Freud's scientific legacy is controversial within contemporary psychology. There are pedagogical benefits to this controversy, however, because instructors can use it to encourage students to critically evaluate Freud's contributions. We describe a course in which students discuss Freud's works from different points in his career, along with available empirical evidence and recent critical commentaries. We present the course readings, writing assignments, examinations, and student evaluations.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AndereggD. (2004). Paging Dr. Froid: Teaching psychoanalytic theory to undergraduates. Psychoanalytic Psychology, 21, 214–221.
2.
AuchinclossE. L.KravisN. M. (2000). Teaching Freud to undergraduates: A case report. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 81, 753–770.
3.
AudenW. H. (1991). Collected poems. New York: Vintage.
4.
BregerL. (2000). Freud: Darkness in the midst of vision. New York: Wiley.
5.
BrodeD. (2000). Shakespeare in the movies: From the silent era to “Shakespeare in Love.”New York: Oxford University Press.
6.
BrottmanM. (2004, July 9). The two Freuds. The Chronicle of Higher Education, p. B5.
7.
CrewsF. (1993, November 18). The unknown Freud. New York Review of Books, 40, 55–66.
8.
CrewsF. (1996). The verdict on Freud. Psychological Science, 7, 63–68.
9.
CrewsF. C. (Ed.). (1998). Unauthorized Freud: Doubters confront a legend. New York: Viking.
10.
DawesR. M. (1994). House of cards: Psychology and psychotherapy built on myth. New York: Free Press.
11.
DunnD. S. (1992). Perspectives on human aggression: Writing to Einstein and Freud on “Why War?”Teaching of Psychology, 19, 112–114.
12.
DunnD. S. (1993). Integrating psychology into the interdisciplinary core curriculum. Teaching of Psychology, 20, 213–218.
13.
EdmundsonM. (1990). Towards reading Freud: Self-creation in Milton, Wordsworth, Emerson, and Sigmund Freud. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
14.
EdmundsonM. (1997, July 13). Save Sigmund Freud: What we can still learn from a discredited, scientifically challenged misogynist. The New York Times Magazine, pp. 34–35.
15.
EinsteinA.FreudS. (1964). Why war? In StracheyJ. (Ed. & Trans.), The standard edition of the complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud (Vol. 22, pp. 197–215). London: Hogarth. (Original work published 1932).
16.
FreudS. (1965). The interpretation of dreams (StracheyJ., Ed. & Trans.). New York: Avon. (Original work published 1900).
17.
FreudS. (1980). On dreams (StracheyJ., Ed. & Trans.). New York: Norton. (Original work published 1901).
18.
GayP. (1988). Freud: A life for our time. New York: Norton.
19.
GayP. (Ed.). (1989). The Freud reader. New York: Norton.
20.
GayP. (1990). Reading Freud: Explorations & entertainments. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
21.
GlickP.FiskeS. T. (1996). The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 491–512.
22.
H. D. (1956). Tribute to Freud. New York: Pantheon.
23.
H. D. (1988). Selected poems. New York: New Directions.
24.
HobsonJ. A. (1988). The dreaming brain. New York: Basic.
25.
HobsonJ. A. (1999). Dreaming as delirium: How the brain goes out of its mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
26.
HobsonJ. A. (2002). Dreaming: An introduction to the science of sleep. New York: Oxford University Press.
27.
JacksonR. (Ed.). (2000). The Cambridge companion to Shakespeare on film. New York: Cambridge University Press.
28.
KihlstromJ. F. (1987, September). The cognitive unconscious. Science, 237, 1445–1452.
29.
KihlstromJ. F. (1999). The psychological unconscious. In PervinL. A.JohnO. P. (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 424–442). New York: Guilford.
30.
MacmillanM. (1997). Freud evaluated: The completed arc. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
31.
MalcolmJ. (1982). Psychoanalysis: The impossible profession. New York: Vintage.
32.
MalcolmJ. (2002). In the Freud archives. New York: New York Review of Books.
33.
MassonJ. M. (2003a). The assault on truth: Freud's suppression of the seduction theory. New York: Ballantine.
34.
MassonJ. M. (2003b). Final analysis: The making and unmaking of a psychoanalyst. New York: Ballantine.
35.
MerkinD. (2003, July 13). The literary Freud. The New York Times Magazine, pp. 40–44.
36.
MiserandinoM. (1996). Teaching a personality course in Vienna. Teaching of Psychology, 23, 240–241.
37.
NiederhofferK. G.PennebakerJ. W. (2002). Sharing one's story: On the benefits of writing or talking about emotional experience. In SnyderC. R.LopezS. J. (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 573–583). New York: Oxford University Press.
38.
OlivierLDirector. (1948). Hamlet [Motion picture]. England: Criterion.
39.
PanekR. (2004). The invisible century: Einstein, Freud, and the search for hidden universes. New York: Viking.
40.
PennebakerJ. W.Kiecolt-GlaserJ. K.GlaserR. (1988). Disclosure of traumas and immune function: Health implications for psychotherapy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 239–245.
41.
SammonsE. (2004). Shakespeare: A hundred years on film. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow.
42.
ShakespeareW. (1980). Hamlet. London: Penguin. (Original work published 1603).
43.
SilvermanL. H. (1976). Psychoanalytic theory: “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”American Psychologist, 31, 621–637.
44.
VaillantG. E. (1993). The wisdom of the ego. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
45.
WegnerD. M.BarghJ. A. (1998). Control and automaticity in social life. In GilbertD. T.FiskeS. T.LindzeyG. (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (Vol. 1, 4th ed., pp. 446–496). New York: McGraw-Hill.
46.
WestenD. (1998a). The scientific legacy of Sigmund Freud: Toward a psychodynamically informed psychological science. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 333–371.
47.
WestenD. (1998b). Unconscious thought, feeling, and motivation: The end of a century-long debate. In BornsteinR. F.MaslingJ. M. (Eds.), Empirical perspectives on the psychoanalytic unconscious (pp. 1–43). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
48.
WilsonT. D. (2002). Strangers to ourselves: Discovering the adaptive unconscious. Cambridge, MA: Belknap.
49.
BurchfieldC. M.SappingtonJ. (2000). Compliance with required reading assignments. Teaching of Psychology, 27, 58–60.
50.
BurroughsN. F.KearneyP.PlaxT. G. (1989). Compliance resistance in the college classroom. Communication Education, 38, 214–229.
51.
CarkenordD. M. (1994). Motivating students to read journal articles. Teaching of Psychology, 21, 162–164.
52.
KarpD. A.YoelsW. C. (1976). The college classroom: Some observations on the meanings of student participation. Sociology and Social Research, 60, 421–439.
53.
MarchantG. J. (2002). Student reading of assigned articles: Will this be on the test?Teaching of Psychology, 29, 49–51.
54.
RuscioJ. (2001). Administering quizzes at random to increase students' reading. Teaching of Psychology, 28, 204–206.
55.
SolomonP. R. (1979). The two-point system: A method for encouraging students to read assigned material before class. Teaching of Psychology, 6, 77–80.
56.
ThorneB. M. (2000). Extra credit exercise: A painless pop quiz. Teaching of Psychology, 27, 204–205.
57.
Association of American Medical Colleges. (2003). [Medical school applicants with primary undergraduate major in psychology vs. all]. Unpublished raw data.
58.
AlpertJ. S.ColesR. (1987). Premedical education: A modest proposal repeated. Archives of Internal Medicine, 147, 633–634.
59.
BruerJ. T.WarrenK. S. (1981). Liberal arts and the premedical curriculum. Journal of the American Medical Association, 245, 364–366.
60.
DanoffD.CohenJ. J. (1998). [Untitled editorial] Proceedings of the Association of American Physicians, 110, 96–97.
61.
DickmanR. L.SarnackiR. E.SchimpfhauserF. T.KatzL. A. (1980). Medical students from natural science and nonscience undergraduate backgrounds: Similar academic performance and residency selection. Journal of the American Medical Association, 243, 2506–2509.
62.
ElksM. L. (1981). Premedical education. Journal of the American Medical Association, 245, 32.
63.
GuelichJ. M.SingerB. H.CastroM. C.RosenbergL. E. (2002). A gender gap in the next generation of physician-scientists: Medical student interest and participation in research. Journal of Investigative Medicine, 50, 412–418.
64.
HaddyR. I. (1981). Premedical education. Journal of the American Medical Association, 245, 1315.
65.
HatalaR.GuyattG. (2002). Evaluating the teaching of evidence-based medicine. Journal of the American Medical Association, 288, 1110–1112.
66.
IshiyamaJ. (2002). Does early participation in undergraduate research benefit social science and humanities students?College Student Journal, 36, 380–386.
67.
KatkinW. (2003). The Boyer Commission Report and its impact on undergraduate research. In KinkeadJ. (Ed.), Valuing and supporting undergraduate research (pp. 19–38). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
68.
KinkeadJ. (Ed.). (2003). Valuing and supporting undergraduate research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
69.
KoenigJ. A. (1992). Comparison of medical school performances and career plans of students with broad and with science-focused premedical preparation. Academic Medicine, 67, 191–196.
70.
KoretzkyG. A. (1998). The need for basic science research education in the medical school curriculum. Proceedings of the Association of American Physicians, 110, 90–92.
71.
KremerJ. F.BringleR. G. (1990). The effects of an intensive research experience on the careers of talented undergraduates. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 24(1), 1–5.
72.
LandrumR. E.NelsenL. R. (2002). The undergraduate research assistantship: An analysis of the benefits. Teaching of Psychology, 29, 15–19.
73.
MalachowskiM. R. (2003). A research-across-the-curriculum movement. In KinkeadJ. (Ed.), Valuing and supporting undergraduate research (pp. 55–68). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
74.
McDonaldD. G. (1997). Psychology's surge in undergraduate majors. Teaching of Psychology, 24, 22–26.
75.
MerkelC. A. (2003). Undergraduate research at the research universities. In KinkeadJ. (Ed.), Valuing and supporting undergraduate research (pp. 39–54). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
NeilsonE. G. (2003). The role of medical school admissions committees in the decline of physician-scientists. The Journal of Clinical Investigation, 111, 765–767.
78.
OuztsH. G.NewlandH. R. (1985). Shakespeare or Krebs?: Premedical education. Annals of Internal Medicine, 103, 809–810.
79.
PerezJ. A. (2003). Undergraduate research at two-year colleges. In KinkeadJ. (Ed.), Valuing and supporting undergraduate research (pp. 69–78). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
80.
SakalysJ. A. (1984). Effects of an undergraduate research course on cognitive development. Nursing Research, 33, 290–295.
81.
SchwebelD. C. (2004). Temperamental risk factors for children's unintentional injury: The role of impulsivity and inhibitory control. Personality and Individual Differences, 37, 567–578.
82.
SchwebelD. C.BoundsM. L. (2003). The role of parents and temperament on children's estimation of physical ability: Links to unintentional injury prevention. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 28, 505–516.
83.
SchwebelD. C.SummerlinA. L.BoundsM. L.MorrongielloB. A. (in press). The Stamp-in Safety Program: A behavioral intervention to reduce behaviors that can lead to unintentional playground injury in a preschool setting. Journal of Pediatric Psychology.
84.
SpilichG. (1997). Does undergraduate research pay off?Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly, 18(2), 57–59, 89–90.
85.
StarkeM. C. (1985). A research practicum: Undergraduates as assistants in psychological research. Teaching of Psychology, 12, 158–160.
86.
Yale University. (2003). Report on Yale College education. New Haven, CT: Author.
87.
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
88.
American Psychological Association's Ethics Committee. (1992). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. American Psychologist, 47, 1597–1611.
89.
American Psychological Association's Task Force on Diversity Issues at the Precollege and Undergraduate Levels of Education in Psychology. (1998, April). Sexual orientation issues can be easily integrated into many classes. Retrieved August 5, 2004, from http://www.apa.org/monitor/apr98/sex.html.
90.
BerrillK. T. (1992). Antigay violence and victimization in the United States: An overview. In HerekG. M.BerrillK. T. (Eds.), Hate crimes: Confronting violence against lesbians and gay men (pp. 19–45). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
91.
BronsteinP. A.QuinaK. (1988). Teaching a psychology of people. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
92.
BuhrkeR. A.StabbS. D. (1995). Gay, lesbian, and bisexual student needs. In StabbS. D.HarrisS. M.TalleyJ. E. (Eds.), Multicultural needs assessment for college and university student populations (pp. 173–201). Springfield, IL: Thomas.
93.
BurnS. M. (2000). Heterosexuals' use of “fag” and “queer” to deride one another: A contributor to heterosexism and stigma. Journal of Homosexuality, 40, 1–11.
94.
ColeS. W.KemenyM. E.TaylorS. E.VisscherB. R. (1996). Elevated physical health risk among gay men who conceal their homosexual identity. Health Psychology, 15, 243–251.
95.
D'AugelliA. R. (1992). Lesbian and gay male undergraduates' experiences of harassment and fear on campus. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 7, 383–395.
96.
D'AugelliA. R.RoseM. L. (1990). Homophobia in a university community: Attitudes and experiences of heterosexual freshman. Journal of College Student Development, 31, 484–491.
97.
EllisS. J.KitzingerC.WilkinsonS. (2002). Attitudes towards lesbians and gay men and support for lesbian and gay human rights among psychology students. Journal of Homosexuality, 44, 121–138.
98.
EvansN. J. (2002). The impact of an LGBT safe zone project on campus climate. Journal of College Student Development, 43, 522–539.
99.
EvansN. J.BroidoE. M. (2002). The experiences of lesbian and bisexual women in college residence halls: Implications for addressing homophobia and heterosexism. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 6, 29–42.
100.
EvansN. J.D'AugelliA. R. (1996). Lesbians, gay men, and bisexual people in college. In Savin-WilliamsR. C.CohenK. M. (Eds.), The lives of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals: Children to adults (pp. 201–226). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace.
101.
FletcherA. C.RussellS. T. (2001). Incorporating issues of sexual orientation in the classroom: Challenges and solutions. Family Relations, 50, 34–40.
102.
GeaslerM. J.CrouteauJ. M.HeinemanC. J.EdlundC. J. (1995). A qualitative study of students' expression of change after attending panel presentations by lesbian, gay, and bisexual speakers. Journal of College Student Development, 36, 483–492.
103.
GoldfriedM. R. (2001). Integrating gay, lesbian, and bisexual issues into mainstream psychology. American Psychologist, 56, 977–988.
104.
HerekG. M. (2000). The psychology of sexual prejudice. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9, 19–22.
105.
HurstJ. C. (1999, July–August). The Matthew Shepard tragedy: Management of a crisis. About Campus, pp. 5–11.
106.
LopezG.ChismN. (1993). Classroom concerns of gay and lesbian students: The invisible minority. College Teaching, 41, 97–103.
Savin-WilliamsR. C.CohenK. M. (1996). Psychological outcomes of verbal and physical abuse among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth. In Savin-WilliamsR. C.CohenK. M. (Eds.), The lives of lesbians, gays, and bisexuals: Children to adults (pp. 181–200). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace.
109.
SlaterB. R. (1993). Violence against lesbian and gay male college students. Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 8, 177–202.
110.
StricklandB. R. (2001). Including the other in psychology. Ethics and Behavior, 11, 365–373.
111.
SueD. W.BinghamR. P.Porche-BurkeL.VasquezM. (1999). The diversification of psychology: A multicultural revolution. American Psychologist, 54, 1061–1069.
112.
WeinstockJ. S. (2003). Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex issues in the psychology curriculum. In BronsteinP. A.QuinaK. (Eds.), Teaching gender and multicultural awareness: Resources for the psychology classroom (pp. 285–297). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
113.
BuskistW.TearsR. S.DavisS. F.RodrigueK. M. (2002). The teaching of psychology course: Prevalence and content. Teaching of Psychology, 29, 140–142.
114.
CohenP. A. (1980). Effectiveness of student-rating feedback for improving college instruction: A meta-analysis of findings. Research in Higher Education, 13, 321–341.
115.
EllisN. R.RickardH. C. (1977). Evaluating the teaching of introductory psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 4, 128–132.
116.
MeyersS. A.PrietoL. R. (2000). Training in the teaching of psychology: What is done and examining the differences. Teaching of Psychology, 27, 258–261.
117.
Prentice-DunnS.PittsG. S. (2001). The use of videotape feedback in the training of instructors. In PrietoL. R.MeyersS. A. (Eds.), The teaching assistant training handbook: How to prepare TAs for their responsibilities (pp. 89–102). Stillwater, OK: New Forums.
118.
Prentice-DunnS.RickardH. C. (1994). A follow-up note on graduate training in the teaching of introductory psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 21, 111–112.
119.
Prentice-DunnS.RickardH. C.LymanR. D. (1995, January). The benefits of a graduate course in teaching of psychology: Results of a survey of doctoral graduates. Paper presented at the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology, St. Petersburg, FL.
120.
RickardH. C.Prentice-DunnS.RogersR. W.ScoginF. R.LymanR. D. (1991). Teaching of psychology: A required course for all doctoral students. Teaching of Psychology, 18, 235–237.
121.
AlferinkL. (1995). The CAMPP model: Reaffirming the psychological basis of training. In YeatmanF. R. (Ed.), The proceedings of the Second National Conference on Applied Master's Training in Psychology (pp. 9–11). Edmond, OK: Council of Applied Master's Programs in Psychology.
122.
American Psychological Association. (2001a, April). 2000 graduate study in psychology (Table 11). Retrieved June 30, 2004, from http://research.apa.org/gs00tab11.pdf.
123.
American Psychological Association. (2001b, April). 2000 graduate study in psychology (Table 17). Retrieved June 30, 2004, from http://research.apa.org/gs00tab17.pdf.
Council of Applied Master's Programs in Psychology. (1994). General standards of education and training. Retrieved July 20, 2004, from http://www.camppsite.org/standards.htm.
126.
DeLeonP. H. (2000, January). An era of exciting opportunities. Monitor on Psychology, 31, p. 7.
127.
DuerJ. D.FickleA. (2002). Status and issues on licensure/accreditation of master's psychologists. In SollyD.Hays-ThomasR. (Eds.), Mastering the future: Proceedings of the Third National Conference on Master's Psychology (pp. 51–55). Richmond, KY: Council of Applied Master's Programs in Psychology.
128.
Hays-Thomas (Lowe)R. (2000). The silent conversation: Talking about the master's degree. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 31, 339–345.
129.
Hays-ThomasR.HansonG.MoseleyG. (2002). CAMPP survey of applied master's programs: Characteristics of programs. In SollyD.Hays-ThomasR. (Eds.), Mastering the future: Proceedings of the Third National Conference on Master's Psychology (pp. 45–50). Richmond, KY: Council of Applied Master's Programs in Psychology.
LevantR. F.MoldawskyS.StigallT. T. (2000). The evolving profession of psychology: Comment on Lowe Hays-Thomas's (2000) “The silent conversation.”Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 31, 346–348.
132.
Masters in Psychology Accreditation Council. (1995). Accreditation standards. (Available from MPAC, P. O. Box 721173, Norman, OK 73070).
133.
McPhersonR. H.PiseccoS.ElmanN. S.Crosbie-BurnettM.SaygerT. V. (2000). Counseling psychology's ambivalent relationship with master's-level training. The Counseling Psychologist, 28, 687–700.
134.
Oklahoma Division of Professional Counseling. (n.d.). Division of Professional Counseling Licensing. Retrieved April 9, 2003, from http://www.health.state.ok.us/program/lpc/.
