2:45 – 5:30pm
Tuesday, 30 October 2018
Medrus 4, Aberystwyth University

This event launches the Centre for Critical Psychology (CC-Psy) at Aberystwyth University.

The vision for the Centre for Critical Psychology at Aberystwyth University is to create a better everyday life by using the tools of critical psychology.

At the heart of most research questions or policies is a desire for people to think and act differently. Underpinning this desire then, is a critique of the people such work seeks to affect.

CC-Psy takes a different approach. Our research starts with questions of how a person makes sense of themselves. Then, we ask what can they say, think or do when they understand themselves this way? And what social, political, economic or material conditions enables this understanding? These questions allow us to understand the person in context, to value their sense making, and to identify new ways of re-conceptualising problems to enhance lives.

Many contemporary preoccupations – in everyday life, research and policy – are about transforming the self. To launch CC-Psy, we offer an exciting event showcasing a range of research on how people are working – and expected to work – on themselves.

This timely event explores the psychological, social, behavioural, policy and ethical implications of a cultural imperative to work on the self, seeking to showcase the work of CC-PSY and its associates, and develop a forward thinking research agenda. Tickets are limited and can be accessed here. If you can’t make it, check out our website where links to the presentations will be uploaded in November.

2:45 – Arrival with tea, coffee and bara brith cake

3:00 – Welcome from Professor Neil Glasser, Head of Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences
        – Introduction to the Centre for Critical Psychology (CC-PSY) – our mission and rationale – by                 Sarah Riley, lead for CC-PSY

3:15 – 15 minute presentations:

• Professor Mark Whitehead, Aberystwyth Behavioural Insights: Re-Thinking Behaviour Change: Context, Cognition, and the Self
• Dr Liz Gagen Geography: Emotional pedagogies at school – work on the emotional self
• Dr Sarah Riley, Psychology: Theorising cultural imperatives to work on the self: Postfeminism, Vladimir Putin and me.
• 10 minute discussion in tables: Considering these presentations in the light of your own work – what are the implications for subjectivity and policy?

4:15 – Pecha Kucha presentations:

• Sagar Murdeshwar: Drinking as the practice of a global Indian elite
• Saffron Passam: University as a mechanism for working class women’s career aspirations
• Martine Robson: Life style advice after coronary heart disease
• Alison Mackiewicz: Performing shamelessness on a girl’s night out
• Nkechinyelu Edeh: The intersections of raced and gendered identities for Nigerian women working in the NHS
• Q&A with presenters as the panel and other members of CC-PSY Alex Hird (researching mental health crisis homes) and Emily Jacques [SR[1] (researching masculinities on a lads night out) introduce their projects joining the panel.

5:00 – Postfeminism & Health book launch presentation: Dr Adrienne Evans (Post digital cultures research centre, Coventry University)

5:15 – Closing remarks from Professor Nigel Holt, Head of Department of Psychology Aberystwyth.