About me

I'm Dr. Marissa Salazar, and I will be facilitating this course! You can call me Marissa, Professor, Dr. Salazar- any of those, or a combination of those, work! The only thing I ask is please don't call me "Miss" or "Mrs," my identity is not tied to whether or not I am married so those terms just don't work for me!

I have been studying and conducting research in  psychology and public health for the last 13 years. In addition to teaching, I am also a researcher and co-own a consulting company where we work with the local San Diego community on issues related to racism, sexism, and psychological and physical health. I have worked in other countries such as India, Ethiopia, and Mexico on programs aimed to reduce violence against women and girls. I have a masters degree in social psychology and a  doctorate in global public health. I absolutely LOVE the intersection of social psychology and public health as we can use the two disciplines to  study how humans interact withIn the social world.

I am married to my high school sweetheart, Marty! We don't have any kids...but we have a Corgi named Charlie (Charles when he is in trouble)! I love to read, hang out with friends, go to the beach, and workout in my free time. Something....interesting about me is that I have a phobia of birds. Specifically- pigeons. I will only eat at a restaurant outside if I am certain there aren't any birds...but somehow one always seems to find me!

I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you this semester!