The fifth annual African/Black Psychology Conference will be held on Friday, October 24 through Saturday, Oct. 25, 2014, in the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Auditorium located in the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences building.
This conference will be honoring psychiatrist Frances Cress Welsing, M.D., on her achievements in black psychology. Entry is free for Florida A&M University students.
According to the FAMU Department of Psychology website, the overall theme of this year’s conference will be Reflections on the Contributions of Dr. Frances Cress Welsing. Also, there will be additional seminars discussing white supremacy’s effect on the mental health of Blacks and Africans.
The conference is expected to have a turnout of several hundred guests and over ten scheduled speakers. Welsing will be the first woman honored by the African/Black conference since its inception five years ago.
Associate professor of psychology Huberta Jackson-Lowman, Ph.D. said that this is a historical event because a woman of Welsing’s caliber is gracing the campus for the second time.
Jermaine Robertson, Ph.D., Chairman of The African/Black Psychology Conference, described Welsing as a “powerful woman.” He said the timing of this event is important because of the current racial issues that are reoccurring today.
Robertson hopes that people will be prime to receive the message given.
“We have had people come from as far as west as Oakland, California and as far north as New York,” Robertson said.
Christopher Davis, junior psychology student from Prince Georges County, Md., was in attendance last year and he says the conference will be an eye-opener because of the informal discussions about the Black/African culture.
“You realize what you’re really taught isn’t what it seems,” Davis said . “The conference helps you better understand things. It’s definitely going to be something good.”
Lunch and a nightly reception for paying participants will be served at the two-day event.
Students and faculty are also encouraged to donate anything they can to support this cause. Donations begin as little as $5.
For more information about registering for the two-day event click here.