2018 SPSSI Conference Reflections

The theme of the 2018 SPSSI's Conference in Pittsburgh PA, “Building Bridges to Justice: Building Coalitions and Collaborations Within and Beyond Psychology”, grew out of our concern with the global rise in attacks on human rights and active efforts to divide people with different social identities. In line with this theme, we had a record breaking 312 symposia, posters, and interactive discussions reporting on work that seeks to build bridges with policy makers and community organizations to address pressing social problems. It was inspiring to see upcoming and established scholars and community leaders engaged in work to shed light on and facilitate community building to overcome the varied and interlocking barriers to social justice. There was also many engaging and productive discussions, interactions, and collaborations among  the 494 attendees!

Peruse pictures from this year’s conference on the SPSSI Facebook page and visit the SPSSI YouTube channel for recordings of several sessions and keynote presentations from the conference.

The conference also featured two community outreach events:

• The I am Psyched! National Tour, which was accompanied by a panel of women of color psychologists (Drs. Shelby Cooley, Jessica DeCuir-Gunby, and Danielle Dickens) that was open to community organizations serving girls and women of color from Pittsburgh and Allegheny.
   
• The CafÉ Psychology in which Drs. Keith Maddox and Mary Murphy shared their work racial bias and promoting diversity in STEM respectively.

We would like to offer a heartfelt thank you to the staff at SPSSI’s Central Office: Anila Balkissoon, Sarah Mancoll, Cyndi Lucas, and Brad Sickels, Victor Adebusola and the conference organizers from AMC Network: Andrea Hargrave and Elizabeth White. Their hard work and guidance was indispensable to us and ensured a successful conference. It was a pleasure to work with all of them at every stage in this process.

Save the Date for SPSSI Summer Conference 2019

We look forward to the next SPSSI conference in San Diego from June 21 to June 23, 2019! Given the troubling social events occurring across the globe, there is tremendous need for the research-informed policies and practices provided by SPSSI members.

We hope you stay involved in SPSSI. See you at next year’s conference!

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