WATERLOO – Wilfrid Laurier University will welcome Dr. Barbara Fiese, a pioneer in the field of family routines and rituals, as this year’s Hunsberger Memorial Lecturer.

Fiese, a clinical and developmental psychologist from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, will deliver her lecture, Family Routines and Rituals: Everyday Opportunities to Build Health and Wellbeing, on Oct. 23.

“One key ritual in our culture is family dinnertime, and it is concerning that family mealtimes have become less frequent in our busy modern lifestyle,” said Laurier psychology professor Dr. Michael Pratt, who organized the lecture. “Dr. Fiese’s work on this topic fits with much emerging evidence that there are many applied benefits of well-organized mealtimes for child health and child and family adjustment.”

Fiese, who is also known for her work in family storytelling, focuses her research on family factors that promote health and well-being in children. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, an associate editor of the Journal of Family Psychology and has served as associate editor of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology. She is also the author of Family Routines and Rituals, Yale University Press.

Laurier’s annual Hunsberger Memorial Lecture was created in honour of Bruce Hunsberger, a Laurier psychology professor from 1974 to 2003 and chair of the department. Hunsberger was an influential scholar in the psychology of religion, prejudice and applied social psychology. He was a recipient of the William James Award from the American Psychological Association.
The lecture will take place Friday, Oct. 23 from 2:30 to 4 p.m. in the Bricker Academic Building, Room BA101. The lecture is free and open to the public. No advance registration is necessary.