During the 1888-1889 academic year, William & Mary president Lyon G. Tyler taught the College’s first psychology course, which was then listed under the Department of Moral Science, Political Economy, and Civil Government. In the 50 years that followed, psychology classes continued to be taught in several different departments, including Philosophy and Pedagogy, Philosophy and Psychology, Education, and eventually Psychology and Philosophy. In the 1943-1944 catalog, Psychology is finally listed as its own department, with 5 professors offering 12 courses. Over the years, it has grown dramatically—establishing graduate programs and offering many more courses taught by an increasing number of faculty members.

Today, there are approximately 30 faculty members, including visiting and adjunct professors, who teach more than 50 course sections and numerous labs. The publications selected for this exhibit show the varied research conducted by the department’s faculty.

Images of the exhibit are available from Special Collections on Flickr.

Curators: Melody Diehl, Reference Intern, and Mary Molineux, Reference Librarian; Exhibit design & installation: Melody Diehl and Jennie Davy, Burger Archives Specialist