If you have been at FSU long and have taken any psychology classes you probably know Dr. Paul Anderer, Assistant Professor in Psychology. I’ve taken classes with Dr. Anderer and have found his courses to be well planned out, and Dr. Anderer to be a fair professor. I also have found him to be very accessible and decided to interview him for this edition of the school paper. Dr. Anderer was born and raised in Panama City, Republic of Panama, July 7th, 1968, he is currently 36 years old. Dr. Anderer attended Canal Area schools and graduated from Balboa High School in 1986. After two years of community college here at the Panama Canal College he transferred to the University of Colorado at Denver and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, in 1992. He then attended graduate school at the University of Denver, obtaining a Doctorate in Psychology specializing in Clinical Psychology. He has been teaching courses in psychology here at FSU Panama since 2000.

     What's your favorite class to teach?

     Courses in the clinical area, although I generally enjoy teaching as a whole.

     Tell me if you could change one thing at FSU Panama what would it be?

     The level of destructive gossip, and yes, there is constructive gossip, it's called information. The destructive type of gossip is the one that has little to no basis in reality and is invented to destroy or undermine the authority of another person, group, or organization. I listen to gossip but I dismiss most of it because it does not contribute anything positive to society. What is sad is: 1. That people do believe the gossip, 2. The gossipers are not aware that eventually what came from their mouths will reach the target of the gossip, with “nombre y apellido” as we say in Panama, 3. The people who gossip don’t see the damage they are doing to themselves, because when it comes down to the line no one likes a gossiper. By the way there is psychological theory which explains what I have commented on so if you are interested, hit the net and do some reading (hopefully you will read something which is empirically based).

     Do you have a favorite Quote?

     “Relationships never end, they just change,” Maslow.

     On your off time what's your favorite thing to do?

     I enjoy sharing with friends and family, cooking, eating, being in the outdoors, reading, getting to know new people.

     Favorite place to go on vacation?

     My favorite place to get away is Boquete. I think anywhere on vacation is good.

     Where do you see yourself in ten years?

     Who knows? One possibility is being in Panama, continuing to build on the University as we have been doing for the last few years, maybe with a psychology undergraduate degree in place. Life is about change, and it comes unexpectedly sometimes. So as a professional you need to be flexible, and be able to welcome and adapt to change.

     What advice do you give to students that may want to go into a psychology field?

     For those of your readers who have taken my classes it will be no surprise when I say: Neuroscience is the present and future of psychology and health. If you look at the websites of any major university, including FSU, you will see reflected in their course listings in psychology many courses in neuroscience, and many which are partly neuroscience. Eventually they will all incorporate mostly neuroscience. This means that psychology students have to take the biologies, chemistries, physics, mathematics, and then the psychology courses to even make sense of what they will learn in class. There is no avoiding this issue. If students interested in psychology decide to not go this way they will be at a disadvantage upon graduation.

     Lastly is there anything that you would like to add that I have not covered?

     I enjoy working at building the University, which includes working with all of those who are interested in constructing and edifying an organization with so much untapped potential as FSU-Panama. This is why many of the faculty are here today, to become part of the founding of a great institution in the Republic of Panama. Today I went to the Environmental Club’s meeting and was excited at all the activities that they have taken the initiative to plan and carry out. This exemplifies the University experience; willingness to grow professionally, to take risks at creating, to be involved in the field not only in the classroom, being motivated and willing to invest time and effort so you can reach success. This is building a University. 100 years from now when FSU-Panama’s Linton Island Research Station is on par with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute there will be a plaque commemorating the current members of the Environmental Club and the work they voluntarily took on to benefit all others who came after them.


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