Papers for Life & Work

January 20th 2005: In the first half of the semester I am assigning three short (4-5 pages) papers. They will all be biographical, though the form may vary somewhat. The first one is due on Tuesday, 2/1/05. Skim through the volumes of A History of Psychology in Autobiography on reserve for this course, and write a brief account of one psychologist's life and work, drawing out the themes that we are developing in this course. After I give you feedback on that paper I'd like you to incorporate any suggestions I have about editing or content then post it onto our class WebBoard. Use this assignment as a way of opening up your conference explorations.

February 10th 2005: I will return your papers with comments today in class. Please look over them, make any corrections that I have suggested and incorporate my comments in a revision. Post the revised versions on our class WebBoard under the 'First Class Papers' conference by the end of next Wednesday, the 16th of February. Appending a Word document works best (remember that you have to hit 'Post' twice before you're asked for the whereabouts of your document).

March 2nd 2005: (due March 11th, 2005) For your second short paper answer one of the following questions:

1. How did the social and political context of post-revolutionary Russia influence the form and course of Luria's psychological career?
2. How did Vygotsky's literary background shape his choice of psychological topics?
3. Why did Luria describe his work as merely a continuation of Vygotsky's?
4. How did William James's early artistic aspirations influence his psychological writings?
5. Discuss the connections between William James's personal experiences and his psychological theories.
6. Choose one of the five women portrayed by Scarborough and Furomoto and discuss how being female affected the course of her work in psychology.
7. Discuss Watson's radical behaviorism as a response to his cultural context.
8. Explore the connections between Watson's personal experiences and his radical psychological theories.
9. Pose your own question by considering one of the course themes for one of the psychologists we have studied so far.

I apologize for the short notice, but bear in mind that I am not expecting any reading beyond the class materials.

April 14th 2005: (due April 24th -- email it to me by the end of the day) Last Class Paper

For your third and final class paper prepare a 5 page biography of your conference subject. Towards the end of the biography briefly describe your conference theme(s) and questions. After I read your paper and give you some feedback (I promise a quick turn around), make any revisions that you think are necessary then post it onto the WebBoard for your classmates to read prior to your oral presentation in class. This means that you don't have to spend time going over the biographical details in your presentation.