Early Psychological Research Contributions from Women of Color, Volume 1

Book excerpt: Early Psychological Research Contributions from Women of Color, Volume I, collects the dissertations of 20 cultural pioneers: women of color who were among the first to earn their doctorate degrees in psychology. Collectively, these chapters offer an important resource to diversify the history of psychology. This book is structured so that each chapter provides a biographical sketch of the woman, a summary of the dissertation, a reproducibility critique, a discussion about a modern alternative theory or methodological approach associated with the work (feminist theory, ethnopsychology, liberation psychology, etc.), and examples of how the dissertation can be used as instructional content in psychology and related disciplines offers suggestions for classroom use. The dissertations were completed as early as 1912 and as late as 1979 with the range reflecting differences in when women of certain groups could access education. The topics also range broadly across the breadth of the field of psychology, including physiological, cognitive, developmental, social, clinical, and more topics. The diversity of the work collected here will allow this book to be used to augment coursework either as a complete collection or as individual chapters. Instructors and students in undergraduate and graduate Research Methods courses will find this a crucial text in maintaining a true and inclusive historical perspective of psychological research. Additionally, due to the inclusion of research spanning the breadth of Psychology, this edited volume will appeal to scholars both across the discipline and in related fields, such as Women's Studies, Cognitive Science, Education, and Cultural Studies.