Mary whiton calkins autobiography sample

Mary Whiton Calkins was ready for an academic career before the patriarchal academic world of the late nineteenth century was ready for her.

After earning an undergraduate degree in 1882 from Smith College in classics and philosophy, Calkins began to teach Greek at Wellesley College. She found herself drawn to the nascent field of psychology, and in the late 1880’s Calkins was granted special permission to attend seminars at Harvard (then an all-male institution), including those offered by William James and Josiah Royce.

Mary whiton calkins autobiography sample paper

In fact, Calkins was the sole student in James' graduate seminar in 1890, the year he published his famous Principles of Psychology. Calkins also worked in Hugo Münsterberg's lab from 1892-1895. Of her studies with James, Calkins wrote in her autobiography:

“The Principles of Psychology was warm from the press; and my absorbed study of those brilliant, erudite, and provocative volumes, as interpreted by their wr