Born in Costa Rica, Valkiria Durán-Narucki came to the United States thanks to a Fulbright Scholarship from the US Department of State to obtain a master’s degree from New York University with an emphasis in Community Psychology. Afterwards, she obtained a doctorate in Environmental Psychology at the Graduate Center of CUNY. Her main research focus is on environmental meaning and the reproduction of social structure in urban public school buildings. She is interested in learning about the role of the physical environment in creating or interrupting processes of social justice. Her research intends to inform and affect public policy. Dr. Duran-Narucki has taught as a Visiting Assistant Professor at William Paterson University and as an Adjunct Professor at Lehman College, CUNY's School of Professional Studies and is currently appointed as an Adjunct Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Graduate Center of CUNY.
Degrees
Ph.D., Graduate Center, CUNY
M.A. Community Psychology, New York University
B.A. Psychology, Universidad de Costa Rica
Che, E., Brooks, P. & Durán-Narucki, V. (2017, November 15). Using the Vaccines-Autism Myth to Foster Critical Thinking [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://teachpsych.org/page-1784686/5588493teachpsych.org/page-1784686/…
Durán-Narucki, V. (2014). Education and Environmental Meaning. In Gieseking, J., W. Mangold, with C. Katz, S. Low, and S. Saegert (eds). 2014. People, Place, and Space: Key Readings across the Disciplines. New York: Routledge.
Diamond, BJ, Shreve, GM, Golden, A & Durán-Narucki V. (2014). Information Processing in the Bilingual Brain. In The development of translation competence: Theories and methodologies from psycholinguistics and cognitive science. Schwieter, J. W., & Ferreira, A. (Eds.). Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Durán-Narucki, V. (2011) Built-in: Meaning and the reproduction of socio-historical characteristics in public schools buildings in the U.S. Educational and Child Psychology 28, 114-119.
Durán-Narucki, V. (2008). School building condition, school attendance, and academic achievement in New York City public schools: A mediation model. Journal of Environmental Psychology 28, 278–286.
Tseng, V., Chesir-Theran, D. Becker-Klein, R. Lam, M., Durán, V., Roberts, A., Bardoliwalla, N. (2002). Promotion of Social Change: A conceptual framework. American Journal of Community Psychology 30(3) 401-427.
Roberts, A., Seidman, E., Pedersen, S., Chesir-Theran, D., Allen, L., Aber, J.L., Durán, V., Hsue, J. (2000). Perceived family and peer transactions and self-esteem among urban early adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence 20 (1) 68-92.
- Link to a contributed list of readings on Education and Environmental Meaning at The People, Place, and Space Reader: https://peopleplacespace.org/frr/education-and-environmental-meaning/
