(NEEDS IMAGE) How a degree in Social and Developmental Psychology supported autism research
A graduate of Murray Edwards College, Seema Nath completed her MPhil in Social and Developmental Psychology in 2011.
She went on to work with Columbia Global Centers South Asia on a project titled ‘Model District Education Project, Access to Achievement’.
This project spanned two districts in India and served as a regional pilot for scaling up innovations and quality improvements targeting overall education systems across rural India.
During her time at the University of Cambridge, Seema gained a strong grounding in a broad range of issues pertaining to both social and developmental psychology with a special focus on developmental psychology. She completed her dissertation in the area of ‘Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Memory’ under the supervision of Dr. Claire Hughes. Her study attempted to understand the memory capabilities and quantity of recall in children with ASD when compared with typically developing children, specifically in terms of episodic and semantic memory systems. It also examined the effect of the severity of ASD on memory.
My time in Cambridge has been one of the most enriching experiences of my life and I am very thankful to the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust for making this possible.
Before coming to Cambridge, Seema received her BA (with Honours) in Psychology from Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi University, and her MA in Psychology from SNDT University in Mumbai, India. She also worked for a year in training and development at an infrastructure consulting firm, Feedback Infrastructure Pvt Ltd.
Seema completed her PhD from the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education in 2021. Her research interests include education, disability, international development and inclusive education.
"My time in Cambridge has been one of the most enriching experiences of my life and I am very thankful to the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust for making this possible. It was wonderful to work with such esteemed Faculty and extremely talented colleagues," says Seema. "Cambridge provided a wonderful sense of community with its collegiate system and it is amazing to see the ease with which it provided an opportunity for seamless integration of academic work with an active social life.”