Psychology Conferences

Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology

April 26-28

Duquesne University is pleased to welcome Division 24, the Society for Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, to Pittsburgh for its Annual Spring Meeting. The presidential theme for this year is "Fostering Flourishing in Psychology through Reflective Discourse and Collaboration." We trust the conference will build community and advance our profession as we share ideas related to the theory, practice, and reimagining of psychology as a discipline and agent for social change.

Accommodations

There are several accommodation options in close proximity to Duquesne University. A limited number of rooms are available at a discounted rate at the Cambria Hotel Pittsburgh Downtown.

Parking

On-campus parking is not available for guests of the University during peak business times, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Alternate parking is available within walking distance of the University.

Keynote Speakers

Mindy Fullilove

Dr. Fullilove has a close connection to Pittsburgh, as a result of her work on urban restoration in the wake of race and class divisions, and the ties between the environment and mental health. A writer and social psychiatrist, Dr. Fullilove received her MD from Columbia University. A professor of urban policy and health at the New School, as well as the Mary Flexner Lectureship at Bryn Mawr College, Dr. Fullilove's plenary address is titled "What does 'Hamida' mean?: Joys and Pitfalls of Studying the Psychological Messages of K-Drama"

Eva Simms

Dr. Eva Simms is a professor at Duquesne University, and has published extensively on child psychology from a phenomenological perspective informed by the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty. In addition, she is the founder of Placelab, an innovative research group dedicated to an examination of the relationship between people and place. Her plenary address is titled "Restorative Nature Playscape Design: Applied Phenomenology and the Study of Place".

Aaron Jackson

Dr. Aaron Jackson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology & Special Education at Brigham Young University. A practicing clinician, as well, Dr. Jackson is particularly interested in the philosophy, theory, and values of psychotherapy. His plenary address is titled "Reflections of a Longtime Lurker: Appreciation and Exhortation"

Blaine Fowers

Dr. Blaine Fowers is Professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of Miami. He is particularly interested in the psychological study of virtue and flourishing from an Aristotelian perspective. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and a recipient of the Joseph B. Gittler Award for Contributions to the Philosophical Foundations of Psychology.

Conference Schedule

Download Abstract Book

Friday, April 26

	Duquesne Union: Room 613	Duquesne Union: Room 119	Gumberg Library: Simon Silverman Phenomenology Center
9:15- 10:15	*Duquesne Union: Union Africa Room - Welcome & Opening*
	Paper Session	Symposium	Symposium
10:30- 11:30	Alexander Porto The Picture Theory of Symbolic Development in Early Childhood Sophia Arredondo Interpersonal Flourishing within the Context of Marriage: Reflexive Dialogue and Shared Commitment as Fostering Authentic Temporality	Thomas Teo, Lisa Osbeck, Jeff Sugarman What Could Enlightenment Mean in a Post-enlightenment Era?	Jacob Larson, Yousaf Raza, Joseph Chamberlain, Lora Schillem Locating Human Agency in Relationality
11:45- 1:00	*Duquesne Union: Union Africa Room - Plenary: Mindy Fullilove*
1:00- 2:00	*Duquesne Union: Room 109 - Lunch*
	Paper Session	Conversation Session	Conversation Session
2:00- 3:00	David Goodman, Matthew Clemente “Man is a Machine”: Remaking the Human Subject in the Image of AI Sam Aston The Digital Self: What selfhood looks like in an online world Tim Beck Engendering Identity through Neurodivergence and Repetition	Thomas Teo, Lisa Osbeck, Jeff Sugarman Follow-up Conversation Session: What Could Enlightenment Mean in a Post-enlightenment Era?	Cathleen Flynn, Alexander Porto, John Dall'Aglio Drawing Connections: Ideas and Applications of Expressive Activity in the Clinic

	Duquesne Union: Room 613	Duquesne Union: Room 119	Gumberg Library: Simon Silverman Phenomenology Center
	Symposium	Conversation Session	Conversation Session
3:15- 4:15	Stephanie Swales, Christopher R. Bell, John Roberts, Kareen Malone We Fix and Fix, So Little Works: The Social Link in Clinic and Culture Through Psychoanalytic Ears	Peder Schillemat, Jeffrey Reber, Jacob Tengelsen Using the Replication Crisis to Engage Others in Critical Thinking About Psychological Sciences.	Aaron Burdge, Kylie Burdge, Kiara Aguirre, Brianna Holmes, Richard Williams Agentive Criminality Theory: Transforming Criminal Rehabilitation and Psychotherapy
	Paper Session	Paper Session	Paper Session
	Dawson Strand The Psychoanalytic Clinic as a Site of Hermeneutic Justice: An Anti-psy Response to Ideology Niru Sankhala Girindrasekhar Bose: An Aboriginal Psychoanalytic Thinker? Alex Nichols Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Postmodern Behavior Science or Postmodern Fetish	Samuel Major, Ed Gantt Answering Questions of Integrity: Unifying the Fractured Field of Psychology Carter Chugg, Branna Holmes, Ed Gantt The Structure of Non-Scientific Revolutions: Evolutionary Psychology, Explanation, and the Ruination of Reason Patrick Byers Experimental Psychology’s Construction of a New Mind and its Role in the ‘Triumph of the Aggregate’	Gary Brill With or Without Free Will, We Carry On: Implications of Inquiry as a Social Practice David Goodman, Matthew Clemente, William Hendel Are We Free from Free Will?: An Interdisciplinary Study of an Eternal Paradox Karen Huang Does Science Matter for Morality Revisiting Moral Psychology and Care Ethics
6:00- 7:00	*Duquesne Union: Union Africa Room – Poster Session*
7:00- 8:00	*Duquesne Union: Union Africa Room - Reception*

Saturday, April 27

	Duquesne Union: Room 613	Duquesne Union: Room 119	College Hall: Room 449
	Symposium	Conversation Session	Paper Session
9:15- 10:15	Taiga Gutteres, Wenqing (Shelly) Xue, Michael Mookie Manalili, David Goodman In the Crucible of the Human Soul: Suffering, Narrativity, and Aesthetic Articulacy	Gary Brill, Kristjan Kristjansson, Blaine Fowers, Jack Bauer Phronesis: Retrieving Practical Wisdom for Psychology, Education, and Philosophy: Author Meets Critic	Matthew Devine A Lacanian Discourse Analysis of Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada in Cases of Non-Terminal Illness Samuel Gable The Sorrows of Young Samuel
	Conversation Session	Paper Session	Conversation Session
10:30- 11:30	Jamie Hansen How, Why, and What We Read: Bridging Academic and Intellectual Divides through Literature.	Frank Richardson, Robert Bishop, Kent Higgins Understanding Social Theory as Practice Michael Westerman Some Theoretical and Philosophical Considerations about Psychotherapy Research and Practice: The Case of "Transtheoretical" Concepts	William Foreman Psychological-Phenomenological Inquiry as Psychotherapy Modality with Offenders
11:45- 1:00	*Duquesne Union: Union Africa Room - Plenary: Eva Simms*
1:00- 2:00	*Duquesne Union: Room 109 - Lunch*

	Duquesne Union: Room 613	Duquesne Union: Room 119	College Hall: Room 449
	Conversation Session	Paper Session	Paper Session
2:00- 3:00	Justin Karter, Kevin Gallagher, Tiffani Elliot, Tim Beck, Michah Ingle, Tsotso Ablorh Ashley Bobak, Samantha Lilly Bridging Critical Psychology and Critical Psychiatry: How Mad in America is Pushing for a New Paradigm for Mental Health	Jonathan Doner Rationality in Epistemic Disciplines: Unity, Diversity, and the Growth of Knowledge Mo (Erin) Sun A Buberian Comprehension of the Transformation and Crisis of Self-Identification among Overseas Chinese Young Adults in the U.S. Logan Packer Knowledge Deserts	Sophia Shieh Epistemic Injustice and Silencing in Trauma: Addressing Harms and Restoring Knowledge Integrity Emily Purtschert, Ed Gantt Others as Given: Edith Stein and the Phenomenology of Empathy
	Paper Session	Symposium	Symposium
3:15- 4:15	Noah McManus Waiting for Superman: An Exploration of HeroicIcons’ impact on Trauma Recovery Liezl Bosch Conceptual Resources in Virtue Theory for Psychological Frameworks of Trauma and Addiction	Bethany Morris, Chase O'Gwin, Sebastienne Grant What Can Other Disciplines Offer Us When Psychology Fails?	Brent Robbins,Theresa Buczek, Anthony Isaaco Philosophical and Empirical Considerations of Virtuous Masculinity
	Conversation Session	Conversation Session	Paper Session
4:30- 5:30	Ashley Bobak Can Psychiatric Diagnoses Operate as Scapegoat Mechanisms?	Stephen Yanchar, Jeanne Marecek, David Goodman, Joe Ostenson, Suzanne Kirschner, Blaine Fowers, Michael Westerman, Suraj Sood What Can We Learn from Our History to Help Inform Our Future?	Jonathan Rowe, Nina Clark The Latency that Lies Between Us: Interiority, Exteriority, and a Phenomenology of the Unconscious
6:00-7:00	*Meeting Place: City Works, Market Square, 2 PPG Place*

Sunday, April 28

	Duquesne Union: Room 613	Duquesne Union: Room 119	College Hall: Room 449
	Paper Session	Conversation Session	Symposium
9:15- 10:15	Dawson Strand The Dis-Continuity of Psychotherapy Training in North America: Firstly, does it work? And secondly, what are we doing? Varnica Arora Beyond Disparities: Unpacking Caste-Based Inequalities in Suicidal Distress Samantha Lilly Psychosocial Disability as a Disability	Donald V Brown Jr, Rashelle Litchmore Theoretical Psychology as Interdisciplinary Work: Considerations for Early Career Scholars	Michael Ryzner-Basiewicz, Anna Kreienberg, Timon Hogenaar, B. Mason Judy Overseas: Reading and Writing Between French and British Psychoanalysis
	Conversation Session	Conversation Session	Paper Session
10:30- 11:30	Chase O'Gwin, Jacob Tengelsen, Ali Buesing, Jewelya Griffey, Jamie Martin, Logan Paul, Denise Neal, Jacob Maldonado My Psychologist – TikTok: A Critical Conversation About Sensationalization of Psychology in the Internet Age.		Varnica Arora Beyond Disparities: Unpacking Caste-Based Inequalities Will Adams Beyond Divisiveness and Demonization to Communion and Conversation: Views Via Zen, Christian Mysticism, and Hermeneutic Phenomenology James Cresswell On Democratic Engagement: Ironic Life as a Catalyst for Public Dialogue
11:45- 1:00	*Duquesne Union: Union Africa Room - Plenary: Aaron Jackson*
1:00- 2:00	*Duquesne Union: Union Africa Room - Closing Lunch: Blaine Fowers*