"The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow."
— Bill Gates
My grandparents were immigrants. They arrived at Ellis Island in the early 1900s from Eastern Europe with the clothes on their backs, a rumpled suitcase with their few possessions in their arms and the American Dream in their hearts. Of course, life was different then. They didn't tweet. No Facebook, either. Television? Nope. Telephone? Not really. In those days, people talked face to face. When our family gathered, stories were told and an oral history was passed on from generation to generation. Letters were written with pen and paper. In our modern family, we text and Skype with our daughter, who lives in Nairobi, Kenya. The connection is so clear, she might as well be next door.
Life has never been easy for immigrants. There wasn't much communication between countries. When my grandparents arrived in the United States, psychology was in its infancy and people had little understanding of the immigrant experience or of foreign cultures. Today, there is a thirst for international connections, and psychology's international ties have never been stronger. APA's 2015 Annual Convention takes place in Toronto, Aug. 6–9. Over 10,000 psychologists are expected to gather to present their scholarship, network with colleagues and govern the association. Among those attending will be hundreds of our international affiliates. Before the convention, there will be two international conferences in Toronto: the 74th Conference of the International Council of Psychologists, with the theme "Psychological Contributions to Solving Global Problems of the 21st Century," and a summit "From International to Transnational: Transforming the Psychology of Women," which will explore the implications of a transnational feminist perspective for psychology. In addition, the 2015 Parapan Am Games will overlap with APA's convention, showcasing the highest level of competition among athletes with disabilities, with more than 1,600 athletes from 28 countries and territories competing in 15 sports.
Beyond convention, each year APA attends dozens of international conferences. APA's Office of International Affairs, directed by Dr. Merry Bullock, represents us at many of these meetings. APA also works closely with individual countries. The association has memoranda of understanding (MOU) with national psychology organizations in 16 countries and three more are being explored this year. These memoranda constitute agreements to work on issues of mutual importance and create a framework for collaboration in research, practice, education and training. They also provide an avenue for advocacy around social issues, regulations, global mental health and research protocols. APA's work to foster international cooperation is also reflected at the United Nations. The recent "Psychology Day at the U.N." hosted over 400 people to highlight the relevance of psychology to global challenges (see article on page 18). In addition, international approaches will be highlighted in APA's upcoming "Global Summit on Integrated Care" in Washington, D.C., where domestic and international experts will discuss health disparities, technology, education and training, demographics and other timely topics. The summit's goal is to strengthen collaboration across disciplines, providers and settings to identify best practices for integrated health-care delivery. Early details on this APA summit appear online.
For students and early career psychologists interested in global psychology, APA provides several grants to attend international conferences. APA has also invested significant resources in making sure that the forthcoming ICD-11 includes accurate psychological constructs to guide practicing health-care professionals.
APA also works with professionals in developing countries, developing protocols for the practice of evidence-based health care. Given the regularity of natural disasters and international health crises, such as Ebola, it is critical for us to develop internationally agreed upon competencies. Now that the world is functionally smaller, we have an important opportunity to expand our cross-cultural understanding and to benefit from the perspectives of psychologists all over the world as we collaboratively address the global challenges facing us all.
My grandparents would have been amazed.