EASP Summer Schools

Upcoming EASP summer school - call for applications

EASP Summer School at Limerick, Ireland, August 6-19, 2012

The 2012 EASP Summer School will be hosted by the Department of Psychology and the Centre for Social Issues Research, at the University of Limerick, in Ireland. The EASP Summer School will be located on the University of Limerick campus, between the 6th and the 19th of August 2012.
In the tradition of the EASP Summer Schools, applicants are invited to apply for participation in one of the following five workshops:

Workshop 1: Groups, identity, and health
Teachers: Alex Haslam (University of Exeter, UK) & Stephen Gallagher (University of Limerick, Ireland)

Workshop 2: Morality in self, emotion, and social relations
Teachers: Colin Wayne Leach (University of Connecticut, USA) & Patricia M. Rodriguez Mosquera (Wesleyan University, USA)

Workshop 3: Intergroup Relations: Different identities -> Different psychologies for ethnic minorities and national majorities?
Teachers: Karen Phalet (University of Leuven, Belgium) & Anca Minescu (University of Limerick, Ireland)

Workshop 4: 'The space between us': The role of intergroup boundaries in shaping social inclusion, integration, and well-being.
Teachers: John Dixon (Lancaster University, UK), Kevin Durrheim (University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) & Orla Muldoon (University of Limerick, Ireland)

Workshop 5: When is life meaningful? Social cognitive processes underlying inferences of meaninglessness and meaningfulness
Teachers: Leonard L. Martin (University of Georgia, USA) & Eric R. Igou (University of Limerick, Ireland)

Applications are welcome from PhD students based at a European University, and should follow the guidelines described on the EASP Summer School webpage of the Department of Psychology at UL (www.ul.ie/psychology/EASP2012). Interested participants are required to email a completed application form and arrange for a letter of reference to be sent to the address: EASP.2012.Limerick@ul.ie. The application period is between the 16th-31st of January 2012.

PhD students based at a US or Australian/New Zealand university will have to apply via the SPSP and SASP, respectively. A different set of deadlines may apply in their case. Please visit the following websites for more information: http://www.spsp.org/eaespsum.htm or http://www.sasp.org.au/, respectively

Please note that postgraduate students who have already participated in a previous EASP summer school, the SASP or the SISP summer schools are not eligible to apply.

Decisions on the selection of participants are communicated by the 30th of March 2012.

Once accepted participants to the 2012 EASP Summer School are required to pay the fee of 550 Euro to the University of Limerick, by the 30th of May 2012.

For inquiries about the 2012 EASP Summer School, please contact the local organizing team via Anca Minescu (Anca.Minescu@ul.ie, Tel: +353 (0) 61 23 4859) or directly to the Summer School email address: EASP.2012.Limerick@ul.ie.

Description of the EASP 2012 Workshops

Workshop 1: Groups, identity, and health (Alex Haslam, University of Exeter, UK & Stephen Gallagher, University of Limerick, Ireland)
Social identity theorizing indicates that a large part of people’s sense of identity is derived from the social groups to which they belong. For this reason, our psychological state often depends on the circumstances and condition of the groups of which we are part (i.e., ingroups). If these groups provide us with stability, meaning, purpose, and direction, then this will typically have positive implications for our physical and mental health. On the other hand, if our sense of social identity is compromised in some way (e.g. if we leave or change groups, if we are rejected by an in-group, or if the in-group changes in ways that we do not understand), then this will tend to have negative psychological consequences. Indeed, this is one reason why social isolation is a greater threat to health and well-being than most physical counter-indicators (e.g., smoking, poor diet). Such insights are the basis for a new psychology of health, which is the focus of this stream. In contrast to the individualistic models that prevail in this area, this emphasizes the central role of group life and social relationships in determining health and well-being and will explore a range of topical issues including symptom appraisal and diagnosis, social support, coping, social isolation, stress, trauma, and depression.

Workshop 2: Morality in self, emotion, and social relations (Colin Wayne Leach, University of Connecticut, USA & Patricia M. Rodriguez Mosquera, Wesleyan University, USA)
Few things concern human beings more than morality. We work to maintain a moral self-image and we want others to see us as a person of virtue. Morality is also one of the first and the foremost things that we look for in others. For these reasons, morality is central to self, to emotion, and to social relations (between individuals, within groups, and between groups). This workshop will discuss theory and research on morality in (i) self (e.g., moral identity, honor, self-worth), (ii) emotion (e.g., shame, guilt, outrage, disgust), and (iii) social relations (e.g., norms and deviance, stereotypes, perpetrators and victims of injustice, protest). Discussion will range across multiple levels of analysis, from the intra-personal to the cultural. We will examine the general aspects of morality as well as the ways in which morality varies across culture and context.

Workshop 3: Intergroup Relations: Different identities -> Different psychologies for ethnic minorities and national majorities? (Karen Phalet, University of Leuven, Belgium & Anca Minescu, University of Limerick, Ireland)
Social reality and group position constrain the meanings and configurations of social identities among different groups. The potential impact of social identities on intergroup relationships is therefore dependent on the larger historical and macro-political contexts, and intergroup processes develop from the specific perspective of the ingroup and in accordance with one’s group goals in the larger society. This workshop investigates the social psychological processes linking social identities to societal engagement and politics. We connect recent research on acculturation and ethnic minority adaptation to the host society with research on ethnicity, national identity and majority groups’ attitudes towards minorities, from a social identity perspective. We aim to develop an interactive understanding of minority and majority group perspectives, accounting for the influence of cultural and political factors that typically shape ethno-national contexts. More dynamic understandings and methodological approaches are needed in order to account for the role of individual level factors (i.e., those characterising social interaction contexts, such as contact or similarity), and collective level factors (i.e., those shaping the wider social political contexts, such as social representations, power configurations, criteria of national belonging), from a multiple group perspective. We discuss research examples from Western as well as Eastern European societies and particular methodological implications of applying social psychological theories to real ethno-national settings are addressed.

Workshop 4: 'The space between us': The role of intergroup boundaries in shaping social inclusion, integration, and well-being. (John Dixon, Lancaster University, UK, Kevin Durrheim, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa & Orla Muldoon, University of Limerick, Ireland)
Over the past few decades, research on socio-spatial boundaries has proliferated, extending beyond its traditional focus on the geopolitical organization of nation states and drawing increasingly on a diverse range of disciplinary perspectives and methods. In this workshop, we shall explore some implications of these developments for social psychologists. On the one hand, we shall discuss how research on boundary processes enhances our understanding of core social psychological topics, including social categorization and identification, intergroup attitudes, status differentiation, intergroup contact, and social exclusion. On the other hand, we shall discuss how a social psychological level of analysis is necessary in order to account for the tenacity of intergroup boundaries under conditions of social change. It helps to explain, for example, why policies of ‘deterritorialization’ (e.g. racial desegregation of schools), which render boundaries more permeable and increase the opportunity for intergroup contact, are frequently off-set by practices of ‘re-territorialization’, which re-establish the ‘space between us’ (e.g. re-segregation in the classroom or playground). In exploring these themes, we will emphasize the varying and complex role of boundaries in shaping social relations in historically divided societies such as Northern Ireland, Israel, Cyprus, the US and South Africa. We will also emphasize how boundary processes may operate across a range of scales of analysis, from the macro-level divisions established by international borders to the meso-level segregation of institutions of residence, occupation and education to the micro-level organisation of interactions in everyday life spaces.

Workshop 5: When is life meaningful? Social cognitive processes underlying inferences of meaninglessness and meaningfulness (Leonard L. Martin, University of Georgia, USA & Eric R. Igou, University of Limerick, Ireland)
When is one’s action meaningful? How do perceptions of one’s activities as either meaningful or meaningless influence the way she or he perceives life overall? And what does it matter after all? It matters. Research findings suggest that it is a central human need to perceive one’s actions and life in general as meaningful. In order to serve this central need, people usually develop regulatory capacities that protect perceptions of meaningfulness and those that enhance such perceptions if necessary. That is, people seem to be skilled and flexible in achieving and maintaining perceived meaningfulness, also in situations in which perceptions of meaningfulness are threatened.
This social cognition workshop is concerned with the perception of meaningfulness, causes of meaning inferences, underlying cognitive processes, and consequences of these inferences. The goal of this workshop is to promote an understanding of meaning inferences and their consequences. PhD students will be in the position to critically discuss the concept of ‘meaning’ and the limits of research in this area. Further, PhD students should develop the skill to come up with crucial research questions and research designs that test the associated hypotheses.
In order for participants to develop a deep understanding of meaning inferences and meaning regulation processes, we will discuss basic cognitive processes, principles of self-and affect-regulation, philosophical approaches, experimental existential research in social psychology, and sociological perspectives. Research designs will be developed for sub- and supra-liminal priming procedures, with implicit and explicit measures. In addition, we will consider personality variables and how they relate to contextual implications of meaningfulness versus meaninglessness

General information

The Summer School of the Association normally has now a 2-year cycle, and we attempt to ensure that this cycle also avoids clashing with the General Meetings. The Summer School is intended to provide graduate students in Europe with the opportunity to come together for a two-week period to receive instruction and supervision from senior social psychologists drawn from Europe and the rest of the world. It also provides graduate students with the chance to meet graduate students from other European countries. Since many of these students go on to become full-time academics, this means that it is possible for even junior academic staff to have an established network of contacts throughout Europe, drawn from fellow-participants in a Summer School.

Tutors and participants

Because the Summer School takes a great deal of time, effort, and money to organise, any because graduate students are limited to participating in one Summer School, participants are selected on a competitive basis. A typical Summer School lasts for 2 weeks, and consists of 5 'workshop' groups of students, with about 12 students in each group. The groups are organised around research themes, and each group is supervised by a tutor whose own research specialisation falls within that theme. This tutor is usually assisted by a second person, who is often recruited from the university staff of institutions in the host country. Efforts are made by the Summer School organiser (who is appointed to this role by the Executive Committee) to achieve a balance of research themes, so that the discipline of social psychology is as far as possible covered. Normally no more than one current member of the Executive Committee acts as a tutor at summer schools, and the academic programme of the school is devised in consultation with the Executive Committee.

Summer school activities

The intention is that each of the 5 workshop groups receives specialist instruction in a particular research topic, and that on the basis of this instruction members of the group design one or more empirical studies that would address key theoretical questions. Given that the schools take place in the summer months, when the supply of potential research participants is limited, it is usually only possible for students to conduct pilot research during the Summer School. The summer school organiser may set aside some sources of support towards the later extension of the planned research at one or more of the participants' home universities.

Cooperation with other Societies (SPSP and SASP)

A relatively new development is, that the Summer School organizer keeps 5 of the approximately 60 potential Summer School places open for graduate students from North America/Canada (selected by SPSP) and 4 places for Australasian students (selected by the SASP). This is based on an agreement with SPSP and SASP which, in turn, allows European students to attend the SPSP Summer Schools (SISP) and the summer school of SASP. The next SISP is scheduled for summer 2013, the next SASP summer school will take place 2012.

History of EASP Summer Schools

1967 July 31-September 2, Leuven, Belgium (officially called "European Research Training Seminar in Experimental Social Psychology")

Dean: Jozef M. Nuttin, Jr
Associate Dean: Jos Jaspars
Staff: Harold B. Gerard (U.S.A.), Robert B. Zajonc (U.S.A.), Harold H. Kelley (U.S.A.), Philip Zimbardo (U.S.A.), Ragnar Rommetveit (Norway), Jaap Rabbie (The Netherlands)

1971 July 4 - 31, Konstanz, Germany

Dean: Rudolf Cohen
Staff: Wim Brinkman (Amsterdam), Colin Fraser (Bristol), Willem Doise (Paris), Jos Jaspars (Nijmegen), Claude Flament (Aix-en-Provence), Dik van Kreveld (Leiden)

1976 August 1-21, Oxford, England

Dean: Michael Argyle (Oxford)
Assistant Dean: Peter Collett
Staff: Donald Campbell (U.S.A.), Ragnar Rommetveit (Norway), Willem Doise (Switserland), Wolfgang Stroebe (Germany), Gerry Ginsberg (U.S.A.), Michael Argyle (United Kingdom)

1981 July 12 - July 31 Aix-en-Provence, France
Organiser: Jean-Paul Codol

1986 Aug. 17 - Sep. 6, Bologna, Italy
Organiser: Augusto Palmonari

Teachers:
Gün Semin & Luciano Arcuri
Amelie Mummendey & James Tedeschi
Bernard Rimé & Pio Ricci-Bitti
Jean-Paul Codol & John Rijsman
Willem Doise & Bob McGuire

1989 July 30 - Aug. 20, Tilburg, The Netherlands
Organiser: John Rijsman

Teachers:
Sik Hung Ng & Jan Extra
Jop van der Pligt & Jef Syroit
Ad van Knippenberg & Richard de Ridder
Gabriel Mugny & Juan Antonio Perez
Janusz Grzelak & Matthijs Poppe
Norbert Schwarz & Nanne de Vries

1991 July 14 - July 28, San Sebastian, Spain
Organisers: Jacques-Philippe Leyens, Sabino Ayestaran

Teachers:
Klaus Fiedler, Gün Semin, José Valencia & Mari José Azurmendi
Tony Manstead, Bernard Rimé & Augustin Echebarria
Amélie Mummendey & Sabino Ayestaran
Susan Fiske & Mikel Villareal
Jacques-Philippe Leyens & Dario Paez

1994 July 25 - Aug. 8, Serock, Poland
Organisers: Maria Lewicka, Janusz Grzelak

Teachers:
Andrea Abele & Maria Lewicka
Michael Kuhlman & Janusz Gzrelak
Vincent Yzerbyt & Bogdan Wojciszke
Hermann Brandstätter & Andrzej Eliasz
Robert Folger & Tadeusz Tyszka

1998 Aug. 2. - Aug. 16, Leuven, Belgium
Organisers: Eddy Van Avermaet, Jacques-Philippe Leyens

Teachers:
Amélie Mummendey & Norbert Vanbeselaere
Paul van Lange & Herman Buelens
Fabio Lorenzi-Cioldi & Guido Peeters
Neil Macrae &Vincent Yzerbyt
Glenn Reeder & Benoît Dardenne

2000 July 2 - July 22, Clermont-Ferrand, France
Organisers: M. Brauer, J.-C. Croizet , S. Guimond, P. Huguet

Teachers:
Gerd Bohner & Patrick Chambres
Brenda Major & Jean-Claude Croizet
Constantine Sedikides & Pascal Huguet
Patricia Devine & Markus Brauer
Dominic Abrams & Serge Guimond

2002 Aug. 18. - Sep. 1, Marburg, Germany
Organisers: Uli Wagner, Rolf van Dick

Teachers:
Bas Verplanken & Tilmann Betsch
Viki Esses & Collette van Laar
Daan van Knippenberg & Jürgen Wegge
Dolf Zillmann & Jeanette Schmid
Felicia Pratto & Andreas Zick

2004 Aug. 1-15, Groningen, The Netherlands
Organisers: Diederik Stapel, Ernestine Gordijn, Sabine Otten

Teachers:
Ap Dijksterhuis & Henk Aarts
Bernd Wittenbrink & Olivier Corneille
Russell Spears & Sabine Otten
Nira Liberman & Marcel Zeelenberg
Brett Pelham & Diederik Stapel

2006 Aug. 20- Sep. 2, Padova, Italy
Organisers: Luciano Arcuri, Anne Maass, Andrea Carnaghi, Alberto Voci

Teachers:
Paula Niedenthal & Vanda Zammuner
Jolanda Jetten & Stefano Boca
Gun Semin & Anne Maass
Arie Kruglanski & Lucia Mannetti
Danïel Wigboldus & Jeroen Vaes

2008 Aug. 17-31, Cardiff, UK
Organiser: Russell Spears

Teachers:
Greg Maio & Geoff Haddock
Peter Hegarty, Thomas Morton & Michelle Ryan
Thomas Kessler & Stéphanie Demoulin
Aiden Gregg & Claire Hart
Luigi Castelli & Wilhelm Hofmann

 

2010 Aug. 23- September 6, Aegina, Greece
Organiser: Xenia Chryssochoou

Teachers:
Bertram Gawronski & Rainer Banse
Fabrizio Butera, Antonis Gardikiotis & Makis Prodromitis
Daniel Bar Tal & Karen Trew
Christian Staerklé & Xenia Chryssochoou
Nyla Branscombe, Machos Iatridis & Kate Reynolds