General Information: Conference Goals, Format, and Expectations

The conference provides students with an intimate setting where graduate students in psychology can receive critical, supportive feedback from other graduate students and African American faculty as they present their research and research ideas.  The conference provides valuable professional development experiences and offers unique opportunities to network with other graduate students from around the country.  The conference achieves these objectives through student paper presentations and poster sessions and special professional development sessions targeted specifically for graduate students in psychology whose research focuses on African Americans and communities of color. Paper presentations and poster sessions have been specifically designed to elicit interactive discussions about students' research. Experts will also conduct workshops and panel discussions related to such topics as funding and career options for Ph.D.'s in psychology. Finally, the conference will offer a number of social events and opportunities to allow for more informal interactions.

The key to the success of the conference is its intimate setting.  In order to achieve this intimacy, the conference is limited in the number of students that can be accommodated.  To make the conference affordable, the cost of participants' lodging and meals is greatly subsidized. Previous conference participants report that they gained a great deal from the feedback that they received from their presentations. However, the most rewarding experiences came from interacting with others about their ideas, learning how others think about and do research on similar topics, learning about other research areas and ideas, etc.  As a result, ALL CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS ACCEPTED ARE REQUIRED TO ATTEND ALL CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES during the full conference period.  Although students do not have to present in order to attend the conference, priority will be given to students submitting paper or poster sessions.