ICSPHS 2024

The 2nd International Conference on Social Psychology and Humanity Studies (ICSPHS 2024) was a hybird conference which includes several workshops (offline and online) around the world. Dr. Kurt Buhring from Saint Mary's College and Dr. Javier Cifuentes-Faura from University of Murcia have chaired these workshops on related topics. ICSPHS 2024 provided the participants with good opportunities to exchange ideas and build networks, and it will lead to further collaborations between both universities and other societies.

Workshop

Saint Mary's College, USA

Organizer: Dr. Kurt Buhring, Associate Professor in Saint Mary's College

This workshop is a sample class meeting from the course, “Religion & Science”. The course is a 300-level undergraduate seminar that meets the Interreligious Studies requirement for Saint Mary's Religious Studies and Theology majors. The students tend to be juniors and seniors. While many of them are majors in my Religious Studies and Theology department, the course also draws science majors as well as other interested students. The course tends to be small, with around 10-15 students. On the day of the sample class meeting, we read, discussed, and began to evaluate two chapters from John Haught's God After Darwin. Haught argues that evolutionary theory is a “gift” to theology, as it encourages Christian-based ways of understanding divine goodness and power, as well as empowering and inspiring possibilities for human life. One of my intentions in this 75-minute class session is to introduce students to creative ways of understanding God and humanity in light of evolutionary theory. Taught early in the semester, this session sets a foundation for our understanding of evolution, constructive Christian theology, and positive ways that religion can engage science.

University of Murcia, Spain

Organizer: Dr. Javier Cifuentes-Faura, Researcher in University of Murcia

The workshop "University students' concerns: policies to improve the education system" brought together several students from the University of Murcia and served to learn about the main concerns of students, strengthen academic research and debate, promote cooperation to achieve sustainability and research on higher education to achieve student welfare and achieve sustainable development. We discussed the degree of concern of university students about these problems that may condition their current life and analyze whether these concerns may affect their academic performance, also distinguishing according to gender and age. Aspects such as mental health, the high cost of living, the need to re-evaluate the way of working or the fight against climate change are among the main concerns of young people. All these issues are the major challenges facing a generation in constant transformation, which also affect their academic performance.

Online Session

The online session of the 2nd International Conference on Social Psychology and Humanity Studies (ICSPHS 2024) was held on March 1, 2024. Dr. Kurt Buhring from Saint Mary's College, Dr. Ambreen Shahria from London Metropolitan University, Dr. Sara Mashayekh from the University of New South Wales and Dr. Javier Cifuentes-Faura from the University of Murcia have given keynote speeches on related topics of Psychology, Sociology, Humanities, etc. Also, we invited authors of qualified papers to deliver oral presentations at the Online Session. Eight authors have presented their studies of linguistics, socio-economy, psychology, etc. Questions from the audience were collected and answered by the presenters.

Highlights

Title: Policies to Improve the Education System: Detecting Student Concerns in Higher Education
Presented by: Javier Cifuentes-Faura, PhD, Researcher, Department of Financial Economics and Accounting, University of Murcia

Title: Positioning and Power Dynamics and in Small Group Interactions
Presented by: Sara Mashayekh, PhD, Lecturer, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney

Title: The Spirit(s) in West Africa: Fon, Yoruba, and Akan Traditional Religions
Presented by: Kurt Buhring, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies and Theology, Saint Mary's College

Title: Decolonising the Education Curriculum in Teaching on the BA and MA Education
Presented by: Ambreen Shahriar, PhD, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences and Professions, London Metropolitan University

Videos

You can find the Youtube Playlist of online sessionHere.