Pitzer College to Host International Society of Political Psychology Conference

Panels will examine political order, democracy, intergroup conflict and political leadership

CLAREMONT, Calif. (Jan. 9, 2004) — The International Society of Political Psychology will present a daylong series of talks on five topics in political psychology Saturday, January 17, in the Broad Performance Space at Pitzer College.

The opening session will feature William Ascher, Dean of Faculty at Claremont McKenna College, who will present on Harold Lasswell, the "founding father" of political psychology. Paul Roazen, author of 17 books, will present on the foundations of political psychology. The session will run from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

The second panel will focus on the "Nature of Political Order" and will feature Ned Lebow, president of the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP). Lebow, who teaches at Dartmouth College, is the author or co-author of many works, including: Between Peace and War: The Nature of International Crisis (1981), Psychology and Deterrence (1985), and Hegemonic Rivalry: From Thucydides to the Nuclear Age (1991). Pitzer College Professor of Political Studies Sharon Snowiss will comment on Lebow's presentation, which will run from 10:45 a.m. to noon.

Shawn Rosenberg of UC Irvine will lead the third panel on Deliberative Democracy. Rosenberg is the recipient of the Erik Erikson Early Career award from ISPP and has written numerous books and articles, including: Political Reasoning and Cognition: A Piagetian View (1988, co-authored with Pitzer Professor and Executive Director of ISPP Dan Ward and Stephen Chilton), Reason, Ideology and Politics (1988), and The Not So Common Sense: Differences in How People Judge Social and Political Life (2002). Janusz Reykowski, the foremost psychologist in Eastern Europe and president-elect of ISPP, will lead comments on Rosenberg's presentation. The session will run from 1:30 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.

Tamra Pearson d'Estree of the University of Denver, one of the world's leading scholars dealing with conflict resolution, will lead the fourth panel on Intergroup Conflict. She will present work titled "The Role of Voice in Intergroup Conflict De-escalation and Resolution." Don Sylvan of Ohio State University will present "Problem Representation and Conflict Dynamics in the Middle East and Northern Ireland." Sylvan is a noted expert on the Middle East conflict. The panel will run from 3 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.

Maritza Montero, Latin America's preeminent political psychologist, will lead the final panel on Political Leadership. Montero, who teaches at Universidad Central de Venezuela, will discuss the leadership style of Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela. The session will run from 4:30 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.

The panels are free and open to the public. For information, contact Summer Espinoza, office manager of ISPP, at (909) 621-8442 or Summer_Espinoza@Pitzer.edu.

About Pitzer College

Pitzer College is a nationally top ranked undergraduate liberal arts institution. A member of The Claremont Colleges, Pitzer offers a distinctive approach to a liberal arts education by linking intellectual inquiry with interdisciplinary studies, cultural immersion, social responsibility and community involvement. For more information, please visit www.pitzer.edu.

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