2023 IACCP Culture and Psychology Summer School

 
Overview
The Culture & Psychology (C&P) School, sponsored by the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP), is open to students at PhD and MSc level who are interested in culture and psychology.

The C&P School provides a research-intensive and interactive experience for participants from various universities to learn from one another and to receive specialized training from experts in different fields that incorporate culture in their study of psychology.

The C&P School will take place from July 28th to 31th , 2023 in Limerick, Ireland and it precedes 27th Regional European Conference of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, July 31st – August 4th, 2023 (https://iaccp2023.com/home/).

IACCP C&P School focuses on community engaged scholarship and supports the development of broad research skills, international collaborations, effective grant proposal writing, and preparation of scholarly manuscripts. Our goal is to stimulate networking and interactions with peers and instructors in a safe and productive environment. We also aim to emphasize the importance of the applied character of research and the necessity of interdisciplinary collaboration.

The program
Students will be able to choose two content streams from the ones listed below. Please note that all streams will be in-person.
 
STREAM 1- Rethinking and Decolonizing Culture: Toward a More Inclusive Community

Dr. George Simons, Editor of the diversophy® series of intercultural learning tools, USA Dr. Amna Ben Amara, Senior Researcher with the diversophy® project, USA.

In this highly interactive workshop George Simons and Amna Ben Amara will provide a detailed exposé of the radical changes that affect our understanding of culture and how it functions within us and between us. They will reexamine contemporary concepts and practices in the field of intercultural learning and training applications in the light of newer research elements embedded in cognitive psychology, cultural neuroscience, and linguistics. In this process, they will move beyond the national culture stereotype that associates identity with a grossly simplistic and reductionist story about the in-group and argue that being part of a culture is not easily definable and describable. Through the wide range of practical exercises that Simons and Ben Amara developed, participants will have the chance to bring to life their experiences with cultural identity, belonging, and belief systems which shape them and with which they shape their worlds. In the pursuit of investigating the different layers of culture and identity, they will also dig deeper into identity construction mechanisms in the age of populism and the role of the populist upsurge in defining the boundaries of belonging. In this regard, they suggest that populist discourses do not only create affinity between the members of the in-group, but also split the West from the rest, leading to the construction of the nation as a tightly-knit family characterized by strong emotional and even primordial ties. Participants will have the opportunity to explore the impact of this phenomenon on themselves and their social belongings through playing our new diversophy game on Populism, Identity, and Political Discourse.

STREAM 2 - Qualitative Research in Action: Paradigms, Methods, and Data through the Lens of Culture
Prof. C. Dominik Guess, Professor, Department of Psychology, University of North Florida, USA, Prof. M. Teresa Tuason, Professor, Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program, Department of Public Health, University of North Florida, USA.

Qualitative methods are especially suited to study the complexity of cultural psychological processes, tapping into novel topics, sensitive cultural issues, and minority populations. This workshop will be team-taught by two experts on qualitative methodology from the fields of counseling psychology and cognitive psychology. Some of their cross-cultural psychological studies on overseas working and parenting, cultural artifacts, living in poverty and processes of upward mobility, hurricane victims, and creativity among artists will be referred to as examples in this workshop. The goal of the proposed workshop is not to focus on qualitative methods in general, but to discuss them specifically for our field: participants will be better able to identify research questions, understand specific research paradigms and methodologies, learn about qualitative software and different data collection methods, and practice analyzing data. The workshop’s emphasis will be on hands-on activities and experiential learning.

STREAM 3 - An Introduction to Cross-Cultural Health Psychology
Research Fellow Andrian Liem, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Malaysia

This workshop is designed to provide postgraduate students with an introduction to cross-cultural health psychology. The course will explore the cultural factors that influence health and illness, and the ways in which healthcare practices and policies can be tailored to meet the needs of diverse populations. Through experiential learning activities, students will better understand how cultural humility can improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities.

STREAM 4 - Communicating Research in Culture and Psychology
Associate Professor Justine Dandy, Edith Cowan University, Australia.

This workshop focuses on how to communicate research findings to a range of non-academic audiences such as the media, policymakers, practitioners, community members and the general public. This is an increasingly important skill for social scientists, as scientific evidence is often questioned or ignored by authorities and decision- makers. Knowledge dissemination and translation are key components of research engagement and impact, which are now recognised in government research assessments such as the Research Assessment Exercise in the UK. Graduates should be able to communicate research findings effectively and succinctly in both written and verbal formats and to a variety of audiences. As cross-cultural and/or cultural psychology researchers we must also consider the intercultural context of our research findings. This workshop will include interactive online and in- person activities, facilitated group discussion, and peer-to-peer learning. On completion of the workshop participants will have: identified potential end-users for and/or communities impacted by their research findings and relevant intercultural sensitivities; developed a short pitch for The Conversation (or similar outlet); developed an article for The Conversation (or similar); prepared for and practiced a short media interview about their research; prepared a summary Fact Sheet in plain English (or other appropriate language) for a non-academic audience and/or drafted an Executive summary or policy briefing note for relevant government and/or non-government agencies; identified potential social media platforms for disseminating their research findings and critically evaluated the role of social media in information sharing. It is not essential that participants have completed their data analysis prior to undertaking the workshop although it is advantageous to have some research findings to work with.

Note: Students will also be encouraged to do some preparatory work before the course. The stream leaders will provide reading lists and specific tasks for you to realize before C&P School.

Admission
Applicants will need to submit (a) a (maximum 250-word) cover letter of intent that explains why the student wishes to join the C&P School, and (b) the student’s curriculum vitae. These documents will be submitted with a completed online application no later than May 20th, 2023.

A decision letter will be emailed by May 30th, 2023. Accepted applicants must pay a registration fee and agree to join the IACCP conference. Online registration and payment must be made by June 20th, 2023.

Costs
In-person Streams USD $250 for student members from mid-to high- income countries

USD $190 for student members from low-income countries.

Attendees who are not members of IACCP will add $50, unless registration for membership is completed one month prior to the congress early bird registration.

The Calendar
May 20, 2023: Deadline for application submission (11:59pm GMT)
May 30, 2023: Decisions on applications
June 20, 2023: Deadline for registration and payment June 20, 2023: Pre-materials available for participants July 28-July 31, 2023: C&P School (In-person)
 
Accommodation & Logistics
The sessions will take place at the University of Limerick in Limerick, Ireland. Accommodations, breakfast, and lunch are covered by the registration fee.
Accommodation will be nearby campus or on campus housing.

Application and Further Info
Please use the following link to apply and send your CV and application letter. https://redcap.latrobe.edu.au/redcap/surveys/?s=KKR7K8XXNWLAPCJM

If you have any questions about the program, the stream leaders, or the general procedure, please do not hesitate to contact us at: cultureandpsychologyschool@gmail.com.

We hope to see you this Summer!

C&P School Organizers

Alex English, Zhejiang University, China
Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka, University of Gdansk, Poland 
Rebekah Pollock, Student Member, Georgia State University, U.S. 
Ariane Virgona, Student Member, La Trobe University, Australia 
Saba Safdar (Chair), University of Guelph, Canada