Small Group Meeting: Mapping Space/Place and Psychology

Thursday 28 June 2018
Marriott City Center
Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Organizers: Jessica Salvatore (Sweet Briar College) & Thomas Morton (University of Exeter)
 

Representation of part of Pittsburgh © 2013, Cooper Center for Public Service, Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia (from a dot map created by Dustin A. Cable from 2010 U.S. Census data; used with permission) 

Across a number of sub-domains of psychology, there is evidence of an increasing interest in the ways in which psychological and social processes are embedded in, or otherwise connected to, people’s physical surroundings – be these specific spaces and places, territories that are “owned” by different groups, or broader environments and landscapes. The material or symbolic features of physical spaces and places can include or exclude specific individuals or groups, can permit or deny opportunities for interaction with others, and can support or undermine attempts to realize the individual or collective self. The dynamic connections between individual psychology, social processes, and physical spaces or places can also play out in a variety of different domains, including educational settings, organizations, communities, and society as a whole, and might include topics such as safe or protected spaces, marked spaces, contested spaces, public spaces, and/or sacred spaces.

Researchers working on connections between physical space and psychological experience, and who are relatively early in their career, are invited to submit work to a SPSSI- and EASP-sponsored small group meeting. We aim for approximately 24 participants, of whom about half will be from Europe.  We aim to provide a space for relatively junior researchers working in this area to network, share ideas and resources, and develop collaborations. Work to be presented or workshopped need not be in ‘final’ form.  Thanks to generous support from EASP and from SPSSI, there will be no registration fee and costs of participation (e.g., hotel, food) will be offset (more funding has been applied for to potentially also offset some travel costs; details to be clarified as they emerge). We anticipate publishing a special journal issue on the conference themes.