Born in Germany and raised in Brooklyn, Fenigstein joined the Kenyon faculty in 1974. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Virginia, the University of Miami in Florida, George Mason University in Virginia, the Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, the University of Kent at Canterbury, the University of London and Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Currently chair of the Department of Psychology at Kenyon, he was honored with the Tomsich Science Award in 1998 for excellence in scientific research. Fenigstein has done research and written on media violence and aggression, the evolution of human sexuality, self-consciousness, paranoid behavior and the psychology of genocide. He is currently involved in work on the human capacity for self-deception and the underlying causes of different types of prejudices.

His wife Audrey is an artist and they have three sons, David, Marc and Steven.

Areas of Expertise

Self-consciousness, paranoia, evolution of human sexuality, prejudice and genocide.

Education

1974 — Doctor of Philosophy from Univ Texas Austin

1969 — Bachelor of Arts from Brooklyn College

Courses Recently Taught

Psychology is the study of behavior and mental processes. In this foundation course, we explore a variety of areas in which psychologists conduct research: the biological foundations of behavior, sensory and perceptual processes, cognition, learning and memory, developmental psychology, personality and social psychology, psychological disorders and variability in behavior related to culture. Students who have completed PSYC 100 cannot take this course. This counts toward the foundations requirement for the major. No prerequisite. Generally offered every spring.

This course examines the biological, psychological and social bases of human sexuality. Topics include the physiology of sex functions, variations of sexual behavior, nature and treatment of sexual malfunctions, sexual identity and attitudes, differences in sexual behavior and the social dynamics of sexual interaction. This counts toward the sociocultural perspectives requirement for the major. Prerequisite: PSYC 100 or 110 or AP score of 5. Generally offered every year.