THEORY AND HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY
Theory and history of psychology is unusual in that, instead of using psychology as a tool with which to understand the world, it takes psychology as its object of interest. This might involve an examination of the theoretical foundations of the discipline and the competing claims of alternatives like social constructionism, discursive psychology and liberation psychology. It may also involve an examination of the social role that psychology has played and continues to play. A good knowledge of the history of psychology is indispensable in these tasks.
Staff with a primary interest in the area:
Ciarán Benson, PhD (UCD). Research interests: philosophical psychology; cultural psychology of self and identity; psychology and philosophy of the visual arts.
Adrian C. Brock, PhD (York, Canada). Research interests: international psychology, history of psychological concepts and practices, the work of Kurt Danziger.
Geraldine Moane, PhD (California). Research interests: liberation and post-colonial Psychology, feminist psychology; lesbian and gay psychology.
Courses taught:
- Advanced History and Theory of Psychology (Brock)- Critical Psychology (Moane)
- History and Theory of Psychology (Brock)
- Liberation Psychology and Social Change (Moane)
- On the Origins of Self-Awareness (Benson)
- Psychology and the Visual Arts (Benson)
Post-graduate students:
Tina Carroll. PhD thesis: Working through Arts in anti-racist education (supervisor: Moane)Jennifer Evans, PhD thesis: Motivation and self (supervisor: Benson)
Richard Forde. MLitt thesis: Metaphors of sadness (supervisor: Benson)
Martin Humphreys. MPsychSc thesis: The foundation of academic psychology in the Republic of Ireland (supervisor: Guerin)
Aisling Lennon. MLitt thesis: Transformations of self in selected cases of acquired brain injury (supervisor: Benson)
Ciarán McMahon. PhD thesis: History of the modern psychological concept of attention (supervisor: Brock)
Finn MacManus, MLitt thesis: Religious and spiritual practice, well-being and political engagement among lesbians and gay men in Ireland (supervisor: Moane)
Kieran McNally. PhD thesis: History of schizophrenia (supervisor: Brock)
Graham Quinn. MLitt thesis: History of non-directive counselling (supervisor: Brock)
Brendan Rooney, PhD thesis: Issues of Absorption in cinema (supervisor: Benson)
Sean Ruth, PhD thesis: Leadership for liberation: the attack-react dynamic (supervisor: Moane)
Sample publications:
Benson, C. "The Unthinkable Boundaries of Self: The Role of Negative Emotional Boundaries in the Formation, Maintenance and Transformation of Identities", in R. Harré and F. Moghaddam (eds. ) The Self and Others: Positioning Individuals and Groups in Personal, Political and Cultural Contexts, (Westport CT, Praeger, 2003), Chapter 5, pp. 61-84.
Benson, C. (1993). The absorbed self: Pragmatism, psychology and aesthetic experience. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Benson, C. (2001). The cultural psychology of self: Place, morality and art in human worlds. London: Routledge.
Benson, C. (2001). Points of view and the visual arts: James Turrell, Antonio Damasio and the no-point-of-view phenomenon. In J.R.Morss, N. Stephenson and H.Van Rappard (Eds.), Theoretical issues in psychology (pp.119-129). Boston/Dordrecht/London, Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Benson, C. (2003). Speculations on the 'unthinkable' boundaries of identity and on their emotional dynamics. In N. Stephenson, H.L. Radtke, R. J. Jorna and H.J. Stam (Eds.), Theoretical psychology: Critical contributions (pp. 144-153. Concord Ontario: Captus Press.
Brock, A. C., Louw, J. & van Hoorn, W. (Eds.) (2004). Rediscovering the history of psychology: Essays inspired by Kurt Danziger. New York: Kluwer (now owned by Springer). [Includes an introduction by ACB.]
Brock, A. C. (2006). Rediscovering the history of psychology: Kurt Danziger interviewed by Adrian C. Brock. History of Psychology, 9 (1), 1-16.
Brock, A. C. (Ed.) (2006). Internationalizing the history of psychology. New York: New York University Press. [Includes an introduction, a chapter and a postscript by ACB.]
Brock, A. C. & Louw, J. (Guest Eds.) (2007). History of psychology and social practice. Special issue of the web journal, Social Practice/Psychological Theorizing. [Includes an introduction and an article by ACB.]
McNally, K. (2007). Schizophrenia as split personality/Jekyll and Hyde: The origins of the informal usage in the English language. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 43 (1), 69-79.
Moane, G. (1999) Gender and colonialism: A psychological analysis of oppression and liberation. London: Macmillan.
Moane, G. (2002) Colonialism and the Celtic Tiger: Legacies of history and the quest for vision. In P. Kirby, L. Gibbons & M. Cronin (Eds.), Reinventing Ireland: Culture, society and the global economy (pp. 109-123). London: Pluto Press.
Moane, G. (2003). Bridging the personal and the political: Practices for a liberation psychology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 31, (1/2): 91–101.
Moane, G. (2006). Exploring activism and change: Feminist psychology, liberation psychology, political psychology. Feminism and Psychology, 16 (1): 73-78.
Madden, S. & Moane, G. (2006). Critical psychologies in Ireland: Transforming contexts and political possibilities. Annual Review of Critical Psychology, 5, 1-24.
Professional activities and affiliations:
The staff members and students are regular participants in the meetings of the Psychological Society of Ireland, the British Psychological Society and the American Psychological Association, as well as those of international organisations like the International Congress of Psychology, the International Society for Theoretical Psychology, Cheiron (International Society for the History of Social and Behavioral Sciences) and the European Society for History of the Human Sciences. Adrian Brock and his PhD students hosted the first joint meeting of Cheiron and ESHHS in 2007.
They also play a role as reviewers and editors for relevant journals such as the Irish Journal of Psychology, Annual Review of Critical Psychology, Isis, Feminism and Psychology, Social Practice/Psychological Theorizing and Theory and Psychology.
Members of the research group have also spent lengthy periods at other universities. For example, Adrian Brock was an invited researcher and lecturer at the University of Cape Town in 2006, while Ciarán Benson was the invited Davis Professor in Interdisciplinary Studies at Georgetown University, Washington in 2007.
Visitors:
Guest lecturers have included Daniel Robinson, Kurt Danziger, Kenneth Gergen, Rom Harré, Graham Richards, James Lamiell, Willem van Hoorn, Johann Louw and Charles Tolman. We have also hosted long-term visits by international researchers, such as Petteri Pietikainen of the University of Helsinki, who spent a year as a post-doctoral fellow at UCD.
We welcome visits by anyone with an interest in the area. This includes anyone from students to senior scholars who might be planning a stay of anything from a few days to a year. If you would like to visit UCD, please contact the area coordinator to discuss your plans (contact details below).
Applications for post-graduate study:
We welcome applications for post-graduate study in the area. We do not, as yet, have a structured Master’s or PhD programme. The only requirement for both is a thesis and students can start working on their thesis from day one. This means that it is possible to complete a combined MLitt/PhD in as little as four years. Although a Master’s or PhD student is not a paid position in Ireland, as it is in some countries, we can offer plenty of well-paid work as undergraduate tutors and research demonstrators. Students who do this work also have their fees reduced. Under the rules of the European Union, students from other EU countries are entitled to the same treatment as Irish students. The situation is more complicated for students from outside the EU.
The requirements for entry to the MLitt degree are threefold: 1. a good honours degree (2.1 or its foreign equivalent) in psychology or another relevant subject; 2. a viable research project; 3. the agreement of a staff member to supervise the research. A Master’s level degree or its foreign equivalent can be accepted in lieu of a good honours degree. Students who do not hold a Master’s degree or hold a Master’s degree in another subject (including another area of psychology) will normally be expected to register for the MLitt in the first instance. The registration can be upgraded to PhD status after one year subject to satisfactory performance.
For further details, contact the area coordinator:
Dr. Adrian C. BrockSchool of Psychology
University College Dublin
Belfield
Dublin 4
Ireland
Tel : +353-1-716-8678 (direct)
Tel: +353-1-716-8363/9 (secretaries)
Fax: +353-1-716-1181
Email: adrian.c.brock@ucd.ie