UPEI psychology faculty members give public lectures during Psychology Month
In recognition of February as Psychology Month, faculty members from UPEI's psychology department will participate in a free public lecture series organized by the department and the Psychological Association of Prince Edward Island.
On February 9, Dr. Stacey MacKinnon will talk about the pros and cons of revenge and forgiveness, and the hard-to-pin-down definition of forgiveness. Her presentation, called "Revenge and Forgiveness: Deciding whether or not to, how to, and how it's going to feel afterward," is the next installment in UPEI's popular Research on Tap series and takes place at Mavor's, Confederation Centre of the Arts, at 7 p.m.
Mitchell Colp and Dr. Jason Doiron will give a presentation called "The Illusion of Inclusion: Experiences of Learning Disabled Students on PEI and Beyond" on February 11, at 7 p.m., at the Confederation Centre Library. They will give a historical overview about the inclusion of students with learning disabilities in the Canadian public education system. They will also review their research findings comparing students' and parents' experiences within P.E.I.'s inclusion-based school system and within a specialized school.
On February 12 at 3 p.m., Dr. Catherine Ryan will give a talk called "Alfred Hitchcock and the PEI Connection: A Secret Agent?" in Room 215 of UPEI's Memorial Hall building. Recent collaborative work in Ryan's and biology professor Tracy Doucette's laboratories highlights a link between early neurotoxin exposure and long-term alterations in the brain's ability to respond to novelty and deal with informational irrelevancies. Ryan will give a brief overview of brain and behavioural changes that arise from such developmental exposure and address how these findings further understanding of contributing factors that may be linked to schizophrenia. A reception will follow in the psychology department's Lounge.
At 12:30 p.m. on February 15, Dr. Fiona Ann Papps, chair of the psychology department, will give an interactive presentation called "The ‘Fun Fearless Female': Print Media and the Sexualization of (Some) Young Women" at the Murchison Centre on St. Pius X Avenue. Papps will outline the main findings of a report released in 2007 by the American Psychological Association Task Force on the Sexualization of Young Girls. She will offer a critical analysis of the report and argue for the need for feminist scholarship and activism to address girls' and women's sexual agency and resistance in addition to their sexual rights and health.
All of the lectures are free, and everyone is welcome.
