Erin Foster

Erin Foster, Ph.D., (formerly Dupuis) is Vice Provost for Teaching, Research, and Learning and Associate Professor of Psychological Sciences at Loyola University New Orleans. She joined the Loyola faculty in 2008 and has since held multiple leadership roles, including Chair of the Department of Psychological Sciences and Associate Vice Provost. She is also Co-Chair of the Institutional Review Board. In her current role, Dr. Foster leads university-wide initiatives related to teaching excellence, curriculum development, faculty development, online education, dual enrollment, community-engaged learning, human research protections, and academic policy, including artificial intelligence and bias response.

As a teacher and educational leader, Dr. Foster is deeply committed to engaged, student-centered learning. Her courses frequently incorporate applied and community-based experiences, including service-learning and research mentorship. Students in her classes have partnered with numerous New Orleans community organizations. Her sustained commitment to community-engaged teaching has been recognized with several honors, including the Excellence in Community-Engaged Teaching Award and multiple university service awards.

Dr. Foster’s scholarly work is grounded in social and personality psychology, with research expertise spanning attribution theory, violence and victimization, wellness, social attitudes, and belief systems. She has published peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on topics such as attributions of responsibility in acquaintance rape, social support in online gaming communities, paranormal and religious belief, and holistic wellness across the lifespan. Her work has appeared in journals including Journal of Applied Social Psychology, Violence & Victims, Journal of Parapsychology, and Journal of Positive Psychology & Wellbeing, and in edited volumes on intimate partner violence and gender. She regularly presents research—often with undergraduate collaborators—at national and regional conferences, including meetings of the Association for Psychological Science, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and the Southeastern Psychological Association.

Classes Taught

• Introduction to Psychology (online and on campus)
• Social Psychology (online and on campus)
• Statistics and Methods
• Brain and Behavior
• Psychology and the Law
• Psychology of Women and Gender
• Introduction to Research
• Models of Human Behavior
• Science of Good and Evil (online and on campus)

Areas of Expertise

• Sexual Assault
• Social Cognition
• Prejudice and Discrimination