The Department of Psychology and Sociology held the Lowell Overton 4th Undergraduate Symposium on a warm spring day on April 12, 2013. This year's symposium was organized by Dr. Jack Fong, Dr. Juliana Fuqua, and Dr. Nicholas Von Glahn. We had fifteen oral presentations overall, seven from Psychology and eight from Sociology, with some presentations including more than one speaker. Presenters had the floor for 12 minutes with 3 minutes allocated for questions from the audience. 

There were also excellent poster presentations where a total of 20 students worked on three different posters to present the outcomes of their studies. Poster presenters were all psychology students. Overall, the day was one of knowledge acquisition and knowledge dissemination. There were over 45 audience members as well.

All students, whether oral presenters or poster presenters, were mentored by faculty from our department. This year the participating faculty mentors or attendees were Dr. Nancy Alvarado, Dr. Lori Barker, Dr. Bettina Casad, Dr. Michael Chavez, Dr. Mary Danico, Dr. Erika Dejonghe, Dr. Ann Englert, Dr. Jack Fong, Dr. Juliana Fuqua, Dr. David Horner (our keynote speaker), Dr. Anthony Ocampo, Dr. Felicia Friendly Thomas and Dr. Nicholas Von Glahn. Other important attendees were college administrators from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS), our Dean Dr. Sharon Hilles and our Associate Dean Dr. Laurie Roades. Our gratitude goes out to all aforementioned faculty members.

Our department chair, Dr. Horner, began the symposium by welcoming the attendees as well as introducing our important benefactor, Lowell Overton, President of RealMega.Com and Broker for Coldwell Banker (see the "Launch of Symposium" and "Spotlight on Lowell Overton" pages). As a former graduate of Cal-Poly Pomona, Mr. Overton recounted his development at our university as well as his ability to harness the behavioral sciences to become a highly significant figure in the real estate industry. Mr. Overton's talk inspired our audience and the symposium presenters about the possibilities of empowerment through the social sciences. Certificates were then presented to our student participants, with the ceremony's conclusion signalling the beginning of the symposium in earnest. Mr. Overton's generosity in supporting our symposium was further enhanced by his attendance at our presenters' talks and poster presentations in their entirety. We are very grateful that Mr. Overton has taken time from his busy schedule to attend our event as well as serve as a continuing benefactor for future symposia organized by our department.

A very special thank you goes to our department staff Leticia Keenan, Diane Slusser, and Jenny Huyler. Their efforts have been invaluable in making this year's symposium flow smoothly. Additionally, we are very grateful for the Sociology honorary society, Alpha Kappa Delta (AKD) for providing additional items such as a variety of deserts and beverages. Most importantly, we are indebted to our excellent students listed on the right sidebar. Their intellect, professionalism, and curiosity are what propel and nourish events such as our symposium. We are thoroughly impressed by their efforts and commitment to knowledge production and dissemination.

In the following pages, speech presenters' photographs will be displayed along with the titles of their talks. Photographs of our luncheon area where poster presenters were stationed are also included.