Mary Whiton Calkins Research Paper
Running Head: MODERN PSYCHOLOGY
A History of Modern Psychology
University of Phoenix
Aisha Cleveland
In the early twenty-first century minorities, women particularly, did not have much of a blessing to be in the workplace and more specifically the field of psychology. Mary Whiton Calkins was one of these women who worked almost selflessly to achieve a high educational standard that seemed to be unreachable. In a world dominated by the male gender, Calkins found herself fighting for recognition, never to obtain it from Harvard University. She first attended Harvard as an “unofficial guest” (Goodwin, 2008) according to Harvard officials but was later enrolled in Harvard in the fall of 1890 studying philosophy and physiological psychology …show more content…
Because her parents were advocates for the multilingual, they made sure their child Mary could speak German, French, and English fluently. As a matter of fact when she went to Europe after she graduated in 1885 she also added Greek to her dialogue (Goodwin 2008). This served as a blessing to Calkins because she was able to study with a German man named Hugo Munsterberg who did not speak English very well but was able to work well with Calkins because she spoke fluent German. Munsterberg was head of the Harvard Lab where Calkins studied with him for two years of her training. At the same time she was a teacher at Wellesley teaching Greek but she wanted to go beyond that and teach Philosophy so this training was a great opportunity for her to spread her wings and follow up on the opportunity she was given to develop a course in laboratory psychology. In doing so she would ultimately need time off to continue her studies in order to learn more about her field of choice; hence, starting her tumultuous venter for a graduate education in …show more content…
In 1906 she gave a presidential speech called, A reconciliation between Structural and Functional Psychology. According to Goodwin (2008) in this speech she made the point that “both of these views could be accommodated within a system that recognized the self as the fundamental starting point.” Along with psychology Calkins also had a love for philosophy and this love brought about her most important work, The Persistent Problems of Philosophy (Goodwin 2008). In 1918 she made another “first” in female history becoming the first female president of the American Philosophical Association. In conclusion, Mary Whiton Calkins lived a full life doing exactly what she loved to do and even though she never received her Ph.D. from Harvard University she accomplished much in a world dominated by men. For most of her life she taught at Wellesley College and she was a major contributor to psychological advancement at that institution (Zedler, 1995). Calkins retired from Wellesley in 1929 and died of cancer one year later (Goodwin
A History of Modern Psychology
University of Phoenix
Aisha Cleveland
In the early twenty-first century minorities, women particularly, did not have much of a blessing to be in the workplace and more specifically the field of psychology. Mary Whiton Calkins was one of these women who worked almost selflessly to achieve a high educational standard that seemed to be unreachable. In a world dominated by the male gender, Calkins found herself fighting for recognition, never to obtain it from Harvard University. She first attended Harvard as an “unofficial guest” (Goodwin, 2008) according to Harvard officials but was later enrolled in Harvard in the fall of 1890 studying philosophy and physiological psychology …show more content…
Because her parents were advocates for the multilingual, they made sure their child Mary could speak German, French, and English fluently. As a matter of fact when she went to Europe after she graduated in 1885 she also added Greek to her dialogue (Goodwin 2008). This served as a blessing to Calkins because she was able to study with a German man named Hugo Munsterberg who did not speak English very well but was able to work well with Calkins because she spoke fluent German. Munsterberg was head of the Harvard Lab where Calkins studied with him for two years of her training. At the same time she was a teacher at Wellesley teaching Greek but she wanted to go beyond that and teach Philosophy so this training was a great opportunity for her to spread her wings and follow up on the opportunity she was given to develop a course in laboratory psychology. In doing so she would ultimately need time off to continue her studies in order to learn more about her field of choice; hence, starting her tumultuous venter for a graduate education in …show more content…
In 1906 she gave a presidential speech called, A reconciliation between Structural and Functional Psychology. According to Goodwin (2008) in this speech she made the point that “both of these views could be accommodated within a system that recognized the self as the fundamental starting point.” Along with psychology Calkins also had a love for philosophy and this love brought about her most important work, The Persistent Problems of Philosophy (Goodwin 2008). In 1918 she made another “first” in female history becoming the first female president of the American Philosophical Association. In conclusion, Mary Whiton Calkins lived a full life doing exactly what she loved to do and even though she never received her Ph.D. from Harvard University she accomplished much in a world dominated by men. For most of her life she taught at Wellesley College and she was a major contributor to psychological advancement at that institution (Zedler, 1995). Calkins retired from Wellesley in 1929 and died of cancer one year later (Goodwin