Educational Background
A.B., Psychology (with
great distinction), Stanford University (1959)
M.A., Human Development,
University of Chicago, Division of Social Sciences (1962)
Ph.D., Human Development,
University of Chicago, Division of Social Sciences, Principal fields:
developmental psychology, political attitudes in young people (1965)
Professional Background
Assistant Professor of Psychology,
Illinois Institute of Technology (1967-69)
Assistant Professor of Education,
University of Illinois-Chicago (1969-70)
Associate Professor of
Psychology, University of Illinois-Chicago (1970-77)
Professor of Psychology,
University of Illinois-Chicago. Academic and administrative responsibilities:
division head in developmental psychology; developer of the applied psychology
undergraduate major, doctoral research supervision. (1977-1981)
Professor of Human Development,
College of Education, University of Maryland, College Park. Academic and
administrative responsibilities: teaching developmental, educational and
cross-cultural psychology; doctoral research supervision. (1981-present)
Visiting Professor, School of
Education (SIDEC), Stanford University (1987-1988, 1991, 1999)
Visiting Scholar, Center on
Political Psychology, Department of Political Science, University of Minnesota,
Twin Cities (2005-2006)
Consultant, Political Engagement
Project, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, (2002-2007)
Affiliations (associations, organizations, institutions)
American Psychological
Association. Fellow in five Divisions (on teaching, educational psychology,
international psychology, social issues in psychology, and child/family
policy); Decade of Behavior Research Award in Democracy, International Mentor
Award (1965-present)
International Association for the
Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Chair of two projects on civic
education and planning committee member for a third, Honorary Member of the
General Assembly of IEA (1967-present)
Comparative and International
Education Society. Claude Eggertson Lecturer on the use of cross-national data
in policy making, member of Editorial Board for the Comparative Education Review,
member of Council (1979-present)
International Society for
Political Psychology. Nevitt Sanford Award for application of scholarly work in
political psychology, member of Governing Council (1984-2006)
U.S. National Committee on
Psychological Sciences (National Academy of Sciences). Committee member and
consultant for report on international collaboration (2005-present)
Selected Publications
Torney, J.V., Oppenheim,
A. N. & Farnen, R. F. (1975). Civic
education in ten countries: An empirical study. New York: Halsted Press of
John Wiley and Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell.
Torney-Purta, J. & Schwille,
J. (1986). Civic values learned in school: Policy and practice in
industrialized countries. Comparative
Education Review, 30, 30-49.
Torney-Purta, J. (1992).
Cognitive representations of the international political and economic systems
in adolescents. In H. Haste & J. Torney-Purta (Eds.), The development of political
understanding. San Francisco: Jossey Bass (New Directions in Child
Development). (pp. 11-25).
Torney-Purta, J. (1994).
Dimensions of adolescents' reasoning about political and historical issues:
Ontological switches, developmental processes, and situated learning. In J.
Voss and M. Carretera (Eds.), Cognitive
and instructional processes in history and social sciences. Hillsdale,
N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. (pp. 103-121).
Torney-Purta, J., Schwille, J.
& Amadeo, J. (Eds.). (1999). Civic
education across countries: Twenty-four case studies from the IEA Civic
Education Project. Amsterdam: International Association for the Evaluation
of Educational Achievement.
Torney-Purta, J., Lehmann, R.,
Oswald, H. & Schulz, W. (2001). Citizenship
and education in twenty-eight countries: Civic knowledge and engagement at age
fourteen. Amsterdam: International Association for the Evaluation of
Educational Achievement.
Steiner-Khamsi, G., Torney-Purta,
J. & Schwille, J. (Eds.) (2002). New
paradigms and recurring paradoxes in education for citizenship. Amsterdam:
Elsevier Science (JAI Press).
Torney-Purta, J. (2002). The
school's role in developing civic engagement: A study of adolescents in
twenty-eight countries. Applied
Developmental Science, 6, 202-211.
Torney-Purta, J. (2002). Patterns
in the civic knowledge, engagement, and attitudes of European adolescents: The
IEA Civic Education Study. European
Journal of Education, 37 (2), 129-141.
Torney-Purta, J. & Amadeo, J.
(2004). Strengthening
democracy in the Americas through civic education: An empirical analysis of the
views of students and teachers. Washington, D.C.: Organization of American
States (also in Spanish)
Torney-Purta, J. &
Richardson, W. K. (2004). Anticipated political engagement among adolescents in
Australia, England, Norway, and the United States. In J. Demaine (Ed.), Citizenship and political education
today. London: Palgrave/Macmillan (pp. 41-58)
Torney-Purta, J., Barber, C.
& Richardson, W. K. (2004). Trust in government related institutions and
political engagement among adolescents in six countries. Acta Politica, 380-406.
Torney-Purta, J., Barber, C.
& Wilkenfeld, B. (2007). Latino adolescents' civic development in the
United States: Research results from the IEA Civic Education Study. Journal of Youth and
Adolescence, 36, 111-125.
Torney-Purta, J, Amadeo, J. &
Richardson, W. (2007). Civic service among youth in Chile, Denmark, England and
the United States: A psychological perspective. In M. Sherraden & A.
McBride (Eds.). Civic service
worldwide: Impacts and inquiries. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe. (pp. 95-132).
Torney-Purta, J. (2007).
Democracy is not only for politicians; citizenship education is not only for
schools. In E. Stevick & B. A. E. Levinson (Eds.), Reimaging civic education: How
diverse societies form democratic citizens. Lanham, MD: Rowman and
Littlefield. (pp. 317-331).
Created: 3/15/2008
Updated: 3/17/2008
Contributed By: Gary Homana, University of Maryland