Bergen Community College psychology professor Mina Ahn, Ph.D., instructs general psychology, social psychology, cross-cultural psychology, and human relations. She enjoys teaching diverse student groups ranging from honors students to ESL students.
“I learn so much from my students,” she said. “It is such a gratifying experience to build that relationship with students, which often leads to forming a learning community in its true definition.”
Hired in September 2007, Ahn recalls how she belonged at Bergen. “I felt at home as soon as I walked into the student center for the first time,” said Ahn. “It was a feeling of ‘I belong here.’” She believes that “feeling of belongingness has never changed since that first walk into the student center.”
Ahn serves as faculty director of the Institute for Multicultural Learning, PACDEI steering committee member, and co-chair of the Asian Heritage Committee. She leads programs that promote human rights, diversity and equity and outreach initiatives including the bilingual learning community program.
“I am grateful for the fact that my ‘work’ at community college can directly contribute to social equity,” said Ahn. “I honestly believe that everyday that I work with my students is a gift.”
Ahn is a psychologist who has researched in the areas of social cognitive processes including attribution, counterfactual thinking, and affective behaviors. She co-authored the book, What might have been: The social psychology of counterfactual thinking (1995). She was a research analyst at Young and Rubicam, an advertising and media firm in New York City.
She has presented at several conferences including the Association of Community College Trustees, American Association of Community Colleges, the Annual National Learning Community Conference, the Annual Korean American Women’s International Network US Eastern Region Leadership Conference, and the American Psychological Association.
She has earned several grants and awards including the Outstanding Educator Award from the Bergen County Executive Office (2019), the Innovation Award from Bergen Community College (2018), the New Jersey Center for Student Success Grant (2016), and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) Fellowship (2015).
Ahn studied fine arts and psychology as an undergraduate and received her doctorate degree at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 13,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.
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