Education

• PhD University of Montana
• MA University of Northern Iowa
• BS Mount Mercy University

About

Alivia Zubrod joined Mount Mercy Campus during Fall 2025 as the Assistant Professor of Psychology, where she teaches Introductory Psychology, Statistics for Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, and Research Methods for Psychology.

Before returning to her alma mater, Alivia worked at Park University as an assistant professor.

Alivia’s field interests are grounded in her discipline and driven by her passion for enhancing her pedagogical knowledge. Her research encompasses political and social cognition as well as the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Within Alivia’s political and social cognition work, she investigates how people think about politically and socially relevant issues, focusing on two intersections: communication complexity and political symmetry vs. asymmetry. Her SoTL research explores ways to support contemporary students (e.g., adult learners, military-affiliated, off-campus students, transfer, etc.) at liberal arts institutions by emphasizing meaningful connections, helping students make the most of available resources, and enhancing learning experiences through effective and inclusive practices.

Throughout her career, Alivia engaged in several presentations; one of which she was invited to speak at the Language and Cognition session at the 96th Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association in Chicago, Illinois, with her talk “Unraveling Language Complexity: Past, Present, and Future.” In addition, her publications cover a wide range of topics, including the relationship between linguistic complexity and trial outcomes, the historical trend in presidential rhetoric style, measuring the perceived threat of COVID-19, and investigating how political groups are similar and different from each other across various paradigms. Her publication detailing the authoritarian attitudes in Russia received high success as the Top Cited Paper of 2022-23, awarded in April of 2024.

In her spare time, Alivia enjoys being with family, reading, baking, and being active.