‘If one doesn’t exist, start one’

The University of Lincoln Psychology Society aims to bring students together through a range of activities and events. As a society, we aim to support our members academically and socially, as well as be in solidarity in addressing social issues. This year we were lucky to win academic Society of the Week three times this year against 41 other academic societies.

Dementia friends

The first time we won Society of the Week was for hosting two Dementia Friends workshops.

The Alzheimer's Society's Dementia Friends programme is an initiative to transform how people think, act, and talk about dementia. We utilised both online and in-person sessions to promote the accessibility of the workshops and to increase the number of people who could sign up as Dementia Friends. The session was kindly hosted by Rachael Fothergill, who is a University of Lincoln psychology alumni student and Alzheimer's Society volunteer.

The Dementia Friends programme provides information about the small ways people can help, from telling friends about the programme to visiting someone you know living with dementia – acts that can have profound personal and cultural impacts. 

Funds for a Dementia café

Our second academic Society of the Week award was related to a separate initiative as part of the Alzheimer Society event. In this second initiative, members of the Psychology Society were invited by Rachael Fothergill to be models in a charity fashion show to raise funds for the Alzheimer's Society and a local independent Dementia café known as the Forget-Me-Not Café. This event was so much fun, with many clothes being bought for a worthy cause.

Carnival time!

Our third award winning event was for hosting a carnival. This involved a bake sale, raffle, and games being held in and around the Sarah Swift building—the home of the School of Psychology at the University of Lincoln—throughout the day.

One of the most popular attractions at the carnival allowed students to purchase, for a small fee, a wet sponge to throw at lecturers (although it seemed that the lectures enjoyed throwing sponges at each other more than the students did!).

The carnival concluded in the evening with a mentalism act performed by our lecturer Dr Ross Bartels and a quiz hosted by Dr Patrick Hylton. This wonderful community event raised £120 for the society, which was used to fund our end-of-year ball.

Academic talks

As a society, we also try to support our members academically by organising academic talks from our School of Psychology lecturers. 

Our first talk of the year, "Play to your strengths" by Dr Roger Bretherton, focused on sharing practical insights from the science of Positive Psychology on how we can manage and find strength when faced with stressful challenges. In this session we were informed on how to find our unique character strength profiles and how these can benefit our mood state, our overall psychological well-being, and our social networks. 

Further academic talks included an insightful and passionate talk on body image and eating disorders by Dr Kamila Irvine, and an informative talk on emotional regulation in children and adolescents by Dr Lynn Pickerell. Dr Ross Bartels also performed another act called "Paranormality" which involved reading the minds of our society members. This event was one of the society's most popular events and was enjoyed by everyone. 

Movie nights

The psychology society has also hosted two developmental psychology movie nights. 

The first film was "Three Identical Strangers" which is a documentary focusing on the lives of a set of identical triplet brothers adopted as infants by separate families. The film shows how the brothers discovered each other at 19 years old and follows their lives until the discovery that their adoption had been part of an undisclosed scientific "nature versus nurture" study of the development of genetically identical siblings raised in differing socioeconomic circumstances. 

The second film was" Little Miss Sunshine" which shows a dysfunctional family taking their young daughter across the country in a VW bus to compete in a beauty pageant. 

After each movie night, members were encouraged to have psychology-based discussions about the films which inspired several interesting debates. Next year we are planning to have these movie nights fortnightly, starting with Disney's "Inside Out".

Social activities

Our society also strives to provide opportunities for social support and activities, and this year, there were two events that stood out. 

The first was a flower power night, where all the members went out dressed in summer clothes and flower garlands. 

The second event was a white T-shirt social arranged by the business society. This is a yearly social event that involved 12 other societies and provided a fantastic opportunity for our members to meet and make friends with students on other courses at the university.

Psychology ball

The biggest event for the Psychology Society is the annual Psychology Ball at Lincoln County Assembly rooms, which is an opportunity to celebrate the end of the academic year. 

This year's ball was a very elegant evening, set up with beautiful flower table arrangements and fairy lights all around, with all members suited and booted in bow ties and ballgowns.  On each of the tables we put icebreakers and a quiz to facilitate social interaction and conversation so that everyone could get to know each other. 

The evening included a lovely buffet (including very cute cupcakes which were greatly appreciated by all) and ended up with everyone on the dance floor.

Championing social causes

As a society, we are proud to champion certain social causes. In the last year, we championed Dementia, and we also championed the idea that women should be able to move throughout public spaces without being fearful or having to develop a 'healthy cultural paranoia'.  

On Thursday 24 November 2022, the Psychology Society took part in the Reclaim the Night March run by the University of Lincoln Students' Union. Raising awareness about sexual violence and harassment is a very important issue for us as a society. We were particularly proud to have been chosen to lead the march and holding the banner that campaigns for the rights that all should feel free and safe in shared spaces.

The role of societies

Being part of a society is such an important part of the university experience and should be recommended to all students starting university in September. 

Societies can increase a sense of community and belonging, contribute to good causes by fund-raising, raise awareness of important social issues, and assist students academically in their studies beyond the formal curriculum. The society can create a bond between students and lecturers, students and university, and students and the broader community. Most importantly, it gives students a chance to let their hair down at social gatherings and make new friends, which can often become life-long acquaintances. 

If you are a student at a university, we strongly encourage you to join your psychology society. If one doesn't exist, start one – after all, that's what we did and it's been great fun.

Membership to University of Lincoln Psychology Society can be purchased on the student's union website from 1 July. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us through our social media:

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Email: [email protected]

We would love you to join us next year for another fun year of events. Thank you!