Day 6: Dr. Elizabeth Loftus

After settling into our new digs at the University of Akron on Sunday night, we hit the ground running on our first full day in town. We spent most of the day researching and writing content for our project on Dr. Eric Schopler. In the evening, we attended the Ludy T. Benjamin Distinguished Lecture in the History of Psychology, presented this year by Dr. Elizabeth Loftus. In her talk, Dr. Loftus shared how personal and professional life events shaped the trajectory of her research.

Our students with renowned researcher, Dr. Elizabeth Loftus

Our students with renowned researcher, Dr. Elizabeth Loftus

We were also lucky enough to snag this picture with Dr. Ludy T. Benjamin, a historian of psychology who has written over 20 books on the subject (and who the lecture series is named after).  He also is a close friend of our very own Dr. Charles Brewer!

Dr. Ludy Benjamin poses with our group.

Dr. Ludy Benjamin poses with our group.

Day 3: Furman’s Magnificent Library Staff

This morning we met with Christy Allen, Furman’s digital librarian to learn about FUSE, the online platform we’ll be using to showcase Dr. Eric Schopler’s collection. After lunch we visited Furman’s Special Collections where Julia Cowart, the Special Collections librarian and university archivist, showed us some of Furman’s archival treasures, including this original diploma issued by Furman in 1857.

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Eager to begin our road trip tomorrow!

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Day 2: Visit to the Asheville TEACCH Center

Before we journey to the Cummings Center for the History of Psychology to begin our work on the collection of Dr. Eric Schopler (founder of the TEACCH autism method), we’ve been spending a few days learning about autism, the TEACCH method, and the importance of studying the history of psychology. We had the privilege yesterday of visiting the Asheville TEACCH Center where Autism Specialist Jonathan Blalock gave us an overview of the TEACCH approach.

Dinner at the Laughing Seed in Asheville, NC

Dinner at the Laughing Seed in Asheville, NC