The 41st annual Western PA Undergraduate Psychology Conference was held at Allegheny on April 20 and was coordinated by Assistant Professor of Psychology Sarah Conklin, Carnegie Hall Coordinator Cindy Hoesch, and Associate Professor of Psychology Aimee Knupsky (chair of the WPUPC).
Nearly 300 students and faculty from 13 colleges and universities in the tri-state area (Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York) attended and presented their research. Among them were Allegheny psychology students Nicholas Diana, Desiree Evanson, Rachel Ford, Kelly Gallagher, Kyle Greenberg, Courtney Hagan, Fred Hintz, Kara Izing, Kathryn Mong, Katrina Pampalone, Roma Panganiban, Veronica Quinlan, Dayna Rowe, Anna Katharina Spaelti, Shayna Spano, Trista Sykes, Catherine Van Damme, Ashley Whalen, and Amanda Woodside.
More than twenty student volunteers majoring in psychology and neuroscience and the entire Psychology Department faculty volunteered during the event.
Dr. Aimee Knupsky and her senior comp students attend the 41st annual WPUPC held at Allegheny College. Pictured (from left): Dr. Knupsky, Desiree Evanson, Catherine VanDamme, Nicholas Diana, Roma Panganiban, and Courtney Hagan.
Pictured are Amanda Woodside, Katrina Pampalone, Ashley Whalen, Veronica Quinlin, Professor Sarah Conklin and Kara Izing. All of the students presented posters at the conference.
Along with other 100 poster presentations, there were 11 paper sessions on psychological topics ranging from social psychology to neuroscience.
“The conference provides a unique opportunity for students to learn about the research being done by other students at nearby colleges and universities,” Knupsky says. “Overall, the conference is an excellent place to not only share ideas and to practice presenting research, but also for getting ideas for future projects.”
The keynote speaker at the conference was Judith F. Kroll, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Linguistics, and Women’s Studies and Director of the Center for Language Science at Pennsylvania State University, who spoke on bilingualism. The keynote, which has implications for future research and education, coincided with Allegheny’s annual theme for 2012-2013, “Transforming Education.”
Allegheny has a long history with WPUPC. Dr. David Anderson, professor emeritus of psychology at Allegheny, was the conference’s founding chair.