Dr. Anderson
J. Franklin

Dr. Anderson J. Franklin, a scholar whose research interests focus on the psychological wellbeing of African Americans and especially African American men, has joined the faculty of the Lynch School of Education at Boston College in the Department of Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

“We are very enthused about [Dr. Franklin’s] arrival,” said Lynch School Dean Joseph O’Keefe. “He is a very important scholar in the psychology community and someone who has been a leader for years in the area of diversity issues and psychology.”

Franklin was previously a professor in the clinical and social psychology doctoral programs in the department of psychology at the Graduate School and City College of the City University of New York. He teaches courses on ethnicity and mental health, resilience and psychological wellbeing and qualitative research interviewing.

Building on themes from Ralph Ellison’s classic novel “Invisible Man,” Franklin has worked to understand the impact of racial slights and misrepresentations experienced by people of African descent. An impetus for his scholarly work is the mounting research evidence that perceived racism, and the manner in which one confronts such incidents, is related to education, health and mental health outcomes for African Americans.

Franklin earned a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Union University, a master’s degree in experimental psychology from Howard University and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Oregon.