Women's Intellectual Contributions
to the
Study of Mind and Society
- "The chief distinction in the intellectual powers of the two sexes is shown by man's attaining to a higher eminence, in whatever he takes up, than can woman." - Darwin (1871)
- "Identical education of the sexes is a crime before God and humanity, that physiology protests against and that experience weeps over." - Clarke (1873)
- "Deficiency in reproductive power . . . can be reasonable attributed to the overtaxing of (women's) brains." - Spencer (1867)
- "The 'woman's rights movement' is an attempt to rear, by the prcess of 'un-natural selection', a race of monstosities - hostile alike to men, to normal women, to human society, and to the future development of our race." - Bagehut (1879)
To illustrate the fact that statements such as these failed to deter ALL women:
Women such as Christine Ladd-Franklin, Ruth Fulton Benedict, and Ida B. Wells have traditionally been omitted from the histories of their disciplines. This webpage is designed to re-place women into the history of psychology, sociology, anthropology, and social work. Students, as part of an advanced seminar, examined and wrote about the lives of these women, their intellectual contributions, and the unique impact and special problems that being female had on their careers. This webpage represents the culmination of these students' work.
Participating students were:
- Nicolle Bettis, majors in psychology & sociology; women's studies minor
- Jenn Bumb, major in psychology
- Eric Codak, major in psychology; anthropology minor
- Carol Cox, majors in anthropology and art history/criticism
- Tarraugh Flaherty, major in sociology, women's studies minor
- Susie Hochman, major in psychology
- Jennifer McBride, major in anthropology; women's studies minor
- Samantha Ragsdale, majors in psychology and sociology
- Adrian Weiss, major in psychology, anthropology minor
Society of Experimental Psychology - Women were not admitted until after the death of the Society's founder, E. B. Titchener, in 1929. Can you find Margaret Floy Washburn?
Advanced Seminar: Womens' Intellectual Contributions to the Study of Mind and Society was the brainchild of Linda M. Woolf, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology at Webster University.
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