The International Society for Theoretical Psychology (ISTP), will host its 2026 conference at Pratt Institute’s Brooklyn Campus, which is located on Lenapehoking, the traditional and unceded homeland of the Lenape people, past, present, and future.
We warmly invite scholars from theoretical psychology and neighboring disciplines—philosophy, sociology, anthropology, literature, the arts, and beyond—to submit their contributions and join us at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, from Monday, June 8 to Friday, June 12, 2026. Whether through theoretical reflection, conceptual analyses, or creative interventions, we seek diverse perspectives that critically engage with the conference theme. Contributions beyond the conference theme are also welcome.
At the heart of the conference lies the question: What is the role of theory in dark times? Theoretical psychology has long sought to understand the human condition, yet in moments of global crisis, theory itself becomes a site of political resistance. The conference will examine how theory functions as a political force, shaping narratives of power, ideology, and agency. It will address the political implications of psychological theory, asking how psychological concepts, often regarded as neutral or apolitical, become entangled with broader social and political dynamics.
Conference Fee
Regular
$690
ISTP Member
$620
Reduced*
$400
Online Only**
$250
Conference registration includes light refreshments, morning and afternoon coffee breaks, and lunch on all conference days.
A conference dinner will be held on Wednesday, June 10. The dinner fees are $90 per person.
Several thematic New York City tours will be offered on Wednesday for additional fees.
Financial Support for Underfunded Scholars: The ISTP is committed to supporting scholars with limited access to travel and conference funding. Please email a brief description of your estimated travel and attendance costs, your country of residence, and any relevant circumstances to treasurer@istpsychology.org by February 1, 2026. Grant amounts and availability depend on the number of applicants and available funds.
ISTP Student Travel Award: The ISTP will award five stipends of up to $500 to Ph.D. students presenting at the 2026 Conference in Brooklyn. Applicants must be enrolled in a psychology-related doctoral program, be first authors of accepted papers written during their studies, and be ISTP members (membership may be submitted with the application). To apply, email your CV, a one-page statement outlining your career trajectory, an abstract of your accepted contribution, and documentation of anticipated travel expenses to treasurer@istpsychology.org by February 1, 2026. Notifications will be sent by February 15; recipients must confirm within 48 hours. Reimbursement details will be included in the award letter.
Michael Bamberg (Clark University, USA), Dan Boscov-Ellen (Pratt Institute, USA), Nandita Chaudhary (Federal University of Bahia, Brazil), Carolin Demuth (Aalborg University, Denmark), Yasuhiro Igarashi (Yamano College of Aesthetics, Japan), Luka Luçić (Pratt Institute, USA), Desmond Painter (Stellenbosch University, South Africa), Ernst Schraube (Roskilde University, Denmark), Paul Stenner (Open University, United Kingdom), Luca Tateo (University of Oslo, Norway), Thomas Teo (York University, Canada), Tania Zittoun (University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland)
Organizing Committee: Beth Bingham, Josh Bowker, Lina Jacob Carande, Aurelia Casey, TzuYun (Ivy) Chen, Martin Dege, Tomoaki Imamichi, Karolina Koczynska, Luka Lucic, Kristina McCarthy, Paul Mossner, Petra Parčetić, Claire Park, Renata Strashnaya, Irene Strasser
Roger Frie
Dr. Frie’s scholarship reflects his interdisciplinary interests. He has written numerous books, articles and chapters. His area of focus is historical trauma, cultural memory and moral responsibility related to mass racial violence, genocide and the Holocaust. He has also written extensively on such themes as human interaction, psychoanalysis and social theory. He is invited to give lectures and hold workshops nationally and internationally for professional and general audiences alike. He speaks frequently in Germany, Austria, England, France, Japan and the United States.
Alexandra Rutherford
“Off the couches, into the streets!” Psychology and social change in the long 1960s
No period in recent United States history is quite as iconic as the “long 1960s.” Extending from the mid-1950s into the 1970s, these years saw the rise of the Black Power, Women’s Liberation, and Gay Rights movements in the context of intense anti-Vietnam war activism and a vibrant counterculture. How did these social movements influence psychology, and how did psychology contribute to social change? In this talk, I describe and reflect on a current collaboration with the National Museum of Psychology in Ohio to design an exhibit that weaves together the intense sociopolitical upheaval of this period with developments in psychology. The disciplinary formations of Black psychology, feminist psychology, and lesbian and gay psychology emerged during this time to enrich, challenge, and transform psychological understandings of what it means to be human. In returning to the 1960s, we explore how the psychological and the political intersected, and imagine the role of psychology in the next social revolution.
Robert Beshara
The Invention of the Unconscious in Egypt: A History of Psychoanalysis
My presentation reevaluates the history of psychoanalysis by challenging the Eurocentric narrative that the unconscious was ‘discovered’ in 19th-century Vienna. By integrating Walter Benjamin’s historical materialism with Freudo-Lacanian theory, I posit the unconscious as a nonlocal truth—an interminable haunting that bridges Ancient Egyptian psychospiritual practices with the modern clinic. The theoretical framework utilizes Benjamin’s concepts to dismantle linear historicism, treating Egyptian history instead as an unconscious field of symptoms. This lens transforms key historical moments into a constellation of active symptoms and messianic ruptures against the Egyptian state’s repetition compulsions. I argue that the unconscious was not reinvented by Freud, who utilized Ancient Egyptian structural scaffolding to map the psyche. Furthermore, the paper traces how mid-20th-century Egyptian intellectuals integrated Freudian thought into a pre-existing landscape of Islamic philosophy and Sufi psychology. By framing the unconscious as a pluriversal structure, the paper ultimately seeks an intellectual redemption that rescues the Egyptian unconscious from being a mere mimetic version of its European counterpart.
Dr. Beshara is an artist first and a scholar second, so in a sense, his thinking as a scholar is grounded in being an artist. As such, while his terminal degrees are in film & psychology, he creatively draws from a variety of fields in his scholarship in a transdisciplinary fashion. He has expertise in psychoanalysis, decoloniality, terrorism studies, Islamophobia studies, discourse analysis, and film/media studies. His research praxis is based on a commitment to human scientific approaches, which include radical qualitative research methods, critical theory, and world philosophy & history.
