Alex Borgella, Ph.D.

Alex Borgella, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology

Expertise

  • Social Psychology
  • Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination
  • Intergroup processes
  • Stereotype threat

Education

  • Ph.D., Social Psychology, Tufts University, 2017
  • M.A., Psychological Sciences, James Madison University, 2012
  • B.A., Psychology, University of West Florida, 2010

Contact:

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Media Contact

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About Dr. Alex Borgella

Dr. Alex Borgella joined Fort Lewis College in Fall 2019 as an assistant professor of psychology. He received his Ph.D. in social psychology at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts, concentrating on the psychological motivations and consequences of racial stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. 

Dr. Borgella’s current research interests involve the following topics:

  • Implicit racial biases and their effects on social perception and decision-making.
  • New and emerging technologies (e.g., AI) and their impacts on prejudice, discrimination, self-esteem, and well-being.
  • Intergroup interactions, their effects on members of stigmatized social groups, and how to improve them.
  • Racial phenotypicality bias (how variations in physical features like skin tone impact prejudice toward Black and Hispanic/Latine Americans).
  • Stereotype threat (how awareness of stereotypes about one’s social group can impact performance in educational and athletic domains). 

His research has been published in academic journals such as The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology and The Journal of Social Psychology, and covered in popular media outlets like NPR, Gizmodo, VICE, Quartz, and Psychology Today.


You can find much more information on Dr. Borgella’s current and previous research, publications, presentations, and media coverage on his lab’s website: The Social Perception Experimentation (SPEx) Lab

Dr. Borgella regularly teaches the following courses at FLC:

  • PSYC 157 - Introduction to Psychology
  • PSYC 301 - Psychological Research Methods
  • PSYC 425 - Social Psychology
  • PSYC 496 - Senior Research Experience in Psychology
  • PSYC 498 - Stereotyping and Prejudice

Find more information about Dr. Borgella on his faculty homepage