David E. Livert, associate professor of psychology at Penn State Lehigh Valley, will co-chair the ninth biennial conference for the Society of Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) alongside Demis Glasford of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, from June 21-24 in Charlotte, N.C. The conference, titled Changing Societies, will be held at the Omni Hotel and includes more than 300 psychologists, public health researchers, policymakers and social activists from around the world who share a common goal of generating knowledge to aid problems in society. Through psychology, education, health, sociology, policy studies, law, economics and political psychology, the 2012 SPSSI conference will explore the effect of policies on individual and group behavior, such as prejudice, romantic relationships, social cognition, volunteerism and social justice.
The core of the program will include addresses by invited speakers, facilitated discussions, research sessions, and presentations. Mentoring sessions, receptions for graduate students as well as opportunities to volunteer with a Charlotte-based community organization also will be available.
In addition, four Penn State Lehigh Valley students, Kristine Blasco, Tristina Fitzpatrick, Michelle Tejeda and Quynh Tran will accompany Livert and volunteer their time to help run the conference. For pictures, tweets and information throughout their journey, follow @psulehighvalley on Twitter and visit http://www.facebook.com/pages/Penn-State-Lehigh-Valley.