David Wall Rice
David Wall Rice is Professor of Psychology at Morehouse College and Principal Investigator of the Identity, Art and Democracy Lab, a research space that explores expressions of identity balance through engagement, the exploration of varied contexts and personal narratives. It is a strengths-based lab that works to understand and to elicit behavioral bests.
David is the former Danforth Endowed Chair of Psychology at Morehouse College, was founding director of the Institute for Social Justice Inquiry and Praxis and founding Co-Director of the School’s Cinema, Television and Emerging Media Studies (CTEMS) Program. While an active faculty member within his home discipline, he also serves as faculty for the film studies major, and in African American Studies, with special focus on narrative studies.
David graduated from Morehouse with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and earned a Doctorate in Personality Psychology from Howard University. With a Masters degree in Journalism from Columbia University, David frequently applies his research to cultural criticism. He has served on the Editorial Advisory Boards for both The Journal of Negro Education and The Journal of Popular Culture; he has provided commentary for C-SPAN, NPR, PRI, CBS News, CNN, MSNBC; and his writing and opinion have appeared in The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times Magazine, BuzzFeedNews.com, Vibe magazine, Ebony.com and The Root among other media outlets; his writing is also represented in the Cornell Hip Hop Collection as part of the Adler Hip Hop Archive.
David’s research in Personality Psychology and theory development is sharply focused on identity and self constructs. This is demonstrated in his book Balance: Advancing identity theory by engaging the Black male adolescent and the text-in-progress, Buddy the Saint. An emphasis on “the positive” is an approach that informs David’s work in identity development that finds root in youth culture, music culture, media, politics, psychology education and faith.
David lives with his wife and two sons in Atlanta, Georgia.