Forensic Expert Ron MacKay brings the real CSI to Bishop’s - by Kaleigh Hood, President of the Psychology Club
November 2008
On Thursday, November 6th, Bishop’s welcomed Ron MacKay, Canada’s first psychological profiler, to campus for a free, open-to-all presentation organized by the Psychology Club. The turn-out was spectacular as students, professors, and anybody who was curious about what really goes on in psychological profiling (forget CSI, this is the real thing!) were there with great enthusiasm - there wasn’t an empty seat in the house! Questions from the audience were flowing from beginning to end as Mr. MacKay shared his experiences from his more than 35 years investigating major crime. Thank you to all who made this presentation possible and for those of you who made it out that night! Keep your eyes open for more fabulous speakers coming our way next semester!
Fall Wine and Cheese a huge hit
November 2008
The Psychology Club rented the Uplands Museum and organized a great event. Wine (bottles, not boxes!) and a selection of fine cheeses were served as over 70 students and professors listened to great music and got to know each other better. Organizer Kaleigh Hood was pleased and she promised “more wine” for the next event.
General Romeo Dallaire addresses important psychological issue
November 2008
Canadian hero Romeo Dallaire spoke at Bishop’s on November 11th. While his primary aim was to promote both National and personal activism against the atrocities being committed today in Africa and elsewhere, he highlighted that he was also motivated to help people better understand post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). His account of a military corporal in his own house suddenly reliving, in excruciating detail, the atrocities he had witnessed years before was harrowing. PTSD remains poorly understood and consequently treatment remains difficult.
Perception specialist Dave Saint-Amour to give talk
November 2008
A professor at the University of Montreal and member of the CERNEC, Dr. Saint-Amour is an expert in the sensory and perceptual systems. He will present his latest results on the stunning “McGurk” audio-visual illusion on Monday 24 November at 8:00 in N-5. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Psychology and Drama students perform nutritive play at Sherbrooke Elementary School
November 2008
The five Bishop's students combined ther talents and knowledge to write and perform a play promoting healthy eating. Boring you might say? Well, not according to third and fourth graders at Sherbrooke Elementary School who thought it was "really cool!". Lisa Liskovoi, Avril Beaubien, Laure Pitfield, Catherine Proulx-Bourque and Kai Barker formed their own production company "Bishop's FoodFun Productions" and spent the late summer and fall writing "Willow vs. Candilicious: a journey to healthy eating", an interactive play aimed at promoting the benefits of a healthy balanced diet. Their target audience was elementary school children, but everyone who saw the play enjoyed it -including parents, teachers, and a number of dignitaries from Bishop's University and the Eastern Townships School Board. By the end of the play the children were shouting out correct answers to tough questions about nutrition in order to defeat the evil Candilicious' plan to replace all the nutritious food with candy! Dr. Claude Charpentier who supervised the project said, "We all like to eat, so it is never too soon to learn to make good food choices. We forget that eating is a social activity and that lessons about eating well can be warmed up and served with laughter. I'm very proud of what our community-minded students accomplished by blending difficult nutritional content with a menagerie of characters who delighted everybody with their antics".
See picture 1, See picture 2, See picture 3, See picture 4, See picture 5
Recognition for paper co-authored by Dr. Bacon
September 2008
An article by Dr. Bacon and colleagues at the University of Montreal [Functional reorganization of the human auditory pathways following hemispherectomy: An fMRI demonstration, Neuropsychologia, 2008] has been selected and reviewed by “Faculty of 1000 Medicine”, a revolutionary literature awareness service that identifies and evaluates the most important articles published in Medicine. The article's identification and inclusion provides recognition from peers of its scientific merit and of the positive contribution it makes to the medical literature.
http://www.f1000medicine.com/article/hwncv1pw7kq63mx/id/1120025
Anglophones and Francophones alike?
July 2008
Bishop's University's Kerri Gibson, '04 researched the similarities between adult Anglophones and Francophones in Québec for her Honors dissertation. With the help and support of Dr. Stuart McKelvie and Dr. Anton de Man, the study was published in the U.S. Journal of Social Psychology in April 2008. This study is getting a lot of media attention as it confirms that personalities are very similar between Anglophones and Francophones in the Eastern Townships of Québec. One reason behind this may be that we share the same territory and lifestyle. The study also showed some differences in that Anglophones are more conservative, and Francophones tend to be more tough-minded.
Graduate school applications for Fall 2008: Everybody’s in!
May 2008
Sincere congratulations to the amazing Psychology students who will now be representing Bishop’s in a variety of graduate programs: Gina Snelgrove (Otago. New Zealand), Matt Sigal (York), Mona Pirmoradi (Montreal), Arlie Belliveau (York), Melanie Provost (Montreal), Emilie Belleville (Sherbrooke), Mathilde Beaulieu-Lefebvre (Montreal), Brett Capstick (Carleton), Myriam Chiasson (Trois-Rivieres), Maxime Pelland (Montreal) and Evelyn Lacerte (Sherbrooke). Everybody who applied got in! Well done!
Honours students present their dissertations results
April 2008
Thirteen Honours students each gave a 15 minutes conference-like talk to present the results of their theses to students and faculty alike. The Dean of Social Sciences attended and was appreciative. The quality of the presentations was high and the event was followed by a tasty lunch at Shalimar.
Two NSERC Master’s scholarships for Psychology/Neuroscience students
April 2008
Two outstanding Honours students in Neuroscience, Gina Snelgrove and Mathilde Beaulieu-Lefebvre, have received NSERC Master’s scholarships in the 2007-08 competition. Mathilde will pursue her studies in Neuropsychology at the University of Montreal while Gina will take her scholarship to the University of Otago in New Zealand! Congratulations Mathilde and Gina!
Psychology students present their work at the 30th annual conference of the Société Québecoise de Recherche en Psychologie (SQRP) in Trois-Rivières
March 2008
Honours students Gina Snelgrove and Myriam Chiasson presented posters at the SQRP and had the opportunity to discuss their results with over 400 delegates from all the Quebec Universities. They enjoyed their experience and encourage future Honours students to start gathering data early in the year so as to be able to submit abstracts to such conferences. Congratulations to Gina and Myriam!
Dr. Bacon to organize the 17th Scientific retreat of the Centre de Recherche en Neuropsychologie et Cognition (CERNEC).
January 2008
The annual meeting will take place in St-Sauveur on April 4-5, 2008. The theme will be Brain Plasticity and Reorganization and the keynote speaker will be Krish Sathian (Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA). Approximately 150 participants are expected to attend.
Psychology Club Wine and Cheese a big hit.
January 2008
About 60 Psychology students and faculty gathered at the beautiful Speid Mansion in Lennoxville on February 7th. Fine wine and quality cheeses were served as people and a good time was had by all. Rumor has it that the fun continued at the Lion Pub until the wee hours of the morning.
Psychology Students to present their work at the International Congress of Psychology in Berlin.
January 2008
Honours students Mathew Bellhouse-King and Stephanie Kyle will have the chance to present their Honours theses, conducted under the supervision of Dr. Bacon, at the 29th International Congress of Psychology, in Berlin, in July of 2008. This international event only takes place every four years and is the biggest Psychology conference in the world.
