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History and Systems of Psychology and Integration

This course provides an opportunity to study the historical development of psychology as in its proper and broadest context: as an exemplar of human thought which connects to virtually all other ways and content areas of human knowing. To properly understand psychology as a field-and clinical psychology as an applied sub-discipline-the scholar must understand what it means for the discipline to call itself a science. The nature and meaning of science has a rich history, and recently philosophers of science have begun to redefine what science is and how it should work. The initial weeks of this course will focus on our understandings of science and in what ways psychology meets (or fails to meet) our expectations of a science.

Such a philosophy of science approach will show that particular approaches to psychology are in part expressions or extensions of certain background beliefs that form the context of all human knowing, beliefs which are ours by virtue of our participation in particular human communities. As members of the community of scholars and practitioners in psychology, we will explore the history and dominant approaches that have influenced our field. Although there is not a single, definitive history of psychology, in the second part of this course we will survey the major movements, events, and players in the historical development of modern scientific psychology in Europe and America. In addition, we will pay special attention to the role religious faith has played in the history of psychology.

Last, as members of the Christian community, we will explore together the implications of our Christian commitments and understandings for our study of the field of psychology. For the sake of the integrity in our intellectual pursuits, the integration of Christian faith with the study of the discipline of psychology will be a major focus throughout the course. The activity of relating faith to scholarship is the general purpose for the existence of this graduate program and the Graduate School. We hope in this course to facilitate your effective and responsible involvement in the integration task. There are no definitive, sure-fire ways to do integration; thus the course will be a time for us to explore together what this ambiguous task of integration really is.

Class Sessions:

Each class session will primarily focus on discussing the readings assigned for that week. Run in a seminar format, each of us is responsible for adding to the quality of our discussions, although I will try to guide their structure and content. Each week you will be given a series of discussion question to help focus your reading; these questions will be the primary source of our class discussions. Because of the length of our class sessions, each will contain several breaks; I'll try not to go move than 90 minutes with our giving ourselves a chance to stretch our legs and brains.

Required Texts:

Below are listed the books required for this course. Half of the books for this semester will be new to the course (i.e., the titles by Cushman, Placher, and Toulmin, and a new edition of Fancher's book); the remaining two been used in the course over the last three years. If purchasing all six books seems daunting to you, I would encourage you to find someone who has taken the course in the past willing to loan you a copy of either Evans (1989) or Gay (1989).

Cushman, P. (1995). Constructing the self, constructing America: A cultural history of psychotherapy. New York: Addison-Wesley.

Evans, C. S. (1989). Wisdom and humanness in psychology. Grand Rapids: Baker.

Fancher, R. E. (1996). Pioneers of psychology (2^nd ed.). New York: Norton.

Gay, P. (Ed.) (1989). The Freud reader. New York: Norton.

Placher, W. C. (1989). Unapologetic theology. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox.

Toulmin, S. (1990). Cosmopolis: The hidden agenda of modernity. New York: Free Press.

As supplements to these books, there will be two volumes of photocopied readings you will need to purchase. We will use Volume 1 during the first five weeks of class and Volume 2 throughout the remainder of the semester. Please note that Volume 2 will not be available until sometime in the middle of September. I will try to have copies of just about everything-books and articles-accessible in the new Psy.D. reading room.

Course Examinations and Grading:

There will be three major graded assignments in PSYC 711. The first will be a 2500 word, APA style essay covering the first five weeks of material in the course. The topic will be a comparison of science, religion, and psychology, including their purposes, methods, and subject matter. This paper will be worth 30% of your grade and will be due Monday, October 14.

The second assignment will be a take-home exam on the Historical and Theoretical Perspectives section of the course. It will have two parts, short answer and essay, and will be due Monday, November 18. At the beginning of Part II of the course, you will receive a handout of sample questions from previous exams as study aids.

The third major grade in this course will be based upon a 2500 word, APA style review essay of Philip Cushman's Constructing the Self, Constructing America (1995) in which you articulate the ways in which your vision of an integrated psychology 1) compares to the historical American cultural selves described by Cushman, and 2) offers possible alternatives to traditional psychotherapies. It will be due Wednesday, December 18.

Final grades in PSYC 711 will be determined by the median letter-grade of the three assignments described above. All assignments will be grade according to the Graduate School's grading scale (see 1996-1997 InForm).

Course Calendar

Reading Packet for PSYC 711 (Vol. 1)

Fall 1996

Table of Contents

PSYC 711 Syllabus

Guide to the Freeway System of the History of Psychology (1989, Unpublished drawing by David Devonis, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire)

Week 1

Jones, S. L. (1994). A constructive relationship for religion with the science and profession of psychology: Perhaps the boldest model yet. American Psychologist, 49, 184-199.

Hoshmand, L. T. (1995). Psychology's ethics of belief. American Psychologist, 50, 540-541.

Cox, B. L. (1995). Belief versus faith. American Psychologist, 50, 541.

Aguinis, H., & Aguinis, M. (1995). Integrating psychological science and religion. American Psychologist, 50, 541-542.

Ward, L. C. (1995). Religion and science are mutually exclusive. American Psychologist, 50, 542-543.

Weiss, A. S. (1995). Can religion be used as a science in psychotherapy? American Psychologist, 50, 543-544.

Jones, S. L. (1995). Psychology and religion. American Psychologist, 50, 545.

Week 2

Noll, M. A. (1990). Traditional Christianity and the possibility of historical knowledge. Christian Scholar's Review, 20, 388-406.

Week 4

Kuhn, T. S. (1991). The natural and the human sciences. In D. R. Hilley, J. F. Bohman, & R. Shusterman (Ed.), The interpretive turn: Philosophy, science, culture (pp. 17-24). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Gadamer, H.-G. (1995). Truth in the human sciences. In B. Wachterhauser (Trans. & Ed.), Hermeneutics and truth (pp. 25-32). Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.

Roberts, R. C. (1993). Parameters of a Christian psychology. Unpublished manuscript, Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL.

Week 5

Johnson, E. L. (1993). The place for the Bible within psychological science. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 20, 346-355.

O'Donahue, W. (1989). The (even) bolder model: The clinical psychologist as metaphysician-scientist-practitioner. American Psychologist, 44, 1460-1468.

© 1996 Trey M. Buchanan, used with permission

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