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 human flourishing, morality and human development. How do we bring about wellbeing in everyone, including our non-human kin?

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 human flourishing and optimal moral functioning (relational attunement and communal imagination).

FILMS

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

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

Curriculum Vitae12.22

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

Why Kids Should Learn the Original STEM: Ancient Survival Skills
In a world filled with advanced technologies and conveniences, why would anyone want to learn the ancient skills of our ancestors, especially when a digital utopia seems imminent? Yet our bodies and brains are still fundamentally the same as those of early humans who lived as hunter-gatherers for hundreds of thousands of years.
Kindred’s August Issue – Letter from the Editor
In keeping with the spirit of our nonprofit mission to envision and bring forward a Wisdom-based, Wellness-informed Society, we have curated for you a timely, helpful, hopeful, and practical collection of posts, podcasts, videos, and a joyful 28 Days of Solo Play campaign.
Repairing the Primal Tear: How Our Evolved Nest Heals Us, Our Animal Kin, and Our Planet
An interview with the authors of the new book, The Evolved Nest: Nature's Way of Raising Children and Creating Connected Communities
28 Days of Solo Play: Learning To Play As An Adult
Editor’s Note: Join Kindred and the Evolved Nest Initiative on our social media platforms starting September 2023, for 28 Days of Solo Play! Check out the collection of solo play prompts on the Evolved Nest website here. See the resources below for more ideas to keep spontaneous play going. How to Learn Spontaneous Play […]
Decolonizing Our Bodies to Liberate Intelligence
dis·mem·ber·ment noun 1. the action of cutting off a person’s or animal’s limbs. 2. the action of partitioning or dividing up a territory or organization. Most of us grew up learning that our body is a flesh and blood object, made up of organs, bones, veins and arteries, and encased in muscle and skin. We learned it is something to […]
The Evolved Nest Book: Read Chapter One, Nature’s Way
Editor’s Note: Below you will find Chapter One, entitled Nature’s Way, of the new book, The Evolved Nest: Nature’s Way of Raising Children and Creating Connected Communities by Darcia Narvaez and G.A. Bradshaw. Listen to the Kindred podcast with the author’s here. Watch a mother ask the authors How To Create Nestedness in an Untested […]
Facing Our Climate Change Fear With Our Original Brilliance: Stephanie Mines On The Maui Wildfires
Stephanie Mines, founder of Climate Change and Consciousness and the TARA Approach, moved to Hawaii this summer, days before the Maui wildfires broke. The wildfire in Maui destroyed the historic town of Lahaina and killed over 100 people, making it the worst natural disaster in state history and the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a […]
How Do We Create Nestedness In An UnNested Culture? A Mother Asks Evolved Nest Book Authors
The interview is by Meghan Armstrong-Abrami, Ph.D., a mother of a six-year-old child who shares her experience - and questions - about creating nestedness in an untested world.
Peaceful Co-existence & Unity in Diversity
Modern civilization has always had its rebels and resisters, but the movement toward living in balance with nature has exploded in recent years. Mother Earth herself is definitely speaking to us, and we are listening, as we seek new connections both to the land and our wildness within. This must be the most important work […]
Gabor Maté On The Evolved Nest: Foreword To The New Book
No fanciful social utopianism here; only a profound understanding of what our core needs are, right from conception, and what we have to learn from the ancestral human and Animal ways of being as they were formed in the crucible of Nature.

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