hello! my name is min yeshara feldman & i'm a rising fourth-year student studying psychology, cognitive science, and religion at ohio state.

my coursework & research experiences focus in social cognitive development.

humans possess the unique capability to invent power and impose it onto other things. but what is the nature of this power? how do we create and transfer it? why are we the only species with this ability? how does shared belief bestow meaning onto ordinary objects and people, transforming a piece of paper into currency, a person into president, or an imaginary line into a border? although many of these questions are philosophical and have been addressed by philosophers of social ontology, i'm interested in investigating these questions empirically from a developmental and comparative perspective.

from big institutions like governments and governers, to small institutions like promises and the people who make and keep them, i aim to broadly study social institutions and how children develop representations and attitudes towards them.

previously, i have been an undergraduate researcher at the ohio state language perception lab and i'm currently an undergraduate researcher at the thomas lab in the harvard laboratory for developmental studies. this summer, i'll be an undergraduate researcher at the boston college cooperation lab under dr. katherine mcauliffe! i'll also be joining dr. kurt gray's deepest beliefs lab at ohio state in the fall.

in my free time, i love to read and write fiction, play the piano, watch studio ghibli movies, pick up new skills and projects, take long walks, and go on bookstore-coffeeshop crawls (see the fun tab for my favorite spots!).

inquiries, feldman.307@osu.edu