Countdown to IACCP-98: Status in Late August 1997
Walter Lonner, Congress President and Chair,
Scientific Program Advisory Committee
Bellingham, Washington, USA
On behalf of the Scientific Program Advisory Committee I can report
that efforts to notify people of the time, place, and particulars of the Silver
Jubilee congress have been energetic and successful. Over 3,000 booklets and
about 1000 posters have been distributed. Roughly half of these were mailed.
With the help of several others the remainder were distributed at various summer
conferences in Dublin, Mexico City, Kyoto, Chicago, and elsewhere. We have a
surplus of about 250 booklets. If anyone has ideas about how they might be distributed,
please let me know. In addition, we have the Web site and its potential to reach
untold thousands. With that phase of planning behind us, we can now focus on
the scientific program itself and anticipate the increased volume of mail as
we await the December 1 deadline for the submission of proposals.
We anticipate and encourage a very wide range of symposia, papers, and
posters. Consistent with one of the original goals of the modern movement
of cross-cultural psychology, we would like to see the most inclusive range
of topical coverage ever at our XIVth International Congress. Our main goal
is to attract a rich and varied slate of exciting and challenging symposia.
Early indications suggest that people are making plans to contribute to
an excellent and memorable program.
To date there are few concrete and confirmed details of the scientific
program to report. However, several people have accepted invitations to
participate in the Founders' Symposium that will take place on the first
day of the Congress. This list includes Ernst Boesch, Rogelio Diaz-Guerrero,
Gustav Jahoda, Douglass Price-Williams, Durganand Sinha, and Harry Triandis.
One or two other possibilities are pending. John Berry will chair this unique
and unprecedented three-hour symposium. We are developing plans to have
a symposium near the end of the Congress that will be future-oriented. Participants
will include several of the most energetic, creative, and thoughtful individuals
who are in the middle of their productive professional careers, and who
represent the torchbearers of the cross-cultural movement in psychology.
The 25th anniversary of our Association is a special occasion. It should
be used as way to reaffirm what cross-cultural psychology is all about,
both theoretically and practically. All of its members should rally around
this celebration and strive for excellence. Because this will be the first-ever
IACCP conference in the United States, I especially encourage the many U.S.
members to consider it as much "their" conference as it is Western
Washington University's. Western is merely the attractive and willing host
institution. The co-hosts are all of the U.S. members of IACCP. There is
no reason why we cannot set a new standard for future IACCP congresses in
terms of quality, attendance, and memorable events. Any conference is only
as good as its organizers and participants want it to be.
Readers of the Bulletin shall be kept informed of progress. Our Web site
will be updated periodically, and we urge all to keep your arrow pointed
to http://www.wwu.edu/~lonner/congress.html
June 1997 Table of Contents