In 2012, students and professionals traveled from all over the country to Pittsburgh to become educated on humanistic psychology, which aims to reach out about social justice.

Five years later, Point Park students and faculty will have another opportunity to present work to other professionals when the university hosts the 10th Annual Society for Humanistic Psychology Conference from March 30 to April 2.

“This event is really beneficial to us as students because we get to meet professors, professionals and really get a sense of what it’ll be like in the future for us,” Point Park psychology alumnus Alyssa Adamo said.

Dr. Robert McInerney, Associate Professor of Psychology and former co-chair, says that this year’s conference is going to be bigger and better than ever, as keynote speakers will be in attendance, addressing social justice issues.

“We’re looking to have a cutting edge conference that speaks, as our slogan is here in our program, ‘from the ivory tower to the streets,’” McInerney said. “We want to get this idea that we are intellectuals and we don’t want to shy away from that, but we are also very hands on.”

As was done in past years, the conference attendees will have a formal sit-down dinner in the 3rd Floor Lawrence Hall Ballroom at Point Park and watch the performance art that is carried out by social activists.

McInerney says that there are going to be many differences within the event, not only for attendees, but for the presenters.

“The theme of the conference is now focused more directly on social justice and activism,” McInerney said. “What we’re going to be doing is have a certain expectation on the presentations from other scholars and also from graduate students, and they will have some kind of either community focus or social activism or justice focus, and they focus on self to others.”

A group that is highly involved with the conference this year is Operation Safety Net. This program, which is part of the Pittsburgh Mercy Health System and Trinity Health and sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy, dedicates the time to help men and women living on the streets in Pittsburgh with therapy.

Operation Safety Net had an event at Point Park earlier this year that featured artwork from those involved in the program and provided them with an event and a venue to express their talent. The organization will team up with Point Park to do some art therapy sessions alongside students working with the programs.

Emily Sparano, a sophomore who is new to the psychology program at Point Park, is excited to experience her first psychology program event.

“I’m really looking forward to meeting more psych majors,” Sparano said. “I am also really looking forward to hearing professionals discussing psychology. I’d love to get to know them too, get to know what they know and talk about what I have to look forward to in my career.”

Individuals interested in presenting a topic must submit a proposal by Dec. 1, 2016. The application, as well as registration for the event, can be found on Point Park’s website.