Is psychology a science?

Is psychology a science? This question is less straightforward than it might first seem. It has been discussed by numerous theorists. This month, the question was the focus of a seminar for CuSP, the Culture and Social Psychology research group. As part of his contribution to the seminar, Prof. Paul Stenner writes about some of…

Psychology and history: CuSP viewpoints

In recent meetings, the Culture and Social Psychology group have been revisiting some of the ‘big debates’ within the psychology discipline. In December 2020, at the invitation of Sebastian Bartos, members discussed the relevance of history to psychology.  Psychology and history have an awkward relationship. Most students will be taught about the history of the…

The Psychology of Global Crises: A virtual conference

At the end of May, a new kind of academic event took place. The Psychology of Global Crises: State Surveillance, Solidarity and Everyday Life was a conference about events like the Covid-19 pandemic, organised to fit with the circumstances that the virus has imposed. Academics could not travel or meet in person, so they gathered online,…

Families, WhatsApp and ‘investment citizens’: Innovative data analyses in PhD research

Some of the School’s PhD students presented their work in progress at a recent CuSP session. Their projects indicate innovative data possibilities for psychology research. Ayca Gunaydin Kaymakcioglu is analysing an education programmethat is rather like an OU module, except that it comes from the Turkish government. Part of the government’s policy is to encourage…

New research in the School: problems of listening, hearing and voice

One function of the School’s research groups is to offer a forum in which academics can receive feedback on work in progress. A recent meeting of the Culture and Social Psychology group discussed two new pieces of writing, each of which centres, in rather different ways, on problems connected to listening, hearing and voice. Dr…