Nic M. Weststrate, PhD
Associate Professor
Educational Psychology
Faculty Affiliate, Community & Applied Developmental Psychology
Faculty Affiliate, Center for Research on Health & Aging
Pronouns: He/Him/His
Contact
Building & Room:
3521 ETMSW
Address:
1040 W. Harrison St.
Office Phone:
Email:
Related Sites:
About
Dr. Nic M. Weststrate is a narrative psychologist, critical-cultural developmentalist, and queer scholar activist who is broadly interested in psychosocial development in cultural-historical context. His interdisciplinary research focuses primarily on positive aging within LGBTQ2SIA+ communities, with a particular interest in the development, manifestation, and transmission of wisdom. A cross-cutting theme in his research has been the role of intergenerational storytelling in promoting positive psychosocial development among marginalized communities. He uses quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods, including underrepresented approaches like structural psychobiography, experimental ethnography, and community-engaged research. In Nic’s community-engaged research, he partners with the Pride in Aging Program at the Center on Halsted and Pride Action Tank of the AIDS Foundation Chicago.
Courses Taught
EPSY 100 - Introduction to Human Development & Learning
EPSY 242 - Introduction to Sexuality Development Across the Lifespan
EPSY 257 - Adult Development & Aging in Contemporary Society
EPSY 340 - Self & Identity Development Across the Lifespan
EPSY 384 - Critical Perspectives in LGBTQ+ Human Development
Selected Grants
The Spencer Foundation, Generating Queers: The Transformative Work of LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogues, Co-Principal Investigator
RRF Foundation for Aging, Storytelling as a Pathway to Intergenerational Social Connectedness for LGBTQ+ Younger and Older Adults, Co-Principal Investigator
UIC Award for Creative Activity, Queers Share This: Disseminating the LGBTQ+ Intergenerational Dialogue Project, Principal Investigator
UIC Student Affairs Faculty Research Fellow Program, Brick by Brick: LGBTQ2SIA+ Campus Climate Study, Principal Investigator
Selected Publications
McLean, K. C., Moriarty, N., Starling, K., & Weststrate, N. M. (2024). Letters from queer elders: Transmitting intergenerational wisdom in LGBTQ+ communities. Journal of Homosexuality, 72(3), 544-569. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2024.2326482
Weststrate, N. M., Greteman, A. J., Morris, K. A., & Moore, L. L. (2024). Pathways to queer thriving in an LGBTQ+ intergenerational community. American Psychologist, 79(8), 1185-1201. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0001338
Weststrate, N. M., & McLean, K. C. (2024). Protests, panic, policies, and parades: Memory for cultural-historical events and psychosocial identity in the LGBTQ+ community. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 11(1), 90-104. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000582
Weststrate, N. M., McLean, K. C., & Fivush, R. (2024). Intergenerational storytelling and positive psychosocial development: Stories as developmental resources for marginalized groups. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 28(4), 351-371. https://doi.org/10.1177/10888683241259902
Weststrate, N. M., Morris, K. A., Moore, L. L., & Greteman, A. J. (2024). Queer(ing) vicarious memory: Lessons from an LGBTQ+ intergenerational community project. Journal of Applied Research on Memory and Cognition, 13(2), 181-184. https://doi.org/10.1037/mac0000181
Weststrate, N. M., Turner, K., & McLean, K. C. (2024). Intergenerational storytelling as a developmental resource in LGBTQ+ communities. Journal of Homosexuality, 71(7), 1626-1651. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2023.2202295
Weststrate, N. M., & McLean, K. C. (2023). “You’ve gotta give them hope”: A structural psychobiography of Harvey Milk (1930-1978). Journal of Personality, 91(1), 105-119. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12744
Dong, M., Weststrate, N. M., & Fournier, M. A. (2023). Thirty years of psychological wisdom research: What we know about the correlates of an ancient concept. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 18(4) 778-811. https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916221114096
Morris, K., Greteman, A. J., & Weststrate, N. M. (2023). Rainbows and mud: Experiments in LGBTQ+ intergenerational care. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 49(1), 183-207. https://doi.org/10.1086/725841
Glück, J., & Weststrate, N. M. (2022). The wisdom researchers and the elephant: Toward an integrative theory of wise behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 26 (4), 342-374. https://doi.org/10.1177/10888683221094650
Publication Aggregators
Notable Honors
2024, The George A. Miller Award (Outstanding Article), American Psychological Association (Division 1)
2023, Emerging Faculty Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award, UIC
2022, Faculty Fellow of the Year, UIC Honors College
Education
2017, PhD, University of Toronto, Developmental Psychology and Education
2011, MA, University of Toronto, Developmental Psychology and Education
2007, HBSc, University of Toronto, Psychology and Philosophy
Professional Memberships
American Educational Research Association
American Society on Aging
Association for Research in Personality
Gerontological Society of America
Society for Personality and Social Psychology