Keynote Speakers
Dr. Brien K. Ashdown
Dr. Brien K. Ashdown received his doctorate degree in cultural and developmental psychology from Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. His first faculty position was at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, USA from 2009-2011. He has worked as an assistant professor and then tenured associate professor of psychological science at Hobart & William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, USA from 2011 to 2021, and is currently an associate professor of psychology at American University of Sharjah (AUS). His research centers on the way that cultural variables (such as gender, religion, social identity, etc.) influence the social development of adolescents and emerging adults. His work has resulted in more than 40 publications as well as dozens of conference talks and posters. He also serves as the associate editor for international and global manuscripts for the journal Community Development, and on the editorial boards of the Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology and International Perspectives in Psychology. Currently he is serving as the president of the Society for Cross-Cultural Research and the International Association of Interpersonal Acceptance-Rejection, and as the Executive Director of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology.
Prof. Abdul Manan Barr
Dr. Abdul Manan Mulla Mamoor Yousef Barr, Professor of Psychology at Umm Al Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia, received his PhD from University of Wisconsin, USA. He has served as Head, Department of Psychology and Dean of the College of Community Service and Continuing Education at Umm Al Qura University. He has also worked as the Director General of Counselling and Guidance Department at the Ministry of Education (MoE), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Prof. Barr has written and published several books and more than 28 research papers in the national and international scientific journals of good repute. He is a prominent figure in the field of Positive Psychology in the region.
