Robert Lang II
Psychology Major with an MFA in Creative Writing. Mental health advocate with a strong belief in storytelling and the arts as the greatest weapon against bias.
When I went for my undergraduate degree in psychology, I fully intended to enter the world of behavioral neuroscience research. After spending several years in the mental healthcare sector, my eyes opened to the lived experience of those living with several mental illness and the toll bias takes on misrepresented and underrepresented communities.
Following an eye-opening experience seeing the impact art had on a patient, I dropped all plans for a behavioral neuroscience program and pursued creative writing. I've worked to marry my research in psychology with my creative practice and stumbled upon neuroarts and neuroaesthetic research which falls perfectly in line with my personal mission. As I move into my Ph.D., I plan to focus my work on developing programs that can bring artists together with the misrepresented and underrepresented communities to present their narratives in ways that can truly resonate with a general public. I'm deeply interested in studying the effects of visual arts, music, story, dance, and theater as both therapy and as a means to impact bias and serve as meaningful empathy generators.