Minnesota Undergraduate Psychology Conference

2013 will mark the 48th year in which the Minnesota Undergraduate Psychology Conference (MUPC) has been held.  MUPC is the oldest undergraduate psychology conference in the United States.  The conference provides a forum for the presentation of original research, applications, and conceptual papers by undergraduates in psychology from around the state and surrounding areas.  Since 1980, Bemidji State psychology students have made a major contribution to the conference.  In that time, BSU students have presented 43% of all of the papers presented by Minnesota State University students and have made more total presentations than any other public institution.  BSU hosted the conference in 1983, with Dr. John Conger (past president of the American Psychological Association) as the keynote speaker and in 2005, with Dr. Ed Donnerstein (University of Arizona) as the keynote speaker.

On April 28, 2012, the 47th annual Minnesota Undergraduate Psychology Conference was held at Gustavus Adolphus College.  Ten Bemidji State University psychology students attended and made presentations along with Drs. Laurie Desiderato and Angela Fournier.  The Bemidji State University students presented seven papers on topics ranging from improving student sleep behavior and benefits of teaching assistants to microaggressions on American Indians.  Dr. Laurie Santos (Yale University) gave the keynote address, “The Evolution of Irrationality: Insights from Monkeys.”