A Brief History
of the Department of Psychology
Bemidji State University
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Version)
Introduction
Bemidji State University began as a normal school in 1918, then became a state teachers college in 1921, a state college in 1957, and a state university in 1975. This early emphasis on teacher education, quite common among state universities, is reflected in the early psychology courses offered at the institution. The earliest courses were taught within the Education Department for prospective teachers, and covered material such as "mental hygiene." Perhaps because of these origins, even after becoming a separate department the Psychology Department for many years emphasized what were termed "service courses," courses offered with non majors in mind. Today, many current courses still have a higher enrollment of non majors than majors.
The first actual psychologist hired to teach at Bemidji State University was Ray Carlson, who began in 1952, teaching courses in human development and learning theories. Ray moved over to student services in 1956, becoming Dean of Students. Ray was influential in expanding offerings in psychology. He required all of the Counseling Center staff to teach psychology courses as a part of their duties, because he felt that the counselors would be in better touch with students if they spent time in the classroom, and because the practice increased the number of psychology classes that could be offered. When a separate Department of Psychology was formed, it was staffed by the joint appointment teacher/counselors from the Counseling Center and included two philosophers! Philosophy later became a separate department. The influence of that initial staffing of the Psychology Department by counselors can still be felt today, as a higher proportion of the current staff have degrees in Clinical or Counseling Psychology than is usual for an undergraduate department.
