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Covenant College
katie kelley
706.419.1161
katie.kelley
By Appointment

Katie Kelley

Assistant Professor

Psychology

Curriculum Vitae

Education

  • Ph.D., Developmental Psychology, University of Notre Dame
  • M.A., Developmental Psychology and Advanced Quantitative Social Science, University of Notre Dame
  • M.Div., Reformed Theological Seminary
  • M.S., Research Psychology, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga
  • B.A., Psychology, Covenant College

Interests / Specialization

  • Developmental Psychology, Identity Development
  • Psychology of Religion - I am especially interested in how parents pass their faith on to their children, and how children make that faith their own as adolescents

Selected Professional Work

  • Miller, Jakob, Peter Staritz, and Katheryn Kelley. “AI’s Role in Deliberative Discussion.” PS: Political Science and Politics.
  • Kelley, Katheryn, and Darrell Van Tongeren. “Religious Deconstruction.” In The SAGE Handbook of the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, edited by B. Winder, V. Crowley, D. Wilde, R. Chowdhury, and G. Williams.
  • Kelley, Katheryn, and Daniel Lapsley. “Psychological Approaches to Religion and Education.” In The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Education, edited by L. Gearon and A. Kuusisto.
  • Kornelsen, Emily, Katheryn Kelley, and Gengyu Liu. “The Development of Integrative Religious Cognition During the College Years.” Paper presented at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion Annual Meeting, November 2025.
  • Channell, Grace, Katheryn Kelley, and Raenah Hyde. “To Infinity and Beyond: Evaluation of a New Program to Prevent Addiction in Adolescence.” Paper presented at the Society for Research on Adolescence Annual Meeting, April 2026.

Get to know your professor

Q. If you could compete in an olympic sport, what would it be and why?
A. I love to ice skate, so it would probably be a winter olympic sport, but I'm also a team player, so I wouldn't want to do it on my own. Probably the team ice dancing competition, or else I'd lean on my actual athletic background and say soccer.

Q. Favorite food?
A. Cannoli

Q. What is one thing that instantly makes your day better?
A. Going to class and seeing my students. Waking up in the morning and kissing my little boy. Good music, good food, or good exegesis. Time to analyze data and finding interesting results. Snacks.

Q. If you could teach any other major, what would it be?
A. Well, I have a Bible degree, so that might be an easy answer. But I took a chemistry class my senior year of high school, and I think if I'd taken it any sooner, I might have majored in Chemistry instead. I do love a good formula!

Q. Personal Interests/Hobbies
A. I like photography, reading (mostly epic fantasy and middle grades fiction), and cooking. But my free time is usually spent stepping on legos, doing laundry, and picking up dirty socks. Can you call those hobbies?