David Buss, from the University of Texas, is probably the best known evolutionary psychologist, having researched and written about a evolutionary explanations for a range of behaviour, including mating strategies, jealousy, homocide, rape and stalking.

Teachers are invited to a one day INSET course on Monday 21 March.

• • David Buss will talk on Why students love evolutionary Psychology … and how to teach it.
  • The programme also features Christian Jarrett, editor of the BPS Digest.

There is also a student conference on Wednesday 23 March, tickets £20.

• • The aim of the day is to expose students to the wonder of psychology. While some talks may not be directly relevant to their studies, they will come away inspired!
  • David Buss will talk on Strategies of human mating. This is a fascinating topic and one that communicates a deeper understanding of evolutionary psychology.
  • The programme also features Claudia Hammond (BBc’s All in the Mind), and talks from Phil Banyard, Mike Cardwell and Cara Flanagan.

View further details here for the INSET day or student conference

Or contact Cara Flanagan at cara.flanagan@btopenworld.com

Just in case you don’t know, South West Conferences (www.southwestconferences.co.uk) are repeating their extremely popular Science and Pseudoscience conference again this year in Edinburgh, Bristol, Nottingham and London (November 8, 9, 10 and 26). £20 per students plus 1 free teacher for every 10 students.

The programme includes magician turned psychologist RICHARD WISEMAN and hypnotist extraordinaire ANDREW NEWTON plus old favourites Phil Banyard, Mike Cardwell and Cara Flanagan.

Interested? Contact cara.flanagan@btopenworld.com – don’t delay as some venues nearly full. Make a provisional booking now.

Here’s what people said last year

• How science works has never seemed such fun!
• It was a wonderful conference and my students and I are buzzing!! It is what education should be about – broadening horizons and motivating the desire to learn. Everyone also painted Science as exciting, which it is although the message gets lost in schools sometimes.
• All in all it was a fantastic day and the students did enjoy it, it works well breaking up the day with lots of snapshots of different areas but something that ties it together.  The speakers were great with good pace.  I particularly enjoyed watching my student’s recollection of studies that they knew about that were mentioned, as this helps us with our job, as it is nice for them to hear other psychologists/teachers viewpoints.  We took a mix of our year 12 and year 13 students and there was definately something in there for them all.
• It was a fantastic day, about the best student ‘lecture day’ I have ever taken students too. Thank you to you and the others for putting the program together. The day caused much discussion on the bus back and the class are all beaming with fascination and excitement. Many of them had conversations last night at home that made their parents wish they could study Psychology too. So, thank you once again for such a well put together day.
• Everyone seemed to have a hugely enjoyable day yesterday, so thank you to all of the speakers and you in particular for organising it!! For me the day is informative, relevant and most of all FUN!! We spent most of yesterday laughing and I guess that will improve the glass half full view of life that might assist the luck factor. A day like yours is worth 20 lessons, and my lessons are pretty good too, you must understand.
• Thank you so much for the conference yesterday. It was a fantastic experience for the students. They were talking about it on the bus all the way home (2 Hours!) and they are still talking about it today. All want to go again. Students particularly enjoyed Richard Wiseman and also the hypnosis section, however they loved ALL of the speakers.
• Some of the students have said it was the best trip they had ever been on, so well done. I’m definitely coming next year!

SouthWestConferences are offering an interesting  INSET opportunity for teachers.

Friday 24 Sept-Sunday 26 Sept 2010.

The theme will be Obedience and Resistance.

Manchester Met will give 20 CATS towards a masters in teaching and learning/education

All inclusive price £410 (plus VAT)

• Return flight to Krakow from Bristol, Liverpool or Gatwick.
• Transfer to and from the hotel.
• Bed and breakfast in the Hotel Qubus (4 star hotel with sauna, swimming pool, free wireless), sharing a twin room.
• Dinner Friday and Saturday (alcoholic drinks not included!).
• Lunch on Saturday.
• Guided tours of Auschwitz and the Schindler factory/Jewish district.
• Lectures/workshops on Friday evening and Saturday morning.

More details are here.

Folens have published an online companion to their new AQA (A) psychology textbook ‘The Complete Companion’. The very popular textbook, written by Cara Flanagan and Mike Cardwell, has been re-written for the 2008 specifications and is now on sale. I will write a review as soon as I receive my copy – well when I have received it and then read it.

The online companion consists of a blog written by Cara Flanagan, Mike Cardwell and Ade Frost and will have some extra resources and exam tips to follow.

Do have a look at the very promising blog here.

Uniview have announced today that they are to film Zimbardo’s talk at the Emmanuel Centre in London. The talk is on the afternoons of Tuesday 18 March and Wednesday 19 March 2008. The DVD ‘Zimbardo Speaks’, will be available shortly afterwards.

Below is the press release.

South West Conferences present a unique opportunity for A level Psychology students to hear legendary Professor Zimbardo talk about his research and new book, and it’s all being caught on film!March is an exciting time for UK students of psychology as The Emmanuel Centre in London welcomes Professor Philip G. Zimbardo to discuss his past research and current book. The revision conference is organised by South West Conferences, a small consultancy company specialising in psychology A level students conferences and Teacher INSET courses, run by psychology teacher and author Cara Flanagan.Professor Zimbardo has previously taught at Yale, Columbia and NYU but was a professor at the Stanford University from 1968 up until his recent retirement. Zimbardo has won many awards for his work and has become a media personality as a result of his captivating studies. He has also been president of both the Western Psychological Association and the American Psychological Association.Zimbardo is probably best known for his fascinating 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, whereby college students were assigned the role of guard or inmate in order to study the psychological and behavioural effects of imprisonment. Those selected at random to be ‘guards’ became so sadistic and those acting as ‘prisoners’ so depressed, that the two-week study was stopped after just six days. The study has created such public and media interest that a feature-length film is currently being made by Maverick Films and directed by Oscar winning director, Christopher McQuarrie.

Cara Flanagan and Mike Cardwell run an excellent psychology conference company called South West Conferences.

One of their upcoming conferences that has caught my eye is the one where Professor Zimbardo will discuss his research with special reference to the Stanford Prison Experiment and his recent book The Lucifer Effect, and also answer students’ questions.

The conference will run on the afternoons of Tuesday 18 March and Wednesday 19 March, 2008 in London and will also include talks by Phil Banyard, Cara Flanagan and Mike Cardwell.

For more details visit the SouthWestConferences web site.