The Art & Science of Psychology: An Evening with GVSU Psychology
Friday, September 25, 2026
6:00
p.m.
- 9:00
p.m.
Robert C. Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Alumni,
Community,
Faculty,
Staff,
Students
This free, casual event brings together GVSU Psychology alumni and members of the surrounding community to explore how psychology shapes our experiences of art and meaning. Watch Leon Lou create live portraits, step up to sit for one, and enjoy short talks, student and faculty research posters, refreshments, and conversation. Come reconnect with GVSU Psychology or discover it for the first time. Interested in learning more? Additional details are provided below or view our flyer (PDF).
Registration is required. Please complete the registration form.
Evening Itinerary:
6pm Reception — refreshments and conversation with faculty, students, alumni, and guests. Posters and live portraits begin.
7pm Three short talks in the Loosemore — fifteen minutes each, with questions.
8pm Posters, portraits, conversation — coffee and cookies, time to explore the research, and live portraits taking shape.
Talks:
- Your Brain on Movies by Christopher Kurby
- How does our brain process and understand movies? This talk explore show movies grab your attention, affect your thinking, create shared experiences with others, form new memories, and reveal how we organize and make sense of experience.
- Why Good Design Feels Right by Jennifer Gross
- Why do some objects and spaces feel right while others feel awkward?Using examples from architecture, typography, products, and interfaces ,this talk explores how perception, attention, memory, and the ease with which we process information shape what feels like good design.
- Living with Robots by Brian Bowdle
- Long imagined by science fiction, AI companions are now becoming a reality. This talk explores how sociable robots could change the human condition – and how we might manage these new relationships with foresight and wisdom.
Live Portraits:
Watch Leon Lou create live portraits, or sit for your own. Each free pencil-and-watercolor portrait on paper takes about 15 minutes. Portraits are first come, first served, and yours to keep. Leon taught psychology at GVSU for 24 years, where his scientific research examined how artists see. He later became a full-time painter. His work is held by the GVSU Art Museum, and he has created more than 800 ArtPrize portraits. Learn more about Leon.
Research Posters (Faculty and Student Work):
- Making Intergenerational Connections Through Co-mentoring by Jing Chen and SAGE students
- The Unexpected Ways People Find Social Connection by Kristy Dean
- A CURE for Equitable Access to Mentored Research in Neuroscience by Elizabeth Flandreau
- Unpacking White Fragility: Moderating Effects of System-Justifying Beliefs by Ashley M. Bennett, Jendayi B. Dillard-Cooke, Renae Steers, Allison Zengilowski, and Germine H. Awad
- Reading Aloud in Your Head: Making Prosody Visible by Jennifer Gross and Heather Hill
- Do Men Show Off More Than Women in Rock Climbing? by Jacob Maring and Robert Deaner
- Helping K-12 Students Thrive: Inside GVSU's School Psychology Graduate Program by Kristen Schrauben, Ashley Koveleski, and Jamie Owen-DeSchryver
- A Little Help From Your Friends: Bereavement, Peer Support, and Belongingness Among College Students by Jacob Sawyer, Walker Ratajczak, Rachel Kamps, and Iris Newton
- Language Experience and Musical Pitch Perception: Longitudinal Evidence from Mandarin Immersion Education by Ying Wang, Tessa Jordan, and Benjamin Swets
- Are We Aware of Changes to Ourselves? by Michael Wolfe and Todd Williams
Location Information
Hager-Lubbers Exhibition Hall & Loosemore Auditorium, DeVos Center
401 W Fulton St, Grand Rapids, MI
Contact Information
For questions, contact the GVSU Psychology Department at (616)331-2195 or email us at [email protected].
Tags
psychology research art science
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This event was added on Tuesday, September 1, 2026 at 3:31 p.m.