2024 Northern Lights Psychology Conference

The 2024 Northern Lights Conference will be held on Friday, October 11^th, 2024.

9 a.m. - 5 p.m. |  UND Memorial Union (Henry Family Ballroom - Rm. 220)

The conference is open to community members, faculty, and students. Attendees can enroll during the morning of the conference.

The conference is being sponsored by UND’s department of Psychology and will be free to all.

About Keynote Speaker

Dr. Barry Rosenfeld

Barry Rosenfeld is a Professor of Psychology (currently Department Chair) and Adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham University. Dr. Rosenfeld has published more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, books and invited publications. His research encompasses a wide range of topics related to forensic and health psychology, including malingering, stalking and violence risk assessment, as well as treatment decision-making, desire for hastened death and refugee mental health. He has been Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator of more than 20 grants, totaling more than $15,000,000, and has served as a research consultant for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Physicians for Human Rights, the Bellevue Hospital Program for Survivors of Torture, the U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom, and the Law School Admission Council. Dr. Rosenfeld is board certified in forensic psychology and maintains an active forensic/clinical practice, consulting on a wide range of legal matters. His practice involves evaluating individuals charged with a criminal offense or involved in civil litigation, but he has been frequently retained to consult on international matters. He has evaluated individuals detained in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the Guantanamo Bay military prison, consulted to the U.N. War Tribunal regarding the prosecution of a Serbian war criminal, and evaluated litigants in a class action lawsuit against the government of India.

Keynote Address: Forensic Psychological Assessment in Civil Law: Where Refugee Mental Health meets Personal Injury Law

Forensic Psychology is usually associated with high profile criminal cases, but the same issues are equally applicable to the civil law. In fact, many civil cases draw as much, if not more attention than criminal cases (e.g., the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial, or E. Jean Carroll v. Donald Trump). This presentation will focus on a large, ongoing civil forensic case involving refugees from a civil war in Africa who are suing a major international bank. The case will serve as a vehicle to discuss issues related to forensic assessment broadly, including the standards for admissibility of expert testimony, as well as how cultural and linguistic diversity complicates psychological assessments. 

Tentative Conference Schedule 

Friday, October 11^th, 2024