Notable Campus Events

The Lecture Series and Guest Speakers

Dr. Jordan mentioned that St. Mary's hosted several psychology lectures by guest speakers. The psychology department greatly encouraged students to attend these lectures and would often offer extra credit as an incentive (Jordan, 2018).

During a course Dr. Finkelman taught called Crime and Punishment, students learned of Washington DC criminal named Johnny Allen. The class read a first person account of Allen's in which he talked about his life of crime and being a criminal. Dr. Finkelman's class wondered where Allen would be now. After some digging, Dr. Finkelman was able to track him down and invite him to talk on campus. Dr. Finkelman says that this is one of the most memorable events on campus for him, because of how awestruck his students were. When Allen arrived on campus, he gave a few talks, one to Dr. Finkelman's class exclusively and then to the college in a more public setting. The private talk was the one in which Dr. Finkelman recalls as he explains how Allen openly discussed is continued life of crime even after he wrote the book the class had read. Allen was in a wheelchair during the discussion and he explained how he had gotten shot and paralyzed in a criminal even gone wrong. Dr. Finkelman and his students were so compelled by Allen's genuineness in his storytelling. It was a very powerful lecture that stayed with Dr. Finkelman and it is something that he will not forget (Finkelman, 2018).

Dr. Finkelman recalls that there have been quite a few memorable lecture series speakers that have talked in front of a large audience at the campus. Dr. Finkelman found David Reskin to be very interesting, as he gave a lecture related to psychology in law. Reskin was an expert of the polygraph and unlike some professional psychologists, Reskin viewed the polygraph with high esteem. According to Finkelman (2018), Reskin recognized its drawbacks but also saw its value, if used correctly.

Introduction of a New Core Curriculum

According to Dr. Williams (2018), when a new core curriculum was introduced, then Provost Larry Vote invited the entire campus, including faulty, staff, and students, to suggest ideas for the new core. Much of the psychology department was involved in designing the new model for the core. The new model for the core that was accepted was more competencies-based than skills-based.

The APA Conference of 1991

In 1991, President Lewis was riding a wave of popularity among State Legislature, who were responsible for giving the college funding. So at the time, there was a little more money available, which allowed the department the ability to do a proposal to host an APA Conference (Hopkins, 2018).

In the summer of 1991, the American Psychological Association came to St. Mary's to hold a conference about enhancing the quality of undergraduate education in psychology. Almost 60 psychologist from all across the country and even from Canada; came together to focus on different topics of how to make psychology undergraduate education better. Together the psychologist broke into 7 different committees, aiming at different specific topics, which each got it's own chapter in the book which later got published in 1993. The committee topics included, minority students, advising, active learning, networks, faculty development, curriculum, and outcomes.

Dr. Hopkins has said that this conference and the book that was the result of it, had a nationwide influence on how to organize, require, advise and integrate minority students into the psychology curriculum in a more deliberate way.