2026 Pre-conferences

Chairs: Katie Greenaway, University of Melbourne; Razia Sahi, Princeton University; Emily Willroth, Washington University in St. Louis

The Emotion Regulation Preconference features emotion regulation research from various disciplinary perspectives. This year’s program will feature invited speakers on topics related to social and group-related processes in emotion regulation, and panel discussions on advances in emotion regulation science. Our goal is to build connections among those interested in emotion regulation regardless of level (spanning faculty, post-docs, and students) and share ideas about new directions in emotion regulation research.

Chairs: Jeffrey Girard, University of Kansas & Jonathan Gratch, University of Southern California

Join us for a preconference on Affective Computing that brings together researchers at the intersection of affective science and computer science. Building on our prior preconferences at SAS (2017) and ISRE (2019, 2022, 2024), this event will spotlight cutting-edge work using computational methods—such as machine learning, signal processing, natural language processing, computer vision, and multimodal modeling—to study affective phenomena in humans. The program features two invited keynote talks, submitted posters and flash talks, and networking opportunities to spark collaboration across disciplines. We welcome submissions that advance theory, methods, datasets, tools, and applications in this rapidly evolving area. Come share your latest findings, connect with new collaborators, and help shape the future of affective computing.

Accepting poster and flash talk submissions

Chairs: Erik Nook, Princeton University & Michele Morningstar, Queen’s University

Developmental perspectives on affective science offer a unique opportunity to understand the ontogeny of emotional processes and their underlying mechanisms. This preconference will curate some of the field’s most exciting research examining maturational change in affective processes from early life into adolescence. The half-day program will include invited framing talks from senior researchers in the field, a trainee and early career flash talk session, and an open discussion amongst attendees about pressing questions facing the field–with an eye towards spurring new collaborations and potential publications. Finally, one submitted abstract will be selected for the Developmental Affective Science Presentation Award and the awardee will receive free registration to the preconference.

Accepting flash talk submissions

Chairs: Kunalan Manokara, Duke University & Maria Monroy, Yale University

This half-day pre-conference aims to showcase recent advances in the field of positive emotions, and provide a platform to discuss the future of this burgeoning research area. The program will feature invited talks from established scholars of varied traditions (i.e., individual well-being, group processes), in addition to a fireside chat with these researchers that is meant to foster networking and mentorship. This pre-conference will also spotlight a series of flash talks and posters from early career affective scientists, to highlight the role of positive emotions across a range of contexts (i.e., organizational, educational, clinical). Attendees can submit abstracts to present their work, with the chance to win a Best Presentation Award. Come join us to exchange ideas with positive emotion researchers from all career stages!

Accepting poster and flash talk submissions

Chairs: Lisa Starr, University of Rochester & Vera Vine, Queen’s University

Clinical affective science sits at the intersection of affective and clinical science, bridging basic and applied approaches to the study of emotion. Clinical affective scientists use emotion research to deepen our understanding of psychopathology and its treatment, while also leveraging clinical phenomena to shed light on normative emotional processes. If this describes your work or interests, we invite you to join us for the 2nd SAS Preconference on Clinical Affective Science. Featuring invited talks, submitted flash talks, and posters, this event will bring together scholars at all career stages to share exciting new research and explore the goals and boundaries of this rapidly growing subfield.

Accepting poster and flash talk submissions