Welcome to my academic page!

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

by Matt Cashore University of Notre Dame

I am a Professor Emerita of Psychology at the University of Notre Dame with a Puerto Rican and German-American background. My work 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 have identified

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

FILMS

6-minute film, Breaking the Cycle (in Spanish & Subtitled in 16 languages at YouTube)

8-minute film, The Evolved Nest: Nature’s Way of Raising Children

(in Spanish & Subtitled in 16 languages at YouTube)

12-minute film: Reimagining Humanity (in Spanish & Subtitled in 16 languages) Watch 2-minute trailer

Curriculum Vitae12.23

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

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

It’s World Animal Day: Celebrate and Honor Our Kin With the Evolved Nest Film and Book
Celebrate and Honor World Animal Day with the Evolved Nest Film, Book, and Resources Watch the film here and below. Read the foreword to the Evolved Nest: Nature’s Way of Raising Read the first chapter of the Evolved Nest book here. Pledge to Respect Animal Dignity World Animal Day I did not grow up […]
Kindred World Posts & Films Featured in 1st Impressions Exhibit at Sofia University Conference
Kindred is proud to share highlights from the 1st Impressions Immersive Exhibit at the recent 2024 Global Mental Health Conference at Sofia University, where our materials and films were featured. The theme of the conference was Enlightened Minds, Compassionate Hearts, and Embodied Wisdom: An Integrative Approach to Advancing Mental Health and Well-Being Local, Global and Beyond! […]
Nested World Presentation and Live Call Recording
Join our monthly Nested World live call in this video recording from November 2024. In this event, Eugene Malthouse of the University of Nottingham, UK, presents his latest research into the Experience of the Evolved Nest. Watch Eugene’s presentation and listen to questions from the audience for Eugene and Darcia Narvaez. Learn more about this […]
Science Confirms Our Ancestors’ Intuitions*
Our ancestors were deeply intelligent. About two million years ago we evolved cooperative child raising, which fosters big social brains and distinguishes us from chimpanzees. It is time to remember what our ancestors intuited and science now confirms. 1. We are biosocial. That is, our biology is shaped by our social experiences and our sociality […]
Normalizing Nighttime Nurturing Is Here At Last! Pam Leo’s Book Review of We Share Our Sleep
Normalizing nighttime nurturing is here at last! The combination of inspiration and information in this much needed children’s book can liberate those parents who already share sleep with their babies and little children and give permission to those who will want to. We Share Our Sleep is the story of a momma telling her little […]
Pam Leo’s New Book Launched – Please Read To Me
About the Book Please Read To Me is a multicultural, bilingual book that shows parents, grandparents, siblings, and caregivers the joys and benefits of bonding with babies and young children by reading to them. Featuring beautiful illustrations donated by Maine artists, the story is a child’s plea for love and literacy. The rhyming text makes it […]
Babies Love Rhyming Time
“Rhymers will be readers; it’s that simple. Experts in literacy and child development have discovered that if children know eight nursery rhymes by heart by age four, they’re usually among the best readers by the time they’re eight!” – Mem Fox, author Reading Magic I am living proof that this Mem Fox quote is true. […]
Grounded Expansion: What The Mother Tree “Ent” Said
Letter from the Editor Kindred’s November 2024 Issue Read this issue in your browser here. * “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass the world is too full to talk about.” ― Rumi What does the Mother Tree offer […]
Child Humiliation
We live in a semi-totalitarian system* where most families are forced to under nurture their children and themselves in order to eat and have a place to sleep. Many families fall through the cracks and are broken apart due to addiction, prison, child protective services, and other forms of trauma and its symptoms. We can […]
Contemporary Eliminationism and Fascism
I grew up with the radio on most of the time, tuned into a university radio station with educational shows on the arts, public affairs, cooking, gardening. The shows expanded imagination, for example, providing insights about foreign lands and people from those lands—building empathy and understanding. It was an introduction to a type of cosmopolitanism […]

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