Jessica Rourke

Interests

• teaching of psychology
• scholarship of teaching and learning
• forgiveness
• restorative justice
• environmental psychology

Faculty bio

My focus at UVic is in undergraduate teaching. I often teach introductory psychology, as well as social psychology courses such as interpersonal relationships, psychology of forgiveness, social cognition, psychology and law. I sometimes also teach mental health and wellbeing. My research interests have mostly focused on forgiveness (seeking of forgiveness and self-forgiveness) and restorative justice.

I love psychology and am interested in how our knowledge in the field can apply to helping us build better relationships and communities. I am passionate about social justice issues and enjoy supporting students explore their passions and strengths.

I enjoy supporting student learning and engagement and am currently the faculty liaison for Psi Chi (Honours Society, UVic Chapter) and PUGS (Psychology Undergraduate Society of UVic). As a teaching professor, I do not supervise graduate students.

Representative publications

Gifford, R., Scannell, L., Kormos, C., Rourke, J., & McIntyre, A. (in press). Quality of Life as a Function of the Physical and Experienced Neighborhood. Handbook of Quality of Life.

Rourke, J. (in press). Shifting away from exam-focused assessment. In H. Scherschel & D.S. Rudmann (eds.) Teaching tips: A compendium of conference presentations on teaching, 2021-22. Society for the Teaching of Psychology.

Soicher, R., Beyer, A., Ditta, A., Rourke, J., Rudman, J., Yveka, T. and Richmond, A. (eds.) (2022). Teaching resources: American Psychological Association’s Introduction to Psychology Initiative guidelines. Teaching in Psychology North West.

Rourke, J. (2017). Forgiveness. In V. Zeigler-Hill and T.K. Shackelford (eds.) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer.