Hispanic Heritage in Psychology by Admin Coordinator, Breanne Kroehler
Hispanic Heritage in Psychology
Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15th to October 15th and the Psychology Department would like to celebrate the diversity of our students and faculty members! To do this, we are shedding the light on those of Hispanic Heritage in the field of Psychology who have left a lasting impression on the field.
The first of many is Juan Luis Vives. He was born in 1493 in Valencia, Spain. According to psychology.okstate.edu, he was one of the first people to see the study of Psychology as a useful tool for all disciplines and was one of the earliest advocates to study learning and memory. This was long before the acclaimed "Father of Psychology", Wilhelm Wundt. Wilhelm was a German who was recorded as the first person to call himself a psychologist. So who really was the first psychologist? Should we say it is the first person to study it or the first person of modern psychology? History is a tangled mess, we are not here to debate, but to enlighten. We can tace Jauns research in psychology back to being concentrated in the De anima et vita that was published in 1538. He drew off of this for many of his philosophical and educational beliefs in psychology being tied to the human soul. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, it is stated that "He also pays close attention to physiology and, following the Galenic tradition, maintains that our mental capacities depend on the temperament of our body...The study of the human soul is the fundamental role that psychological inquiry came to play in his reform program." Juan is just one puzzle piece in an overall beautiful picture of history. He may be gone, but we thank you for helping us revisit this forgotten piece of history.
In regards to the history of psychology in Hispanic and Latinx Culture, today, there are more psychologists than we could cover in this video. Each deserves their time in the sun, but we will let you research for yourself and discover what commonalities you may have in common with some of these marvelous researchers of the past, present, and maybe you can be one of our future ones too!
More resources on Juan Luis Vives (Joannes Ludovicus Vives):
Content from the video:
Learn More Here, Section:
- Hispanic Contributions to Psychology
- Hispanic Heritage Month: Focus on Latino Mental Health
- Society for Personality and Social Psychology: National Hispanic Heritage Month: Latinx Researchers Reflect
- Hispanic Leaders in Mental Health
- 6Barriers to Educational Opportunities for Hispanics in the United States
Mental Health Resources for the Hispanic & Latinx Community
- 9 Mental Health Resources for the LatinX Community
- NAMI’s Compartiendo Esperanza
- American Society of Hispanic Psychiatry
- Therapy for LatinX
- Mental Health America’s Resources for Latinx/Hispanic Communities
- Psychology Today
- Each Mind Matters
- National Alliance for Hispanic Health
- League of United Latin American Citizens Latinos Living Health
- United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health
October 12, 2021