aboud talk

Deep in the west wing of the Stewart Biology building, 30 students crowded around a boardroom table to catch Dr. Frances Aboud speak on international work in psychology - just before she heads back overseas herself. Renowned for her work in cross-cultural health psychology and the development of prejudice in children, the McGill psychology professor's career has taken her all over the world, from Canada to Ethiopia to Bangladesh and back.

Dr. Aboud began by shining a hard light on our globetrotting motives, warning that the sign of a successful trip is how much it batters your starry-eyed ideals. The trick is to strike a balance with rigid cynicism, which does little but frustrate well-intentioned efforts. Being of real help is hard in the short term, but the more time you spend in the world, the greater the possibility for change - and that kind of commitment takes idealist-realists with a fine-tuned area of expertise.

Through examples of her work in early childhood education in Bangladesh, Dr. Aboud spoke about the contributions psychologists can make to research in developing countries, stressing that hard indicators are critical to reaching beyond superficial empowerment lingo and building effective local development strategies. As the session drew to a close, participants were eager (but also cynical) about getting out there, swapping advice on internships with both Dr. Aboud and Maryam Pasha, who was representing the Arts Internship Office.