The Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA) invites submissions of proposals for the AAPA 2010 Annual Convention to be held in San Diego, CA at the Peace and Justice Center (University of San Diego) on Wednesday, August 11th, 2010.

The convention theme this year is Expanding Our Horizons: The Next Decade in AAPI Psychology. We seek proposals that anticipate the future of AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) psychology and explore ways AAPI psychology may broaden its perspectives in terms of innovative scholarship, practice, and advocacy. Novel and progressive collaborations across disciplines within and outside the field of psychology are encouraged. Strong proposals will include a focus on the wide diversity that exists within AAPI individuals, families, and communities (e.g., ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious/spiritual affiliation, ability status, etc.).

Proposals may address, but are not limited to, the following topics within AAPI psychology: 

• Shifts in perspectives and paradigms necessary for AAPI psychology to be relevant over the next decade.
• Innovations in collaboration, community-building, and participatory action with AAPI families and communities.
• Critical issues of advocacy, social justice, and activism in AAPI advocacy.
• The importance of working across disciplines both within (e.g., developmental psychology, social psychology, behavior genetics, neuroscience, industrial psychology, etc.) and outside of AAPI psychology (e.g., public health, women’s studies, sociology).
•  Innovations in research methods with AAPI individuals, families, and communities from diverse backgrounds.

AAPA members at all levels of training (professional, graduate level, and undergraduate level), including non-psychologists interested in psychological issues affecting AAPIs are encouraged to submit proposals. Undergraduate proposals are encouraged. Non-AAPA members at all levels may also submit proposals. We particularly encourage submissions from those interested in AAPI psychology who have not previously participated in AAPA conventions.

To underscore the convention's theme on interdisciplinary collaborations, we also encourage submissions from non-psychologists, including members of related mental health professions (e.g. nursing, social work, education) as well as members of other professions and fields that are not primarily psychological in nature (i.e., sociologists, anthropologists, journalists, clergy, artists, writers).  Because strengthening diverse families and communities are of particular importance for psychologists of color, we strongly encourage submissions from members of the Association of Black Psychologists (ABPsi), Society of Indian Psychologists (SIP), or the National Latina/o Psychological Association (NLPA).

• Deadline for all submissions is March 30, 2010 at 11:00 p.m. PST
• Submit presentations at: http://www.aapaonline.org/conventions/conventions.shtml
• All presenters are required to officially register for the convention

Interactive Sessions (60 minutes) provide an environment for focused discussions and interactions. In a typical session, facilitators introduce the topic and set up a context for subsequent discussions and interactions among participants. Please contact Richard Shin at rqshin@syr.edu with any questions about submitting interactive session proposals. 
 
Symposia (60 minutes) provide forums for multiple presentations and discussions around a common theme. A typical symposium will include 3 or 4 presentations. An invited expert discussant may provide feedback. Please contact Richard Shin at rqshin@syr.edu with any questions about submitting symposia proposals. 

You may indicate on the proposal if you would like to have your interactive session or symposia proposal considered for a poster presentation in the event that it is not selected for an interactive session or a symposium presentation. Do not submit a separate poster proposal for a session that you would also like to be considered as a poster. Instead, clearly indicate on the cover sheet under “A: Type of Program” that you would like your session proposal to also be considered for a poster presentation.

No individual paper proposals for oral presentations are accepted.  Single research papers should be submitted as posters.

Poster Sessions (60 minutes) provide a forum for conceptual and/or empirical reports to be presented in the form of a poster. In a poster session, multiple posters are displayed to disseminate information and elicit interactions with participants. Please contact Kimberly Langrehr at klangrehr@gmail.com with any questions about submitting poster proposals. 




Student Travel Awards
AAPA offers some travel awards for student presenters. AAPA student presenters who have been a member anytime in the last three years are eligible to apply. Priority will be given to the first authors, students who have not received the award before, and students traveling longer distances to the convention. Following the acceptance of your proposal, students should send application materials to the AAPA Awards Chair: Karen Suyemoto at karen.suyemoto@umb.edu. Please see the AAPA website for further information:  www.aapaonline.org/membership/awards.htm. 

Division on Women (DoW) Awards
The DoW offers two awards:

1. The Division on Women Award is given to a presenter of a session related to psychological issues of AAPI women to celebrate and highlight work on AAPI women's issues. Following the acceptance of your proposal, applicants interested in the DoW Award should send application materials to the DoW co-chairs: Natacha Foo Kune at nmfookune@ucdavis.edu. For more information see AAPA website: www.aapaonline.org.
2. The Alice F. Chang Student Scholar Award is given to the best poster presentation related to the mental health of Asian and Pacific Islander women. All accepted and presented posters submitted by students as the first author are considered for this award. The best poster will be judged and awarded at the convention.

Number of Accepted Proposals Allowed

• There is no limit to the number of submitted proposals per individual.
• However, individuals can only be the first author of one proposal.
• In the event that multiple first author submissions are received, the committee will review only the first proposal received.
• Exempted from this rule are presenters who are invited speakers and discussants in symposia.

Audiovisual Equipment

• Following the acceptance of your proposal, presenters will be asked to indicate their needs for audiovisual equipment. AAPA will provide LCD projectors for power point presentations.
• Presenters should bring their own laptops (and those with Mac laptops should bring the appropriate adaptor to connect to the LCD projector).

Guidelines for Proposals

• The deadline for all proposal submissions is March 30, 2010 at 11:00 p.m. PST.
• All online proposals should include:
• Contact information for the presenters
• Abstract (50 to 100 words) with no author names, and
• Program Summary (500 to 700 words) with no author names.
• For submissions to interactive sessions and symposia, submit only one program summary that integrates the multiple presentations within the proposed session and that also clearly indicates the titles and contents of each presentation within the interactive session or symposium.
• Proposals will be sent for anonymous reviews. As such, the Abstract and Program Summary should not include identifying information of the author(s) and/or presenter(s). 
• Submitters will be notified by email upon receipt of their proposal.
• Submission outcomes will be sent by email by the end of April 2010.