FACULTY GENEALOGIES IN 5 CANADIAN UNIVERSITIES - HISTORIOGRAPHICAL AND PEDAGOGICAL CONCERNS

For those who are both scholars and teachers of the history of psychol ogy, a dilemma arises concerning the historiographic versus pedagogic value of institutional genealogies. As part of the undergraduate Histo ry of Psychology course, faculty genealogies were constructed at five Canadian psychology departments (Calgary, Guelph, Toronto, Western Ont ario and York); an operational definition of ''Ph.D. supervisor'' repr esented mentor-student ''institutional'' linkages. Seventy-five per ce nt of the 212 faculty were traceable to nine pioneer figures such as W ilhelm Wundt or William James. In contrasting historiographic pitfalls with pedagogic merits, we suggest that integrating a reflexive and cr itical examination of histriographic problems may tip the scales in fa vour of pedagogic reasons for conducting such genealogical research.