silence. Colombo, Sri Lanka:
Law and Society Trust.Script writer for documentary on
perceptions of mental disorders and mental health services
in Sri Lanka.
Conference Presentations
Soltano, E.G., Soysa, C. K., Silver, B., & Cota-McKinley, A. (2009, October). Research Methods in Psychology. Symposium presented at the annual meeting of the Northeast Conference for Teachers of Psychology, Worcester, MA.
Soysa, C. K., Clark, K. & Venini, J. (2009, October). Procrastination, coping, and achievement anxiety in college women. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the New England Psychological Association. Worcester, MA.
Becerra, C. & Soysa, C. K. (2009, October). Perfectionism,
support, achievement anxiety, and stress. Poster presented
at the annual meeting of the New England Psychological
Association. Worcester, MA.
Soysa, C. K. & Fokas, K. (2009, May). Limits of resilience:
Posttraumatic responses to war in Sri Lanka. Poster
session accepted for presentation at the annual meeting
of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco,
CA.
Soysa C. K. (2009, April). An Ecological Systems Theory
perspective of trauma and resilience in post-tsunami
southern Sri Lanka. Poster session accepted for
presentation at the biennial meeting of the Society for
Research in Child
Development, Denver, CO.
Soysa, C. K. (2009, March). The dialectics of empowerment
and disempowerment: Learning about clinical practice. In A.
L. Dottolo (Chair), Conflict and conversation: Feminist
pedagogy in teaching and learning social justice. Symposium
accepted for presentation at the meeting of the Association for
Women in Psychology, Newport, RI.
Russell, B. R., Soysa, C. K., Wagoner, M. J., Alpert, L., & Britner,
P. (2008, August). Pedagogical Tips for Teaching on Difficult
Subject Areas in Psychology. Symposium conducted at the
meeting of the American Psychological Association. Boston,
MA.
Dottolo, A. L., Soysa, C. K., Dawson, L., & Tillery, S. (2008,
March). Cultural insiders and outsiders: Theorizing
relationships between social identities and institutional
structures. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the
Association for Women in Psychology, San Diego, CA.
Hale, L. & Soysa, C. K. (2008, March). The impact of housing
choice on student stress and perceived social support. Poster
session presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern
Psychological Association, Boston, MA.
Soysa, C. K. & Jamunanantha, S. C. (2007, August). One year
post-tsunami: PTSD in two Sri Lankan ethnic groups. Poster
session presented at the meeting of the American
Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.
Soysa, C. K. (2007, March). Tsunami 2004: PTSD symptom
severity in Sri Lankan adolescents at 3 & 12 months post-
disaster. Poster session presented at the meeting of the
Society for Research in Child Development, Boston, MA.
Soysa, C. K. (2006, November). (Chair and Discussant),
Disasters and crisis preparedness: Emergency
preparedness for disasters and conflicts. Symposium
conducted at the meeting of the Global Health Forum,
Cairo, Egypt.
Soysa, P. E. & Soysa, C. K. (2006, November). “Positive
Deviance” and the nutritional status of Sri Lankan children.
Paper presented at the meeting of the Global Health
Forum, Cairo, Egypt.
Soysa, C. K., Dawson, L. J., Kanner, B. G., Wagoner, M. J.,
& Soltano, E. G. (2006, October). A state college
perspective: Assignments and course content in teaching
diversity. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the
Society for the Teaching of Psychology, Atlanta, GA.
Soysa, C. K. (2006, August). Tsunami and war: Sri Lankan
children’s culture-based PTSD responses. Poster
session presented at the meeting of the American
Psychological Association, New Orleans, LA.
Soysa, C. K. (2006, June). Post-traumatic stress disorder
symptoms in Sri Lankan women and children exposed to
war. Invited paper presentation at the meeting of the
Solomon Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict,
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
Soysa, C. K. & Drawbridge, D. (2006, May). American identity
and prejudice increase after exposure to 9/11 television
coverage. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the
Association for Psychological Science, New York, NY.
Soysa, C. K. (2005, April). Posttraumatic stress disorder
and coping in Sri Lankan children exposed to war. Poster
presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for
Research in Child Development, Atlanta, GA.
Soysa, C. K. (2004, February). Posttraumatic stress disorder
symptomatology in Sri Lankan women exposed to war.
Poster presented at the annual meeting of the
Association for Women in Psychology, Philadelphia, PA.
Willis, J. L., Soysa, C. K., & Allen, R. (2003, October).
Female youth surviving and resisting conflict. Invited
symposium conducted at meeting on Surviving,
resisting, and reshaping conflict: Women’s experiences,
Clark University, Worcester, MA.
Soysa, C. K. (2003, May). Sociostructural and sociopolitical
contexts influence group identity and prejudice in Sri Lanka.
Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American
Psychological Society, Atlanta, GA.
Soysa, C. K. (2003, April). Posttraumatic stress disorder
symptomatology in Sri Lankan children exposed to war.
Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society
for Research in Child Development, Tampa, FL.
Soysa, P. E., & Soysa, C. K. (2003, February). Effect of
home environment on growth of children in Sri Lanka.
Paper presented at the meeting of the 10th Asian Congress
of Nutrition, Delhi, India.
Soysa, C. K. (2000, August). The psychological impact of
war on children in Sri Lanka: The research process.
Paper presented at the meeting of the Solomon Asch
Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict, University of
Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
Corkalo, D., Garcia Del Soto, A., Niens, U., & Soysa, C. K.
(2000, August). Political culture, national identity and
social distance: Croatia, Spain, Northern Ireland and
Sri Lanka. Paper presented at the meeting of the Solomon
Asch Center for Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict, University
of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA.
Azar, S. T., Povilaitis, T. Y., Johnson, E. I., Breton, S. J.,
Ferraro, M. H., & Soysa, C. K. (1999, April). Maternal
expectations, problem solving, synchrony, and discipline: A
test of a social cognition model of parenting. Paper
presented at the meeting of the Society for Research in
Child Development, Albuquerque, NM.
Loding, B. V., Azar, S. T., Ferraro, M. H., & Soysa, C. K.
(1998, August). Can foster care influence the parenting
models of abused teens? Poster presented at the annual
meeting of the American Psychological Association,
San Francisco, CA.
Azar, S. T., Breton, S. J., Ferraro, M. H., Soysa, C. K., &
Loding, B. V. (1997, July). Parent knowledge structures
and identifying populations at risk for child abuse: A test
of a social cognition model. Paper presented at the meeting
of the International Conference of Family Violence
Researchers, University of New Hampshire, NH.
Azar, S. T., Breton, S. J., Ferraro, M. H., Soysa, C. K., &
Loding, B. V. (1997, April). Conducting child abuse prevention
research: Why is it a risky enterprise for researchers? Paper
presented at the meeting of the Society for Research in Child
Development, Washington, D.C.
Soysa, C. K. (1990, August). The influence of family dynamics
and child-carer behavior on the nutritional status of children
from the same, poor socio-economic group. Paper
*Names in red indicate students