Welcome to my academic page!

Darcia Narvaez (Pronunciation: DAR-sha Narv-EYES)

by Matt Cashore University of Notre Dame

I am a Professor of Psychology Emerita at the University of Notre Dame who focuses on moral development and flourishing from an interdisciplinary perspective. I am especially interested in how early life experience and societal culture interact to influence wellbeing and virtuous character in children and adults.

I integrate neurobiological, clinical, developmental and education sciences in my theories, research and writing about moral development, parenting and education.

I have identified

The Evolved Nest as a millions-year-old heritage of ancestral wisdom critical for forming the foundations of health, wellbeing, sociality and morality
Triune-ethics meta-theory (TEM) as a framework for how moral mindsets can shift or become dispositional from experience
Integrative ethical education (via RAVES: relationship, apprenticeship, virtue exemplars, ethical expertise, self-authorship)
The critical need for Indigenous wisdom for fostering optimal moral functioning (relational attunement and communal imagination).

Watch the 6-minute film, Breaking the Cycle, showing the scope of my work

Curriculum Vitae12.22

BOOKS

Download Published Papers by Topic

En español: LINK

WORKSHOP Materials For Educators

RESEARCH TOOLS (for teachers and researchers)

See also EvolvedNest.org

DarciaNarvaez.com

Kindred Media

ARCHIVED BLOG AT PSYCHOLOGY TODAY

BLOG POST LIST with LINKS

YouTube Playlist

Twitter: @MoralLandscapes, @EvolvedNest

Facebook: Moral Landscapes, EvolvedNest

SoundCloud: Evolved Nest

Moral Psychology Lab

RESEARCH TOPICS

Triune Ethics Meta-Theory (and measures)

The Evolved Nest (Evolved Developmental Niche)

Indigenous Wisdom

Conference: Sustainable Wisdom: Integrating Indigenous Knowhow for Global Flourishing

For Life to Continue on Earth, Every Day Must Be Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Moral Complexity/Mature Moral Functioning

Education for Virtue, Ethics, Morality

Moral Discourse Processing/Comprehension

Moral Self and Identity
Diversity and Culture
Moral & Political Judgment
College and Professional Education
Other Areas of Interest

OTHER LINKS

Center for the Study of Ethical Development at the University of Alabama (information about the Defining Issues Test)

Collaboration for Ethical Education

Minnesota Community Voices and Character Education Curriculum Materials

Wikipedia Page

About my spouse, Dan Lapsley

Evolved Nest

Bringing the Magic: Making Sense Of The World With “Mathmetizing”
Just as parents are young children's first teachers for learning to read, parents are young children’s first teachers for learning math. Parents bring the magic!
Women Need These Four Things To Thrive
In 1992, American author and relationship counselor, John Gray, wrote the seminal book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus. It was one of the first books of its kind that claimed to highlight the fundamental psychological differences between the genders. Spending 121 weeks on the bestseller list, central metaphor became a part of […]
How “Motherwork” Elevates Communities: The Need for Cash As Care Now
True economic security means everyone has the resources and agency needed to be healthy. A federal guaranteed income has the potential to be a powerful public health intervention because of the critical role income plays in shaping health outcomes.
Kairos Care in a Chronos World: Study Explores How Midwives Navigate Healthcare Systems
From New York University’s Rory Meyers College of Nursing. For a deeper understanding of shifting from Chronos to Kairos time, discover Kindred’s Worldview Chart by Four Arrows here, and Kelly Wendorf’s post here. For deeper insight into how this approach is already being applied to midwifery and prenatal care, read and listen to Kindred’s interview […]
Adults Out of Control: The Spread of Stress Reactivity
Concealed weapons laws, self-defense shooting laws, vigilantism — what’s behind the feeling of threat in the air? Robert Sapolsky summarized the research on stress in his bestseller, Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers. Why don’t they? Because their stress response is used for mobilization, to get them away from a perceived threat. The stress response moves […]
Nurturing Genius in Children through Nature Connection
The animal mind is billions of years old, its genius inherent in all of us.
What is Education For?
“Without significant precautions, education can equip people merely to be more effective vandals of the earth."
How to Connect in a Civilization of Disconnection
What does it mean to be connected? Connection is about sharing our deeper selves, our beingness, with one another. We are fully present emotionally and mentally. We tune into our species evolved capacities for attunement to the world.
Welcoming Spring – Letter from the Editor – March 2023
Read an online version of the March issue of Kindred here. Dear Kindred, As I’ve shared in past posts, it’s always a good idea to remember that Spring celebrations in ancient traditions and mythologies embraced the ascent of Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld, to the upper world where the work of integrating shadow and […]
Ancestral Wisdom For The Modern World: Do You Remember?
Re-landing to Place It can be very challenging, if not impossible, to assume that we can reclaim our Indigeneity as European peoples. The trail is very cold, Empire building has been going on for a very long time, and we may have to reach back in time to find pre-colonial societies. But the good news […]

Contact Info

Address:

Darcia Narvaez

Professor of Psychology Emerita

Department of Psychology

University of Notre Dame

390 Corbett Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556

Email: dnarvaez@nd.edu