April 1, 2026           

STP President, Drew Christopher, asked Garth Neufeld, Director of the Annual Conference on the Teaching of Psychology, to submit a guest column for April’s Letter from the President.

Guest Column: ACT 2026 – Changes, Highlights, and Submissions

by Garth Neufeld, ACT Director

The Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT) will be held in St. Louis, October 15–17, 2026. We are expecting more than 300 attendees to come together and experience this thriving and supportive community of psychology teachers.

There are some fun changes coming this year that you will want to know about. And, while ACT does not typically have an official conference theme, one does seem to be floating around STP, and we plan to lean on it. Our last two presidents, Stephanie Afful and Drew Christopher, have both emphasized the importance of self-care in their presidential task forces, and you will see that content woven through this year’s program.

Logo

This year we launched STP’s Virtual Conference on Teaching (VCT). As part of the official distinction between the virtual conference and the in-person Annual Conference on Teaching, we created brand new logos for both events. Who knows where you might see them — on a T-shirt, on a mug, or maybe even tattooed on a colleague! (fingers crossed)

Mission

ACT is a place of belonging where psych teachers nurture one another toward personal and professional success. It is a different kind of academic conference: professional, supportive, and inspirational. If you have attended ACT before, you know what it feels like to find your people. We are making every effort to ensure that both new and returning attendees feel welcome and connected. Be on the lookout (new this year!) for our “first-time-attendee” online gatherings ahead of the conference.

Highlights

This year we are excited to welcome two outstanding keynote speakers:

Jane Halonen has served the teaching of psychology community for decades and continues to lead at the highest level. As she inches toward retirement, I look forward to hearing reflections and wisdom from someone who has shaped our field in so many ways.

Our second keynote speaker, Christina Maslach, is a research powerhouse in the area of burnout. Her work has been guiding our understanding of burnout for decades, and it feels especially relevant right now. It also aligns with conversations many of us are having in STP about self-care.

Submissions

The ACT submission portal is now open (through May 1), and there are several updates this year.

• Concurrent Presentations: All concurrent conference sessions will now be 30 minutes in length. (Formerly 25- or 45-minute options.)
• Workshops: We will now have two workshop blocks (75 minutes), one on each day of the conference, so that attendees will have more dedicated time to focus on practical teaching strategies.
• Demos: We are also moving teaching demonstrations out of the lunch hour and into the regular concurrent session blocks so that demos can be done in smaller settings.
• GEM Talks! On Saturday at lunch, we are introducing a new program called GEM Talks: Great Educational Moments. Think TED Talks, but focused on teaching. These will be 10-minute presentations designed to encourage and inspire colleagues. For the first time, this category will include a two-minute video submission.

Please visit the conference submission page for more details.

Registration

As the spring semester winds down, this is a great time to secure your early-bird registration now so you do not have to think about it over the summer. It takes about two minutes to register.

We look forward to seeing you in St. Louis!

Garth Neufeld

Director, Annual Conference on Teaching (ACT) 

 

Read past letters from the STP President