Mary Levitt

Research Areas

Dr. Levitt conducts research on social relations across the life span from a social network perspective. Her specific areas of interest include processes of relationship formation and change; effects of major life transitions on social network relations; and the influence of social networks on personal outcomes, including behavioral adaptations, emotional wellbeing, and school achievement She has conducted research with ethnically diverse populations, representing all phases of the life span, from infancy through old age. She currently directs a major study of social networks and school adaptation in newly immigrant children and adolescents (Project SOL), funded by The Spencer Foundation. Dr. Levitt has taught courses on child development, adulthood and aging, social development, and theoretical perspectives in developmental psychology. She is a recipient of the university's award for excellence in teaching. She has also served on alternating years as associate chair of psychology for the Biscayne Bay Campus.

Courses Taught

• Child Development
• Psychology of Aging
• Advanced Lab in Developmental Psychology
• Social and Personality Development
• Theoretical Perspectives in Developmental Psychology (Graduate)
• Life-Span Social Development (Graduate)

Education

• PhD Developmental Psychology, Syracuse University - Syracuse, New York
• MA General Experimental Psychology, University of Toledo - Toledo, Ohio
• BA Psychology, University of Toledo - Toledo, Ohio