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Eduardo Lugo Hernández  
 
Kala Melchiori  
 
Souhail Malavé Rivera  
   
   
   
   

SPSSI Summer Conference: Reconnecting in the Global South

Eduardo A. Lugo Hernández, Associate Professor, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus

Kala J. Melchiori, Assistant Professor, James Madison University

Souhail M. Malavé Rivera, Adjunct Professor, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus

We are getting closer to our SPSSI’s Summer Conference which will take place in San Juan, Puerto Rico, June 24-26, 2022. This is always an exciting time but especially this year as we get to meet for the first in-person conference since the COVID-19 pandemic began. This year’s theme is Reenergizing Ourselves and Our Communities: Connections Across Borders and Barriers. Our theme captures the emotions we are feeling of being able to connect with our colleagues from around the globe and generate a sense of community that will spark collaboration and dialogue. It also emphasizes the importance of reenergizing our theory and practices by integrating knowledge from the global south and other regions. These dialogues will not only strengthen our theory and practice but also will help us take steps into a decolonial praxis.

The excitement around this year’s conference is palpable. We received more than four hundred submissions in every format. The quality of these submissions was outstanding. We are also pleased that scholarship from all over the world will be shared with our SPSSI community, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, Egypt, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Islamic Republic of Israel, Jamaica, Korea, Republic of Myanmar, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russian Federation, South Africa, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States.

This is an historic moment where issues around the decoloniality, the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, racial injustice, and conflict intersect. For this reason, we have a distinguished group of keynote speakers that includes Dr. Michael A. Hogg, who will provide the Kurt Lewin address. His research centers around intergroup relations, group processes, influence and leadership, and self and identity. We will also have our President, Dr. Linda Silka, with her Presidential address. Dr. Silka’s address will emphasize the importance of dialogue and connections as catalyst for change and hope. Dr. Dolores Albarracín, will also provide a keynote. She is an Argentine American social psychologist who studies social cognition, communication, and behavioral change, with recent work on how we can move forward with our science with the lessons from the COVID pandemic. Finally, our last keynote will be provided by Dr. Edil Torres Rivera. Dr. Torres Rivera is a Puerto Rican counseling psychologist and president elect of the American Counseling Association. He is an expert on Liberation Psychology, indigenous counseling, Puerto Rican studies, and identity development. These keynotes and the many presentations by international colleagues should be a platform for allowing ourselves to learn from each other and create bonds and collaborations for the betterment of our profession and society.

We hope to see you in San Juan to enjoy the academic exchange and thought-provoking dialogues and also to enjoy the richness of the Puerto Rican culture. For more information you can visit our page: https://www.spssi.org/conferences.

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