Wednesday 22 July 09:50 - 11:20

Hall: 09 - Palazzina 1

Chair and Discussant: Cooper Saths

Division: Division 18: History of Applied Psychology

The last frontier of psychology is where humanity started: Africa. The Pan-African Psychology Union (PAPU) leadership - who are also national leaders in their home countries of Botswana, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa - will address the developments in psychology since the formation of the Pan-African Psychology Union (PAPU) in 2014. Providing critical insights from both the national and continental perspectives on the challenges and gains made by national psychology associations and how PAPU guides and supports the complexities of psychology in Africa - from colonialism, through independence and the current geopolitics of division, othering and dehumanisation - the positive trajectory that is fast emerging of a concerted meeting of minds across languages, ethnicities, and epistemic traditions to a more united profession, where Africans are doing psychology that underpins national and continental development at all levels will be shared. How PAPU functions as a collective; thorough respect for all of humanity, with vigorous contestation of ideas and insights from the similar, yet varying, contexts that PAPU derives its strength from, will illuminate a psychology of inclusion and hope.