Dr. Mary Elizabeth Bridges is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at East Carolina University. With more than 20 years of experience in higher education, she has worked extensively in teaching, counseling, academic advising, student success, and first-year programming. Her teaching focuses on helping students connect psychological concepts to their academic, professional, and everyday lives. She is especially committed to creating engaging learning experiences that help students build confidence, strengthen their skills, and recognize their capacity for growth. Her scholarly interests include resilience, coping, well-being, learning and motivation, and the positive psychological resources that support student success.
Biography
- Professor of the Semester Award, ULM Psi Chi, 2023
- Recipient of a SPARC Graduate Research Grant for The HERO Within: Developing the Psychological Capital of First-Generation Students, 2022
- Top-Rated Research Poster, American Psychological Association Division 15, 2021
- Bridges, M. E., and Duffy, M. (2025). “Exploring the Impact of COVID on College Students’ Academic Experiences.” In Examining the Cognitive and Psychological Effects of COVID-19 from Elementary through Post-Secondary Education. Information Age Publishing.
- Bridges, M. E. (2021). Bouncing Back and Getting Gritty. Introduction to Psychology Relevancy Module. McGraw Hill.
- Psychological resilience and coping
- Hope, optimism, self-efficacy, and well-being
- Learning and motivation
- First-generation student success
- Technology and student engagement
- Ph.D in Educational Psychology and Research, University of South Carolina
- MEd in Counseling, University of Louisiana at Monroe
- B.S. in Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Louisiana at Monroe