Memphis 3-D Leaves CPN ‘All Shook Up’

By Richard ‘Buddy’ Saunders Vol. 8, Issue 2 (Fall 2004) Memphis sits in the southwest corner of Tennessee, overlooking the Mississippi river.  It has all the charm of a quaint, slow-paced, southern city.  However, Memphis is also a city infused with energy. Memphis is the home of the blues and the birthplace of rock and roll.   Downtown is in the process of being completely rebuilt from the Pyramid to the famous Beale Street.  This is the vibrant city where Danny Thomas chose to build his children's research hospital.   It is also the hometown of Federal Express, the sponsor of the beautiful new Fedex Institute of Technology, which was the venue for the NAPCN, ahem, make that the newly renamed Constructivist Psychology Network conference. President Jon Raskin, steering and conference committee members Sara Bridges, Bob Neimeyer, Ken Sewell, Stephanie Harter, Jay Efran, and April Metzler unveiled the new name of the organization during the Welcome Reception.  They cleverly distributed mouse pads with the new logo and website address. During this celebration, Ken Sewell had the pleasure of introducing his mentor, Rue Cromwell, as the recipient of the CPN Life Achievement Award.  Rue, a former Kelly student, earned his Distinguished Professorship at The University of Kansas by making major research contributions in the fields of PCP, Mental Retardation, Myocardial Infarction, Schizophrenia, and the conceptualization of Trauma. Rue regaled all with anecdotes of his days as a Kelly student at Ohio State University.   For one, Kelly, a teetotaler, would bring a case of beer to entice a group of students (Rue among them) to listen and give feedback as he read early drafts of his manuscript of The Psychology of Personal Constructs.   Rue received a big laugh when he noted that the pressures of such impromptu talks gave him a true appreciation of posthumous awards. Participants came from all corners of North America, Italy, Spain, Germany, Ireland, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand to engage in a keen intellectual and experiential exchange (exemplified by Bob and Kathy Neimeyer's conference opening house party and Franz Epting's Philo Café).  As is traditional at PCP banquets, the previous convenor, Marla Arvay, thanked Sara Bridges and Bob Neimeyer for putting on a wonderfully "seamless conference."  Special thanks also go out to Caroline Stanley for creating a photographic diary of the conference. The banquet was held at the Stax Museum, which was the perfect venue to imbibe the unique flavor of Memphis.  Like any other southern city, Memphis had a long history of racial unrest.  However, in the early 1960's, the young musicians at Stax recording studios, intent on their gritty, raw soul music, bridged the gap by simply ignoring color lines (at least until the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. at the nearby Lorraine Motel). It was in this spirit of bridging the gaps that separate us (in parlance, the loosening and tightening of constructs) that Constructivism 3D, Diversity, Development, and Dialogue was such a huge success.