Brian Schiff
Professor
- Department: Psychology, Health and Gender
- Office:Q-707
- Office Hours:Tuesdays 14:00鈥15:00 or by appointment
Brian Schiff is the Esmond Nissim Professor of Psychology, and Director of the George and Irina Schaeffer Center for the Study of Genocide, Human Rights, and Conflict Prevention. Schiff completed his Ph.D. at The University of Chicago, The Committee on Human Development, in 1997 and joined The American University of Paris in 2007. 听听
Schiff is author of听A New Narrative for Psychology鈥(Oxford University Press, 2017)鈥痑nd co-edited鈥Life and Narrative: The Risks and Responsibilities of Storying Experience鈥(Oxford University Press, 2017). He is also editor of a special issue of听New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, Rereading Personal Narrative and Life Course鈥(Jossey-Bass, 2014), and鈥疭ituating Qualitative Methods in Psychological Science听(Routledge, 2018). He is the 2016 recipient of the Theodore Sarbin Award from the American Psychological Association's Division 24 (Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology).
Schiff鈥檚 current research examines the motivations of perpetrators of mass crimes, the concept of collective memory, and the social impact of atrocity education.听听
Education/Degrees
- PhD in Psychology: Human Development (1997).听Dissertation title: Telling survival and the Holocaust.听Chair: Bertram Cohler. The Committee on Human Development. The University of Chicago. Chicago, Illinois
- MA in the Social Sciences (1995),听The University of Chicago. Chicago, Illinois
Publications
- Schiff, B. (In preparation). Meaningful violence: Narrative, the great replacement, and morals.
- Schiff, B. (2023). Are small stories another category of narrating? In A. Georgakopoulou, K. Giaxoglou, & S. Patron (Eds.) Small stories research: Tales, tellings, and tellers across contexts. New York: Routledge.
- Schiff, B., Altimore, K., & Bougher, G. (2023). The hermeneutics of darkness: Understanding perpetrators on their crimes. In H. Meretoja & M. Freeman (Eds.) The use and abuse of stories: New directions in narrative hermeneutics (pp. 224-243). New York: Oxford University Press.
- Schiff, B. (2023). Memory is an interpretive action. Narrative Inquiry
- Schiff, B. (2023). Imagining an alternate psychology. In J. Mildorf, E. Punzi, & C. Singer (Eds.) Narratives and mental health: Bridging the听cultural and the individual (pp. 15-31). New York: Oxford University Press.
- Schiff, B. & Justice, M. (2023). A manifesto on the hermeneutics of violence. In C. Falke, V. Fareld, & H. Meretoja (Eds.) Interpreting violence: Narrative, ethics and hermeneutics (pp. 89-103). New York: Routledge.
- Schiff, B. (2020).听La taille importe-t-elle听vraiment?听In S. Patron (Ed.)听Small听Stories:听Un nouveau paradigme pour les recherches sur le r茅cit听(pp. 55-68).听Paris: Hermann.听听
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Schiff, B. (Ed.) (2018).听Situating qualitative methods in psychological science.听Routledge: New York.听听
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Schiff, B. (2018). Introduction: Situating qualitative methods in psychological science. In B. Schiff (Ed.).听Situating qualitative methods in psychological science听(pp. 1-10). Routledge: New York.听听
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Schiff, B. (2018). Understanding psychology, differently. In B. Schiff (Ed.).听Situating qualitative methods in psychological science听(pp. 85-99). Routledge: New York.听听
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Schiff, B. (2018). Narrating as political action. In C. J. Hewer & E. Lyons (Eds.)听Handbook of political psychology听(pp. 114-133). Oxford: BPS Wiley.听
- Schiff, B. (2017).听A new narrative for psychology. New York: Oxford University Press.听
- Schiff, B., McKim, E. & Patron, S. (Eds.) (2017).听Life and narrative: The risks and responsibilities of storying experience. New York: Oxford University Press.听听
- Schiff, B. (2017). Psychology's silent crisis. OUP Blog, Oxford University Press.
- Schiff, B., Patron, S. & McKim, E. (Eds., In preparation). Life and narrative: The risks and responsibilities of storying experience. Contract from Oxford University Press. 听
- Schiff, B. (In preparation). A new narrative for psychology. Contract from Oxford University Press
- Schiff, B. (Ed.) (2014) Re-reading personal narrative and life course. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 145.
- Schiff, B. (2014). Introduction: Development鈥檚 story in time and place. In B. Schiff (Ed.) Re-reading personal narrative and life course. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 145, 1-13.听
- Schiff, B. (2013). Fractured narratives: Psychology鈥檚 fragmented narrative psychology. M. Hyv盲rinen, M., Hatavara & L. C. Hyd茅n, L.C. (Eds.), The travelling concept of narrative.
- Schiff, B. (2012). The function of narrative: Toward a narrative psychology of meaning. Narrative Works: Issues, Investigations & Interventions. 2(1), 34-47.
- Schiff, B., Toulemonde, M. & Porto, C. (2012). Identity in the first person plural: Muslim-Jewish couples in France. In R. Josselson & M. Haraway (Eds.). Navigating multiple identities: Race, gender, culture, nationality, and roles (pp. 167-186). New York: Oxford University Press.
- Schiff, B., Porto, C. & Toulemonde, M. (2011). Narrating shared identity. In H. Anheier, Y. R. Isar & D. Viejo-Rose (Eds.) Heritage, memory, identity: Cultures and globalization, Vol. 4 (pp. 252-261). London: Sage Publications.听
- Schiff, B. & O鈥橬eill, T. (2007). The relational emplotment of mixed race identity. In R. Josselson, A. Lieblich & D. P. McAdams (Eds.) The narrative study of lives: The meaning of others (pp. 143-163). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
- Schiff, B., Skillingstead, H., Archibald, O., Arasim, A. & Petersen, J. (2006). Consistency and change in the repeated narratives of Holocaust survivors. Narrative Inquiry, 16 (2), 349-377.
- Schiff, B. (2006). The promise (and challenge) of an innovative narrative psychology. Narrative Inquiry, 16 (1), 19-27.
- Schiff, B. & Noy, C. (2006). Making it personal: Shared meanings in the narratives of Holocaust survivors. A. De Fina, D. Schiffrin, & M. Baumberg (Eds.) Discourse and identity (pp. 398-425). New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Schiff, B. (2005). Telling it in time: Interpreting consistency and change in the life stories of Holocaust survivors. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 60 (3), 189-212.
- Schiff, B. (2004). Narrating collective memory. Book review: J. V. Wertsch (2002). Voices of collective remembering. New York: Cambridge University Press. Contemporary Psychology APA Review of Books, 49 (2), 229-231.
- Schiff, B. (2003). Book review: P. Suedfeld (Ed.) (2001). Light from the ashes: Social science careers of young Holocaust refugees and survivors. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Canadian Journal on Aging, 22, 136-137.
- Schiff, B. (2002). Talking about identity: Arab students at the Hebrew University. Ethos, 30 (3), 273-304.
- Wink, P. & Schiff, B. (2002). To review or not to review? The role of personality and life events in life review and adaptation to old age. In J. D. Webster & B. K. Haight (Eds.) Critical advances in reminiscence: From theory to application (pp. 44-60). New York: Springer-Verlag.
- Schiff, B. & Cohler, B. (2001). Telling survival backward: Holocaust survivors narrate the past. In: Kenyon, G. M., Clark, P. G., & de Vries, B. Narrative gerontology: Theory, research and practice (pp. 113-136). New York: Springer.
- Schiff, B., Noy, C. & Cohler, B. (2001). Collected stories in the life narratives of Holocaust survivors. Narrative Inquiry, 11 (1), 159-194.
Conferences & Lectures
Interviews
University of Michigan, Department of Psychology, Alumni Profiles.听
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Affiliations
- Schiff was lead organizer of Narrative Matters 2012: Life and Narrative. He is co-organizer of Narrative Matters 2014: Narrative Knowing/R茅cit et Savoir with Sylvie Patron (University of Paris-Diderot).
- Schiff is on the editorial board of Narrative Works and Qualitative Psychology.
- The American Psychological Association
- The Society for Personology