Get psyched with a new class

Home Opinion Get psyched with a new class
Get psyched with a new class
Psychology is an important part of the liberal arts | Wikimedia Commons

The Hillsdale College psychology department is the best bridge between the sciences and humanities because it understands and incorporates the value in both. Though psychology is small and unknown compared to the renowned humanities departments and the reputable science departments, this is beginning to change. 

Hillsdale students are called to pursue truth. But for philosophers who oppose scientism and for scientists who are skeptical of metaphysical inquiry, more are looking to psychology as the middle way toward the same truths.

Psychology is a fractured field with competing schools of thought vying for primacy. Long gone is the dominance of Freudian psychoanalysis or Skinnerian behaviorism, though both left valuable impacts and followers. These two particular schools represent the dichotomy between phenomenological and natural science as it exists in modern psychology. But at Hillsdale, instead of avoiding this divide or aligning itself with a particular school, the psychology department has transcended it by integrating the two.

Associate professor of psychology Collin Barnes, a social psychologist by training, is at liberty to teach Carl Jung, whose writings are steeped in mythology and philosophy. Simultaneously, chairwoman of the psychology department Kari McArthur, whose background is in clinical psychology, favors empirical research and scientific consensus in courses like Abnormal Psychology or Learning and Behavior. In Hillsdale psychology, both the philosophical and scientific approaches are treated with equal significance and dignity.

Many Hillsdale students may be prepared to explain what Athens has to do with Jerusalem. But how many of us feel prepared to explain what Athens or Jerusalem have to do with Paris or London? In other words, how many of us know how to reconcile the humanities and natural sciences in our quest toward truth? Hillsdalians know that there is value to a well-rounded liberal arts education. What remains unclear to most is how best to integrate the different modes of thinking which characterize the humanities and sciences.

Therefore, I urge Hillsdale students: get involved in psychology, even if that means taking a class outside of your major. You will see for yourself how both philosophy and scientific research can be effectively and concurrently utilized within this diverse and intermediary field. 

Psychology at Hillsdale is on the rise, as are the ways to get involved. Researchers are looking for eager participants, counseling and therapy are now more plentifully available at the Health Center, and national demand in the helping professions is high amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The addition of Professor Jared Parker, a theoretical and philosophical psychologist, is another good sign that methodological diversity and growth will continue. Now is the time: get into psychology.