Collaborators

Ashlyn Jenkins  

Junior Psychology major with a minor in neuroscience. My favorite park is Hollywood Studios because I love Star Wars! My favorite topic on the website I worked on is the immersion of different rides throughout the park.  

Hannah Walton  

Junior Psychology major with a minor is sociology. My favorite park is Hollywood Studios because of my love for Star Wars and galaxy's edge. My main contribution to the website is sensation and perception and developmental psychology. I loved this class and Disney and can’t wait to go back! 

Cassidy Green 

I’m a sophomore, psychology major and I had a blast studying emotions at Disney. I focused on how the cast members, music, immersive rides, sounds, and scenery at Disney create a profound emotional experience for guests (and makes them spend all their money). My personal favorite ride was Guardians of the Galaxy at Epcot; I loved the music and was singing along the whole time! 

Tiffany Carnell  

I am a Junior with a major in Clinical Psychology and a minor in criminal justice and criminology. I had a blast studying different types of psychology especially in a different environment besides a classroom. My favorite park was Magic Kingdom. I just loved everything about it, especially the fireworks show. My contribution to the website is a variety of psychology that I saw. I enjoyed this class, and I can’t wait to do it again in the near future.

Sanja Becnel  

I am a junior Social Psychology Major and I focused primarily on the social aspects of Disney, what makes it so fun, and why we make the decisions we make there. My favorite part of the trip was seeing cast interactions with guests.  

Kaitlyn Price 

I am a freshman middle level education major with a focus in social studies.  My favorite park is EPCOT because of all of the cultures that can be experienced there and especially because of my love for Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.  My main contribution to the site is developmental psychology from the perspective of a parent who has experienced Disney World with and without kids. 

Malia Patten 

I am a junior psychology major, and for this project I focused on finding things related to social psychology. I found paying attention to how people interact with one another and with all of the attractions in the parks to be very interesting. I additionally connected some social psychology to a few cognitive psychology concepts to explain the internal cognitive functions involved while people are interacting with their environment and those around them. My favorite experience was riding the Guardians of the Galaxy ride twice and experiencing the ride differently with a new song. I had a great time learning so many things not only from professors Dr. Coulombe and Dr. Pazda, but also from my classmates! 

Izabella De Lima 

I am a senior communication major with a cognate in psychology. My favorite park on this trip was Hollywood Studios. I enjoyed seeing the night shows and love sunset boulevard. My contribution to the website was covering the cultural and cross-cultural psychology in the theme parks.  

Ella Miller 

I am a sophomore Psychology Major with a minor in Literature and a minor in Women and Gender Studies. The most enjoyable part of the trip was Space Mountain and Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind! My main contributions of the website are the explanations behind the mechanics and engineering of immersive rides. 

Kerith Miller 

I am a senior Psychology major with an interest in Clinical Psychology. My favorite park would have to be Magic Kingdom because of the amazing firework show as well as the Tron ride! My main contributions to the website are focusing on conformity and individualism, examining restaurant immersion, as well as exploring guest’s levels of temperament. Additionally, I focused on why guests chose to return to Disney. I really enjoyed taking this class as it allowed me to apply psychology to the real-world and analyze different psychological aspects of Disney.

Sarah Dhom  

I am a junior Psychology major with a minor in Criminal justice. My favorite park would probably have to be Magic Kingdom because of all the different rides that you can ride. My favorite thing that I worked on in this class would probably have to be the activities that we did in Hollywood studios because I got to ride the tower of terror for the first time. I also really enjoyed going out into the real world and studying all the people in the different parks. 

Mary Miller 

I am a junior majoring in General and Experimental Psychology and Minoring in Neuroscience. My goals are to finish my bachelor's degree and go on to graduate school to one day hang my own shingle and work in trauma and grief. My experience in Applied Psychology at Disney was enlightening and an experience I will never forget. I had an amazing time learning about myself and how Disney uses psychology in everything they do. My contribution to the website shows a little of everything but I especially enjoyed doing the Character Experience and Animal Psychology. This trip is well worth taking, it opens your eyes to a whole new world of psychology. 

Hayley Stack 

I am a rising junior with a major in Psychology and minor in Neuroscience. My favorite parks were Hollywood Studios and Epcot because of Star Wars and all the different countries at Epcot. My favorite thing I worked on for this class is the Hollywood Studios slides because I got to talk about my favorite Star Wars rides at the park and the psychology behind it. It was so cool to talk about the sensation and perception of both the Rise of the Resistance and Millennium Falcon.   

Dr. Adam Pazda

I have been teaching at USC Aiken for 10 years, and my background is in social psychology. I wanted to give students an opportunity to explore psychology in an applied setting with their own eyes, and Disney World seemed like a great place to do this! It was a wonderful experience and is certainly the highlight of my teaching career!

Dr. Brianne Coulombe

I just finished my fourth year of teaching at USC Aiken. I earned my PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of California Riverside in 2021. This class was just the best experience -- getting to see students finding psychology all around them at such an awesome location was unbeatable. This trip was my first visit to Walt Disney World, and I wouldn't have done it any other way!