2008 Woodie Awards
Profs travel abroad to address prejudice
Tim Mislock
Issue date: 4/10/07 Section: News
Two university psychology professors will be traveling to Poland next weekend for a conference on prejudice at the University of Warsaw.
Samuel L. Gaertner and James M. Jones will be giving keynote addresses at the conference, which takes place from April 13 to 15. The conference, entitled "Victim/Perpetrator Relations in a Changing Europe: Prejudice Escalation and Prejudice Reduction," was organized by the Center for Research on Prejudice at Warsaw, according to Master Michal Bilewicz at Warsaw University.
Bilewicz stated in an e-mail message that Gaertner and Jones were chosen as keynote speakers because they are well-recognized researchers in the psychology of prejudice and racism.
"We are honored that they accepted our invitation to speak at our keynote session," Bilewicz said. "The presence of Professor Samuel Gaertner and Professor James Jones at the keynote session is part of our intensive collaboration project with the University of Delaware."
Bilewicz, a psychology professor, said this year's conference will focus on prejudice in groups with a victim and perpetrator relationship.
"The aim of the conference is to bring together social psychologists from different parts of the world whose interests encompass inter-group relations, stereotypes and prejudice," Bilewicz said. "We know that we should learn from experiences and studies performed in different parts of the world - this is the only strategy to be able to overcome prejudice."
Gaertner said he plans to discuss different ideas of group identity and ways of decreasing racial bias and aversive racism. Aversive racism is a subtle form of bias, he said, which occurs when well-intentioned people who do not believe they are racist find themselves uncomfortable when interacting with a member of a different race.
"By changing which groups people think they belong to and making them see they all belong to one group, the relationships will increase with others and it will decrease bias," Gaertner said.
Samuel L. Gaertner and James M. Jones will be giving keynote addresses at the conference, which takes place from April 13 to 15. The conference, entitled "Victim/Perpetrator Relations in a Changing Europe: Prejudice Escalation and Prejudice Reduction," was organized by the Center for Research on Prejudice at Warsaw, according to Master Michal Bilewicz at Warsaw University.
Bilewicz stated in an e-mail message that Gaertner and Jones were chosen as keynote speakers because they are well-recognized researchers in the psychology of prejudice and racism.
"We are honored that they accepted our invitation to speak at our keynote session," Bilewicz said. "The presence of Professor Samuel Gaertner and Professor James Jones at the keynote session is part of our intensive collaboration project with the University of Delaware."
Bilewicz, a psychology professor, said this year's conference will focus on prejudice in groups with a victim and perpetrator relationship.
"The aim of the conference is to bring together social psychologists from different parts of the world whose interests encompass inter-group relations, stereotypes and prejudice," Bilewicz said. "We know that we should learn from experiences and studies performed in different parts of the world - this is the only strategy to be able to overcome prejudice."
Gaertner said he plans to discuss different ideas of group identity and ways of decreasing racial bias and aversive racism. Aversive racism is a subtle form of bias, he said, which occurs when well-intentioned people who do not believe they are racist find themselves uncomfortable when interacting with a member of a different race.
"By changing which groups people think they belong to and making them see they all belong to one group, the relationships will increase with others and it will decrease bias," Gaertner said.
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