Graduate Student Collaborations for SPSSI 2019

The SPSSI 2019 conference is scheduled for June 21st-23rd in San Diego, CA, and the deadline for conference submissions is December 17th. In preparation for the conference, your Graduate Student Committee has teamed up to offer opportunities to collaborate on submissions for a number of potential symposia!

Please review the collaboration opportunities below, and feel free to disseminate them to your friends and colleagues. If your research aligns with any of these topics and you’re interested in collaborating, please reach out to the email address provided by Friday, December 7th. Reaching out before the deadline to indicate your interest is much appreciated by our panel organizers! We ask that you provide a brief summary of your proposed contribution to the panel be prepared to share an abstract (200 words max) with the symposium organizer.

Don’t see something you like? Follow this link to a google sheet where you can pair with other graduate students on other topics! We encourage you to share widely!

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SYMPOSIA TOPICS:

Making An Impact: How To Become Involved With Research and Advocacy In Grad School

This panel will feature graduate student research, advocacy, and community based projects. I am seeking collaborators who wish to present work on their various projects related to applied advocacy, research, and student organizations. I welcome a range of submissions, including best practices for doing the work, how to start an organization in graduate school, and examples of applied work students are currently doing. If you are interested in collaborating on this panel, please send your 200-word abstract and/or topic to Nuha at na32@zips.uakron.edu

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Neoliberalism and Constructions of Relationality

The theoretical framework that informs contributions to this panel suggests that patterns of love and care documented in hegemonic psychological science are not (just) human nature, but instead reflect engagement with cultural ecologies of neoliberal individualism that afford a sense of freedom from constraint and abstraction from context. These cultural ecologies promote growth-oriented relational tendencies to perform care as emotional intimacy and to construct love as romantic pursuit of personal ful?lment via intimate connection. The implicit contrast is with the cultural ecologies of embedded interdependence that have been more typical across time and space. The important contribution of the panel is to illuminate and disrupt the epistemic violence associated with prevailing conceptions of love, care and well-being in hegemonic psychological science.

If you are interested in collaborating on this panel, please send your 200-word abstract and/or topic to Darlingtina at datakere@ku.edu

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Combating Cultural Violence Through Structural Change

This panel will explore research that broadly relates to the topic of cultural violence. Cultural violence - or the specific cultural aspects that can encourage direct or structural violence by normalizing exploitation and discrimination against others - is endemic in our political climate. One does not need to look far to find examples of restricting the ability of minorities to access resources, rights, and social capital they may not otherwise have. In particular, I’m seeking to find collaborators that examine the policies, voting behavior, and personality characteristics that are related to the normalization of restricting movement, separating families, invasive searching, access to education and governmental services, power dynamics, challenges to the structural status-quo, and more. Qualitative, quantitative, and theoretical contributions are welcome to discuss the presence of cultural violence in the United States today, and what psychology can contribute to a better, broader understanding of the issues at stake.

If you are interested in collaborating on this panel, please send your 200-word abstract and/or topic to Kevin at krc58@georgetown.edu

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Underrepresentation in STEM: How Can We Increase the Diversity and Inclusivity of STEM Fields?

For the past several decades, many minority groups have been underrepresented within Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Research suggests that stereotypes about STEM abilities are formed during childhood and strengthen with age. The goal of this panel is to highlight research examining how STEM fields can be diversified to increase minority members’ inclusion and participation, across the lifespan. I am seeking collaborators who wish to present work on the underrepresentation of any group within STEM fields, for example, across any age, race, ethnic or gender group. I welcome a range of submissions, including interventions, developmental or longitudinal studies, qualitative, quantitative and theoretical work.

If you are interested in collaborating on this panel, please send a 200-word abstract and/or topic to Christina at clapy@yorku.ca

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Minding the Midterms: Psychological Studies of a Social and Political Context

This panel will focus on research that speaks to the context, results, or political environment surrounding the 2018 midterms. This panel is intentionally meant to be broad; the only requirement is that the presented research relates to the 2018 midterm elections in some way. Panelists will present their research and will be expected to devote part of their presentation to explaining the significance of this research in relation to the midterm elections. This may be a study of actual voting, activism, or political engagement leading up to, during, or after the 2018 midterms. It may be research that the authors believe speaks to the social and political context surrounding the 2018 midterms (e.g. research on sexual assault and political engagement, especially relating to the Kavanaugh nomination). It could also be research that ties the 2016 election to the 2018 election in some way.

If you have research that you believe would be a great addition to this panel and are interested in collaborating, please send your 200-word abstract and/or topic to Ben Blankenship (btblanke@umich.edu). If you have any ideas but are not sure if they would work or not, feel free to e-mail ahead of your submission!

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Political Inequality: Underrepresented Groups in Elected Offices

This panel will feature research that broadly relates to the topic of political inequality. In particular, I am seeking collaborators who wish to present work on the underrepresentation of women, ethnic/racial minorities, religious minorities, and other groups in elected office. I welcome a range of submissions, including interventions, experimental work, qualitative analyses, and survey research.

If you are interested in collaborating on this panel, please send your 200-word abstract and/or topic to Angela at angelarr@uci.edu