Psych Majors to Publish Journal

A newly-formed organization named after a pioneer in American psychology will begin publishing a campus journal on the social sciences this spring.

Undergraduate founders of the William James Society said they want "to promote psychological inquiry and research among students," said co--founder Marc E. Agronin '87, a Leverett House psychology concentrator.

Members are planning to publish a journal next semester and will solicit articles from undergraduates and department professors, Agronin added. The club's organizers applied to the Undergraduate Council for a grant to fund the project, but were denied and told to reapply in the spring.

Currier House resident Judy L. Polacheck '87, the other co-founder, said the 40-member group helps "students interact and talk with each other about current issues in society." At the Society's first event earlier this year, the group showed the film "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and discussed the problems of institutionalization. Polacheck said psychology majors need to "vent our opinions" outside the classroom.

Professor of Social Psychology Robert Rosenthal, who is the department's head tutor, called the student initiative "a grand idea."

William James, Class of 1865, was a professor of psychology at Harvard after whom the present psychology building on Oxford st. is named. The society carries on "the spirit of William James," the founder of the first American psychology lab located at Harvard, Agronin said about the man credited with establishing psychology as a science in this country.