Looking for a new way to connect with other SPSP members? Join a Free-Form Friday session. These small, virtual meeting rooms (generally maximum 15 attendees) are hosted by members for a variety of activities, including: Sharing career advice, pondering big picture questions together, meeting members with a similar background, brainstorming sessions, and more. Take advantage of this unique opportunity!
Have an idea to host a Free-Form Friday session? Apply to host a future session (submit a meeting name, host, description, and preferred dates/times). Submit your May session idea by April 15, 2021.
April Free-Form Schedule
All Times U.S. Eastern Time Zone
Gaining admission to PhD programs is tough and this year was no exception! Join us to connect with other applicants (building community is important!), discuss steps you can take to strengthen your application, and learn strategies you can use to identify programs that may be a better fit for you (many times it's just about getting the right fit!). This is a space for students and hosts to talk candidly about the PhD application process and answer applicants' most pressing questions.
Hosts: Margaret Echelbarger (echelbar@umich.edu), University of Chicago; Linda Skitka (lskitka@uic.edu), University of Illinois at Chicago
A free-form chat for personality and social psychologists interested in writing for the public, particularly in the op-ed format. Whether it's for the SPSP blog or the New York Times, we'll discuss how to put together a pitch, who to send it to, and what makes for a compelling article for a popular audience that does justice to the research.
Hosts: Dave Nussbaum (davenussbaum@gmail.com), University of Chicago
Calling all moral judgment researchers, especially those examining sacrificial decisions! Our area of work is overstuffed with different theories, goals, methodologies, and philosophical enmeshments, to the point where some of us may be talking past each other. Let's all get together, share recent work, and build toward some consensus. What are the goals of dilemma research, and how well do different methods achieve these goals? How well do dilemmas map onto philosophical concepts? How do dilemmas inform or fail to inform important real-world decisions such as those related to the pandemic, public policy, military, or business decisions? What are the social implications of dilemmas? Please join me for an hour chatting about these and related topics.
Host: Paul Conway (pauljosephconway@gmail.com), Florida State University
This session is for anyone currently doing work on meta-perceptions, or interested in hearing about ongoing work in that area. We can hear brief summaries of what people are working on and finding, and make connections between different labs. You are more than welcome to come if you have nothing to share but just want to hear what others are up to in this area!
Host: Jessica Salvatore (jessicasalvatore@gmail.com), Sweet Briar College
This Free-Form Friday is designed to provide department chairs and program administrators with the opportunity to discuss the challenges they face in leading their departments and to sharing best practices. We welcome all relevant topics (e.g., providing academic and research support for faculty and students during the pandemic; how to create more inclusive departments; rethinking how we reassess tenure and promotion during the pandemic).
Hosts: Daryl Wout (dwout@jj.cuny.edu), John Jay College, The City University of New York
Text analysis methods are providing new insights into the ways people think and behave. The implications for understanding social processes are particularly striking. This session will be a free-wheeling discussion about ways to use text analysis in your research and also how it might help you get a job in academe or in a variety of real world settings.
Host: Jamie Pennebaker (pennebaker@mail.utexas.edu), University of Texas at Austin
Assistant Professors Dr. Kubota and Dr. Lauharatanahirun will discuss the inside scoop on postdoctoral positions. How do you find one? Are there postdoctoral positions outside of traditional academic institutions? What are interview expectations? Where do I look for funding? We'll answer all your questions and provide resources. All junior and early career researchers are welcome to join the conversation!
Hosts: Jeni Kubota (Jennifer.kubota@gmail.com), University of Delaware & Nina Lauharatanahirun (nina.lauhara@psu.edu), Pennsylvania State University
Joel Martinez and Jun Won Park, co-organizers of CUSPP (Connecting Undocumented Social & Personality Psychologists), will discuss what we learned about the current state/needs of undocumented scholars in our field. We will highlight some of the challenges undocumented students face and answer your questions about what students, faculty, and staff can do to support undocumented students. We invite all who are interested in supporting undocumented students in our field of personality and social psychology. CUSPP was supported by SPSP’s Community Catalyst Grant.
Hosts: Jun Won Park (jun.park@yale.edu), Yale University & Joel Martinez (joelem@princeton.edu), Princeton University
Often, undergraduates, graduate students, and early career researchers have heard about public policy organizations, or “think tanks,” but are confused about the work they conduct. This will be an informal question and answer session, designed to address your questions about research and jobs at a think tank, namely the RAND Corporation.
Host: Miriam Matthews (matthews@rand.org), RAND Corporation
