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 critical for moral formation
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), and
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

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 […]
Why Do Babies Need A Bill Of Rights?
Check out the new Evolved Nest Baby's Bill of Rights Poster
This One Spiritual Principle Can Dramatically Shift Your Relationships
In Uncle Bob’s cosmology this principle is called Kanyini – which means unconditional love with responsibility.
The Sacred Hoop by Paula Gunn Allen*
“At base, every story, every song, every ceremony tells the Indian that each creature is a part of a living whole and that all parts of that whole are related to one another by virtue of their participation in the whole of being.”
Babies Are Not Machines
How do we grow a healthy organism? We provide the kind of environment that helps the entity thrive. Whether a Ficus house plant, a Doberman puppy, fermenting homemade beer, the environment must provide what the organism has evolved to expect—if it is going to turn out well. We accept the basic needs of plant, puppy, […]
Adverse Childhood Experiences, Dysfunctional Households, and Circumcision
Abstract: Children from dysfunctional households experience a proportionally greater number of adverse experiences than other children. One such common event is male child genital cutting, or circumcision. This study surveyed five-hundred randomly selected circumcised and intact men concerning their experiences before 18 years of age using the 10- item Adverse Childhood Experiences checklist (ACE). The […]
Jamie Grumet Featured In TIME’s Century of Impact
What a Difference a Decade Makes: TIME features iconic cover of Jamie Grumet breastfeeding her son on their centennial celebration issue, A Century of Impact, while Yahoo Life readers vote Jamie’s story of the TIME experience the Best of 2022. Jamie is a member of Kindred World’s board of directors and a contributing editor […]
Ten Not Soft Skillsets of Emotional Intelligence
In the 25-plus years since the book Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman was published, people still misunderstand the concept. I see this frequently when I facilitate what companies sometimes refer to as ‘EQ’ or ‘EI’ workshops. Many misguided concepts and ideas persist around what it means to have an emotionally intelligent team, or what it […]
Nurturing Starts Before Birth
The lifeway of a child is first shaped in the womb.

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