2003 Annual Reports for Boards and Committees

Committee on International Relations in Psychology (CIRP)

The APA Committee on International Relations in Psychology (CIRP) met twice during 2003 – first on April 11-12 at the spring consolidated meetings and the second time by conference call on October 8. The fall consolidated meetings were cancelled due to budget cuts.

The 2003 elected CIRP members were: Wanda C. Rodriguez-Arocho, PhD, 2003 CIRP Chair; Paul Pedersen, PhD; Patricia Licuanan, PhD; Norman Abeles, PhD; M. Brinton Lykes, PhD; Karen F. Wyche, PhD; Eileen R. Borris, EdD; Joy K. Rice, PhD; and Judith V. Torney-Purta, PhD.

Despite the abbreviated 2003 meeting schedule, CIRP had an active year. They awarded the 2004 APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Psychology to Ronald P. Rohner, PhD, Professor Emeritus at the University of Connecticut, and recommended that the 2004 APA Humanitarian Award be given to Chris Stout, PsyD, a private practitioner from Chicago. (The latter award was approved by the Board of Directors at their December meeting.) CIRP also named Amy G. Lam, PhD, of the university of California at Davis, the winner of the 2003 American Psychological Foundation David International Travel Award. And they awarded the International Scientific Meetings Support Fund to: the first Conference of the Sudanese Psychological Society, held August 4-7 in Khartoum; and the 29 th Congresso Interamericano de Psicologia, held July 13-18 in Lima. In Lima, the CIRP Chair, the APA President, and the APA President–Elect hosted an APA reception for the Congress leadership, the invited speakers, and the leadership of the Sociedad Interamericana de Psicologia (the Congress sponsor). The Committee also sponsored three hours of 2003 Convention programming (“Toward a critical and liberatory psychology for the new millennium: perspectives from Latin America;” “internationalizing the counseling psychology curriculum;” and a discussion hour on “international perspectives on ageing.”), in addition to the annual reception for international visitors and breakfast meeting for CIRP’s division international liaisons. The Committee also organized an off-site Convention session on “Some consequences of ‘homeland security’ for the internationalization of psychology.”

During 2003, CIRP also undertook several new projects. The Committee circulated a Resolution on Culture and Gender Awareness to all APA governance groups and divisions seeking comments and suggestions, which CIRP will discuss at their March 2004 meeting and will forward to the Board in June and to Council in August. CIRP also expressed strong interest in working with the Education Directorate on the American Council of Education project to internationalize the curriculum.