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David L. Smith (2002). Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: The History of Duquesne University's Graduate Psychology Programs (1959-1999): A Human Science Psychology: An Existential-Phenomenological Approach. Pittsburgh, PA: Simon Silverman Phenomenology Center of Duquesne University. ISBN 0970688628, 246 pp., $20 (paper).
In their 1966 History of Psychology, Henry Misiak and Virginia Sexton describe Duquesne University as the "capital of phenomenological psychology in the New World" (p. 62). As Fr. David Smith points out, this was only four years after Duquesne had started its PhD program in phenomenological psychology. In this age of advertising slogans and impression management one might well be wary of such a proclamation, even if it comes from outside of the institution to which it refers. And yet the evidence is convincing that the Duquesne Psychology Department has played a strong and distinctive role in promoting and developing phenomenological psychology through its graduates (at least 250 PhDs and 1,000 MAs have been awarded), numerous faculty publications addressing theoretical, methodological, and clinical issues, and residence programs for visiting scholars who want to learn more about phenomenology. Many of these scholars, such as Akihiro Yoshida (Japan), Peter Ashworth (United Kingdom), and Steinar Kvale (Denmark), subsequently became influential proponents of human science psychology. Among them was also Richard Knowles (1934-2003) who returned to Duquesne to join its faculty and eventually served as department chair for twelve years. Duquesne's status is also evident from the fact that numerous distinguished scholars such as Paul Ricoeur, Viktor Frankl, Erwin Straus, J.H. van den Berg, Ivan Illich, Eugene Gendlin, and Robert Kegan have come to its campus to teach short courses. Perhaps the most enduring influence of the program is through the activity of its graduates. These graduates have played an important role in editing journals, shaping the direction of divisions of the American Psychological Association (especially Theoretical and Philosophical and Humanistic Psychology) as well as state psychological associations. They have developed graduate programs with a phenomenological emphasis (e.g., at University of Dallas, West Georgia, and Seattle University) and contributed to their discipline through a wide range of publications and through their contributions to the mental health and psychotherapy communities.
David Smith's book is unabashedly a celebration of the first forty years of this distinguished department. The initially puzzling title,...