Our Winter 2025 issue of The Forward has a focus on community. As we move forward into a new year, we have glimpsed an unpredictable and concerning future. The Trump Administration has put forth a dizzying number of executive actions designed to overwhelm and demoralize vulnerable people and their allies. But we persist. As you browse this issue of The Forward, I hope you are ignited by the policy, classroom, and everyday work and action our SPSSI membership undertakes. 

In this issue, we hear from our SPSSI leadership as well as our recent teaching award winners. SPSSI President Heather Bullock highlights the significance of our New Year’s resolutions in supporting our social justice values and goals and calls on our membership to come together and build community. SPSSI’s Policy and Communications Director Sam Abbot urges our social science community to prepare for increased scrutiny while also emphasizing advocacy and collaboration to combat mistrust in science. 

SPSSI’s Graduate Student Committee Chair, Leslie Vernon-Dunnigan, and Co-Chair, Riley Henry, discuss their recent committee work on policy and their preconference, “Study (In)Action: Psychology’s Duty to Public Policy.” Harold Takooshian shares the recent events of SPSSI New York, including forums on international social psychology and psychology and the law.

Our recent teaching award winners have also shared valuable ideas and insights about fostering community:

• Outstanding Teaching & Mentoring?Award winner Urmitapa Dutta, “Unsettling Silences: Education in Times of Repression” 

• Action Teaching Award winner Sarah Grace “Bridging Innovation and Equity: Transformative Education through Social Justice and Technology” 

• Action Teaching Grant winner Andrea Kunze, “Empowering Future Innovators: Why Arts and Science Belong Together”

• Two-Year College Teaching & Mentoring Award winner Cari Stevenson, “Bridging Communities: A Collaborative Program in Community College”

• SPSSI Development Teaching Grant winner Zane Zheng, “The Power of Diversity in Research: Building Bridges, Broadening Perspectives”

• Teaching Resource Award winner Katherine Moore, “Fostering Cultural Self-Awareness and Building Community Using Identity Boxes”

As we navigate the challenges and uncertainties of 2025, the collective resolve and dedication of our SPSSI community offers a beacon of hope. I look forward to seeing you in Denver at our annual SPSSI conference: “Research as Seed, Teaching as Root, Action as Bloom: Foundations for a Just Future” (remember to submit you abstracts by February 8).

In unity,

Kala J. Melchiori