Chair of Biological and Social Sciences   Office: B105F Phone: 207-646-9282 x237 Email: clahar@yccc.edu

SPRING 2009 Classes

• Teaching Archives:
  • YCCC classes in previous semesters (includes links to online components)
  • Classes taught at Miyazaki International College (1998-2001)
• Teaching Web Pages
  • Explore Japan
  • Explore Cambodia

• As a Carnegie Scholar:
•   The Carnegie Academy for the Sholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) is an initiative of the Carnegie Foundation for  the advancement of teaching.  
•  CASTL scholars for 2003-2004 
•  My final project snapshot for CASTL (you can download my final report here as well)
• Fulbright Scholar materials, reports, articles:
• Building Research Capacity in Cambodia - Article in the APS Observer, December 2004
• Training workshop on qualitative methods (RUPP, Phnom Penh, Cambodia)   (March, 2004)
• My Fulbright experience in words, photos and more from Cambodia January 2004-August 2004
• Volunteerism research (under construction and underway)
• A news article on research plans in Cambodia- Sept, 2003, Journal Tribune
• Cross-cultural teaching collaborations (on-going)
• Sentence Completion Norms - (Lahar, Tun & Wingfield, 2004) -  norms available for young, middle and older aged adults
• Attentional Blink in Older Adults (Lahar, Isaak & McArthur, 2001)
• A short article on media use in psychology classrooms - Canada (1996)
• A short article on memory theory and classroom hints - Japan (1998)
• Research WebPages from MIC (research in progress or completed before 2002):
  • divided attention project (with Patricia Tun)
  • everyday activity and successful aging 
  • wisdom and leadership (with Lynn Bradley)
  • early memory project (with Masao Mizoguchi)
  • watch and report assignment research

I joined the faculty at York County Community College in January of 2002.  At YCCC I teach classes in psychology and sociology and continue my research in the areas of cognition, aging and collaborative teaching. Currently I am also serving as the Chair of Biological and Social Sciences. I also collaborate with researchers at Brandeis University at the Memory and Cognition lab at the Volen Center at Brandeis. I hold a Visiting Professor of Psychology position at the Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP) in Cambodia.   I work a few months each year at the Psychology Dept. at RUPP helping design curriculum and train teachers.   

My previous positions include:

• Professor of Psychology at Miyazaki International College in Miyazaki Japan from January 1998 until January 2002 
• Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Calgary in Alberta Canada from September 1993 to 1998.    

Credentials:

• A.A. Lyndon State College
• B.A. University of North Carolina Charlotte - Psychology
• M.A. Brandeis University - Experimental Psychology
• Ph.D. Brandeis University - Experimental Psychology

APS Fund for Teaching Award (2006).  Project title:  Upgrading knowledge and teaching effectiveness of psychology teachers in Cambodia.  This $5,000 grant provided training and resources for the only psychology department in Cambodia allowing me to travel to Phnom Penh to bring materials and offer teacher training Dec 19, 2006 - Jan 9, 2007.  The April 2008 issue of the APS Observer published a report on this grant work in their Psychology Around the World series.

I was awarded a Fulbright Senior Specialists award for further work in Cambodia in July and August 2006.  I provided training to university teachers in research methods and consulted with the Psychology Department at the Royal University of Phnom Penh on a strategic plan as well as a number of curricular issues. This visit also allowed me to work more on the volunteerism research project underway with my collaborators there.

I began my work as a Carnegie Scholar with 25 others in the 2003-2004 cohort of the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) Program in Higher Education.  Part of the work with the Carnegie Foundation supported the ongoing development of the liberal arts program for YCCC.  Research included a project aimed to understand how we could effectively infuse diversity education and global awareness through the curriculum.

I was awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant for lecturing and research in Cambodia for eight months beginning in January of 2004.  Part of my work with the Fulbright program included training university teachers in research methods and advising the Psychology Department at the Royal University of Phnom Penh. The other part of my work in Cambodia was to conduct research on the motivations for volunteerism.  Lara Skinner at the Journal Tribune wrote an article on Sept 24th about my research plans.  An article from the December 2004 APS Observer is available here.  

Some of my personal interests include doing tai chi and yoga, and traveling (especially in Asia).  I'm also trying to learn  two languages:  Khmer and ASL. 

Here are some pages of my photos that I created while I lived in Japan:

• Cambodia photos from 1999

• Cambodia photos from 2000

  • Sihanoukville
  • Kompong Cham
  • Trip to the Kulen Mountains, River of 10,000 Lingas and Waterfall
  • Siem Reap, Angkor (temples and friends)
  • My friends Arun and Nara
  • Phnom Penh

• Japan photos

• Canada photos (from Banff and Calgary)

Here are some other photo pages (in progress):

• Laos 2002

• York with Dude

• Ozzy the Cat

• Previous cats - Larry and Danny

Here is the link to my Explore Cambodia site - please visit if you are interested in traveling to Cambodia or learning more about Cambodia.  If you want to have some fun exploring the culture of Japan, visit my Explore Japan page.

My old "etcetera" page from MIC contains some links to things I find interesting.

My new ROTE page is in development as I try to develop a non-profit aimed to help keep poor young Cambodians in school.

A related site I manage is www.wondersofcambodia.com  - in progress

This page is being updated in January, 2009- CJL.