BIO & BACKGROUND

​Dr. Al-Shawaf is a research psychologist and Professor of Psychology at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs, where his work focuses on emotion, cognition, and personality and individual differences. 

Dr. Al-Shawaf serves as an advisor at Ideas Beyond Borders, an organization dedicated to promoting science, secularism, and civil rights in the Middle East. He has held Visiting Fellowships at the Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin (Wiko) and the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST), and has also held university positions in Lebanon, Turkey, and the United States.

Information about his publications, books, and professional distinctions can be found on the corresponding pages of this site and on his university profile.
 
In his leisure time, he enjoys travel, hiking, reading, writing, playing board games with friends, and hanging out with as many animals as he can possibly manage.

Dr. Al-Shawaf received his PhD in psychology from The University of Texas at Austin, with additional training in biology, anthropology, and animal behavior, as well as a formal concentration in applied statistical modeling. Before that, he grew up in Lebanon and completed his undergraduate studies at the American University of Beirut as a full Merit Scholar, studying psychology and philosophy and minoring in cognitive science.

Dr. Al-Shawaf strongly believes in the value of breadth, interdisciplinary work, and the integration of insights across fields. His work reflects this commitment, and he welcomes collaborations and new research ideas.

​"​So far as we class the states or fields of consciousness, write down their several natures, analyze their contents into elements, or trace their habits of succession, we are on the descriptive or analytic level. So far as we ask where they come from or why they are just what they are, we are on the explanatory level."
​- William James