Message from the President

Professor Hoon-Seok Choi
Sungkyunkwan University, Korea

Dear Members of AASP

It is my honor and great pleasure to serve AASP as President for the period of 2019-2021. Established in 1995, AASP has become one of the major psychology organizations in Asia with over 1,300 members from many parts of the world, including the Far East, South East Asia, India, Oceania, North America, and Europe. Over the past 20 years, members of AASP have contributed to the development of social psychology and played a key role in solving important social issues in the region. AASP’s flagship journal, Asian Journal of Social Psychology, has continued to grow with an increasing impact both academically and practically. Through its biennial conference and diverse summer school programs, AASP has also provided a set of platforms where members enjoy intellectual stimulation and develop critical skills for their research. On looking at where we stand now as an academic organization, I see many great achievements and full of positive energy with a warm, family-like atmosphere. I truly hope that we will continue our efforts and collaborations to realize the full potential of our association and create opportunities for further growth.

I look forward to opening up a hopeful future in tandem with all members of AASP.

The Executive Committee

We have some changes in the Officers group and the Executive Committee. Allan Bernardo has completed his role as Past-President. Sylvia Chen Joined the group as President-Elect of the association. Emi Kashima has completed her role as President and is now the Immediate Past-President. Jim Liu has completed his role as Secretary General, and Fang Wang will serve the association as Secretary General for the next two years. Wendy Li continues to serve as Treasurer, and so does Itesh Sachdev as Chair of the Education and Training Committee. I would like to express my sincere thanks to Allan Bernardo, Emi Kashima, and Li Liu for their hard work and sacrifice for the association. Their commitment to excellence and incessant love for our organization will be remembered by all members of AASP for a long time. Also, I welcome Sylvia Chen and Fang Wang to the Officers group with a great deal of joy and excitement.

We also have changes in the Representatives of the association. Hiroaki Morio (East Asia Rep), Hamdi Muluk (South East Asia Rep.), Jungsik Kim (Korea Rep-at-Large), Della Belleza (Philippines Rep-at-Large), Ching Wan (Singapore Rep-at-Large), Watch Boonyasiriwat (Thailand Rep-at-Large), and Katya Hanke (Germany Rep-at-Large) have completed their term as Regional Representative/Representative-at-Large. I thank all of them for their valuable service for the association over the years. Replacing these individuals and filling in other positions, Keiko Ishii (East Asia Rep), Antonio Clemente (South East Rep), Jian Guan (China Rep-at-Large), Youngmi Kwon (Korea Rep-at-Large), Shige Oishi (North America Rep-at-Large), Sutarimah Ampuni (Indonesia Rep-at-Large), Ken Ito (Singapore Rep-at-large), Thipnapa Huansuriya (Thailand Rep-at-Large), and Mostafa Zarean（Middle East Rep-at-Large) joined the team. Thank you and welcome on board ! I also thank Sammyh Kahn (Europe Rep-at-Large), Emma Buchtel (Hong Kong Rep-at-Large), and Elaine Fernadez (Malaysia Rep-at-Large) for their continued service for the association.

AASP 2021

AASP 2021 SEOUL NEWSLETTER

February 2021 (Issue No.5)

President's Message

Dear Members of AASP and Prospective Participants, 

I hope you are all healthy and in good spirit.

Members of the Organizing Committee have met several times during the past month to carefully assess the pandemic situation in Korea and around the world. As you would agree, there are indications that this coming Summer may not be any different from what we are experiencing now. The Korean government has announced that it will be toward the end of the year when the nation will finally reach somewhere near herd immunity. Thus, it will continue enforcing the current quarantine measures unless something dramatic happens (which is highly unlikely). This means that all visitors coming from overseas will have to self-quarantine for 2 weeks, and large gatherings such as ours will be strictly prohibited.  

We’ve been trying hard to possibly host an in-person conference as scheduled, at times feeling that we’re being unreasonable, clinging to something already impossible. All in all,  we are at the mercy of the virus for now, and unfortunately it seems that things will stay the same for many more months, if not years. This leaves us no other options than rethinking how we are going to manage the upcoming conference.

So, we regrettably decided to turn the conference into a virtual format. This is especially regrettable because we have such a great line-up for the featured series,  including keynote speeches, featured presentations and symposia. Even more disheartening to us is we can’t meet all the participants in person, missing great opportunities for networking and socializing.

Please understand that our assessment of the situation is consistent with that of other organizations, especially the ones that are having a conference in the coming Summer. I know this is a big disappointment, but I'd like to remind you that regardless of the format we will do our best to create a successful event.   

At the minimum, we will continue to assess possibilities for a hybrid format with keynotes and featured presentations. It depends, of course, on changes in the quarantine policy and the speed of vaccination around the region. All other talks are decided to be held on-line. We are currently developing a new platform for a virtual event which will include live-streaming and pre-recorded presentations. We will keep you posted as we make progress on logistics and virtual platforms. Please also note that we are extending the deadline for abstract submission to March 31st. We will also reduce registration fees to offer opportunities for students and young scholars to participate in this exciting event.  I am sorry that I am the bearer of a disappointing message. I hope you will understand our decision and support us in full by participating with a great deal of enthusiasm and an open mind.  

Thank you.   

Hoon-Seok Choi, Ph.D. 

President  

Asian Association of Social Psychology 

Korean Social & Personality Psychological Association

Deadline Extended to March 31st!