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Psychology in Sri Lanka Moves Forward
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In 2003, the Asch Center sponsored a month-long conference for teachers of psychology in Sri Lanka, at the beautiful University of Peradeniya.  Last November, the University was the setting
for a conference organized by Sri Lankan psychologists that brought together psychologists, students, university officials, members of the community (including several Buddhist clergy), and a broad range of
social scientists for a day of discussion centered on the theme Towards Understanding Psychology: A Multi-Perspective Exploration of Psychology in the Sri Lankan Context.

Group picture of psychologists at the founding of the interim Sri Lankan Psychology Association

The following day, psychologists who had attended the conference met in a hilltop hotel to discuss the needs of the discipline in the country and agreed to form a psychology association, the first in the country. The new interim organization will work over the next months to
draft a constitution, draw up membership criteria, and develop a set of goals and aims.

Asch faculty affiliate Jeanne Marecek, who has lived and worked part-time in Sri Lanka for two decades, spoke on the importance of developing the science of psychology as an academic discipline, and as a foundation of social policy.

For more information on the conference see http://www.freewebs.com/conferencecoordinator/index.htm. Ψ