Dr. Sophia Hamilton Duffy: Achieving Excellence Through Teaching with Care

Excellence is what Dr. Sophia Hamilton Duffy expects from the students in her psychology courses.

But it was Hamilton Duffy’s own distinction as an educator that earned her recognition from Dominican University earlier this year. 

Hamilton Duffy was the recipient of Dominican University’s 2nd annual Black Excellence Award, presented by the Center for Cultural Liberation. This award recognizes a faculty member, staff member or community partner who has demonstrated excellence in scholarship and community service, while elevating inclusion and access to education and resources for Black and African American students.

As a professor of psychology since 2016, Hamilton Duffy focuses on the study of historical and intergenerational complex trauma, particularly within Black and Latine communities, and how to effectuate healing for individuals exposed to this trauma. Through the university’s Complex Trauma Research Lab, she and student research assistants have examined the effects of childhood trauma on adults and conducted surveys of DU student experiences. She has also developed a proposed framework for professors to adopt equity-based and trauma-informed practices in their teaching, which can aid in student learning and improve emotional health. 

This academic year, Hamilton Duffy is embracing a new role as president of Dominican’s Faculty Senate, the body representing faculty interests.

She recently answered a few questions for Dominican Magazine.

How did you discover your path to psychology?

When I was in high school, I was a peer counselor and I really enjoyed listening to and helping others think through feelings, problems and thoughts. When I graduated, I served for two years as a special education teacher via Teach for America. I observed the exceptional need for mental health services and trauma-informed care (in and outside of school) for historically excluded and oppressed communities of color. I knew that I wanted to make a difference for this particular community, so I returned to my love of counseling and enrolled in a PhD program in clinical psychology. 

You have been credited with pushing the university to make anti-racist and trauma-informed approaches the center of all work that is done. How are you doing this?

In my teaching, I build relationships with students and create space and community that are focused on care. Learning happens second or third. I believe we have to understand history in order to understand what our students need to thrive. I take great care to not cause harm or retraumatize others by maintaining oppressive systems. I do this through class policy, climate and myself. I am also working on a project that will create student communities that utilize a “radical healing” framework to promote wellness and belongingness for our students. 

What does excellence look like to you and how do you help your students achieve it?

Excellence is anything you do to work toward liberation, freedom and joy for humanity. Excellence is honoring the voice inside you that says keep going. Excellence is when you reflect on how you have shown up in the world, how you have helped others, how you have cared for yourself—and you are filled with fullness and pride. I hope that I help students achieve excellence by encouraging them to look inward and see that excellence is there and has always been there.