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How the Teaching of the Psychology of Men Committee and Workshop Came Into Existence
By the Committe on the Teaching Psychology of Men, Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity, Division 51, American Psycholoical Association
Jim O’Neil, Ph.D. Chair
University of Connecticut
Michael Addis, Ph.D.
Clark University
Chris Kilmartin,Ph.D.
Mary Washington University
Jim Mahalik, Ph.D.
Boston College
Our first step was to submit a 4 hour, APA Continuing Education Program proposal on “Teaching the Psychology of Men” for the 2004 APA convention in Hawaii. Over a two month period, we created the proposal and it was accepted in December, 2004. The next critical issue was how to generate an enrollment for the workshop. When the enrollment was not materializing, we personally solicited individuals in SPSMM to register for the workshop and had John Robertson, president of SPSMM, invite members through the list serve. Furthermore, we submitted information about the workshop to APA newsletters in four divisions (17, 35, 43, and 51) to publicize the workshop. We obtained the necessary enrollment and the workshop was presented to 20 participants in Honolulu. We offered the workshop again at both the 2005 (Washington) and 2006 (New Orleans) APA conventions.
We also requested that a Committee on the Teaching of the Psychology of Men be established in Division 51. During the Hawaii Convention, the Executive Board of Division 51, voted to establish a permanent committee to promote the development of the Teaching of the Psychology of Men.
NEED AND RATIONALE FOR TEACHING THE PSYCHOLGY OF MEN
The teaching of the psychology of men relates to critical social issues of great concern to men, women, and families including boy’s and men’s development across the life-span, issues of multiculturalism and sexual orientation, educational and school problems, violence in society, fathering, men’s health and others. Thus, the teaching of the psychology of men is central to psychology, yet one of the least developed areas in psychology (O’Neil, 2001). There is a need for formal instruction on how to teach the psychology of men. This need has been expressed by numerous divisions of APA including Division 51, 35, 17, & 43. Very limited direct instruction has been offered by APA related to teaching the psychology of men. Additionally, we believe that the teaching the psychology of men will be a growing areas over the next decade; just like the teaching of the psychology of women was in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Furthermore, there is evidence that psychology of men is an emerging growth area (Addis & Mahalik, 2003; Smiler, 2004). This growth is documented by Smiler (2004) who found that from 1985-1989, only one publication using the term “masculinities” was found in PsychInfo, but from the period of 1995-1999, over 70 publications were found using this term. There will be a continuing need to educate psychologists on how to translate this emerging knowledge to undergraduate students, graduate students, and the general public.
TEACHING THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MEN CONTINUING EDUCATION
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
Below is the description of the 4-hour “Teaching the Psychology of Men Workshop” presented annually at the APA convention. We hope that you will consider enrolling in the future.
GOALS:
This workshop is designed to help you:
DESCRIPTION OF THE WORKSHOP CONTENT
The purpose of this workshop is to assist psychologists in developing course work on the psychology of men based using the theoretical and empirical literature on men and masculinity. The workshop provides basic knowledge on how to create a psychology of men course or how to infuse this content into existing courses on gender or the psychology of women (O’Neil, 1995; Russo, 1996). The workshop is rich with information on how to teach the psychology of men and also highly interactive to allow participants to ask questions, make comments, and interact with the instructors. There has been very little information on how to teach the psychology of men. Therefore, the workshop provides a rationale for the teaching the psychology of men, using the emerging scholarship in this area (Addis & Mahalik, 2003; Cohen, 2001; Kilmartin, 2000, 2001; Kimmel & Messner, 1998; Levant & Pollack, 1995). Participants learn a rationale for teaching the psychology of men that explains this discipline as an expanding field, that intersects with the psychology of women and Women Studies, and relates to critical social issues such as societal and family violence, effective fathering, homophobia, and men’s and physical and mental health. Each presenter discusses how to develop and implement courses in the psychology of men and share their syllabi, reading materials, evaluation processes, and other resources. Abundant handouts of syllabi, class manuals, and teaching resources are disseminated. The workshop focuses on pedagogical approaches such as traditional lecturing, psychoeducational techniques, group discussion approaches, and the infusion of diversity and multiculturalism as critical content areas (Landrine, 1995; Madden & Hyde, 1998). Important process issues in teaching the psychology of men are delineated (Kilmartin, 2000; O’Neil, 2001; Urschel, 1999). These processes include norm setting, expectancy setting, conflict management, data gathering, self-assessments, group work, “journaling”, stereotyping, and working with resistance and defensiveness as part of the learning process. Brief examples of video media and self-assessment exercises are shared with the participants. Another major area addressed in the workshop is how to manage the problems/dilemmas that occur when teaching the psychology of men. Some of the problems addressed are: 1) how to enroll men, 2) sexism and heterosexism in the classroom, 3) “male bashing” and women’s anger at men, 4) the merits and problems with professor self-disclosure, 5) integrating research into courses. The instructors personally share their struggles and successes when teaching the psychology of men and encourage participants to share their own experiences and insights through an interactive dialogue.
FRAMEWORK TO TEACH THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MEN: WHAT ARE THE CRITICAL ISSUES?

There is very little information in the literature on how to teach the psychology of men. Therefore, numerous issues need to be discussed if the discipline is to develop and have impact in psychology and the greater society. Given this lack of conceptualization, an initial conceptual paradigm (See diagram above) was created that captured some of the critical issues in teaching the psychology of men. The initial paradigm included the following pedagogical areas: 1) Rationale and need for teaching the psychology of men; 2) teaching goals, 3) course content from psychology, 4) course content from outside psychology, 5) process issues including psychoeducation, writing assignments, journaling, interviews, and incorporating empirical research into courses, 6) infusing the course with multiculturalism and diversity, 7) use of media, psychological biographies, and self assessment exercises and checklists, 8) Dilemmas, problems, resistance, conflict, and defensiveness in the classroom, 9) classroom solutions to problems, 10) unanswered questions, 11) Teaching outside the classroom in the community. These eleven areas are presented as one way to conceptualize teaching the psychology of men. We emphasize many of these areas as we described our courses’ content and processes
9:00 - 9:30 - Presentation 1 Chris Kilmartin, University of Mary Washington
9:30 - 10:00 - Presentation 2 - Jim Mahalik, Boston College
10:00 - 10:15 - Break
10:15 - 10: 45 - Presentation 3 – Michael Addis, Clark University
10:45 - 11:15 - Presentation 4 – Jim O’Neil, University of Connecticut
11:15 - 11: 45 - Audience Questions and Presenters’ additional comments
11:45 - 12:00 - Wrap-Up, Learning Goals Evaluation, APA’s Continuing Education Evaluation,
Dispersion of CE Credit Forms
Debriefing Lunch for Presenters
Reference and Emerging Reading List
Addis, M. (2004) Teaching an advanced undergraduate and graduate level seminar in the psychology of men and masculinity. SPSMM Bulletin, 10, 47-53.
Addis, M. E. & Mahalik, J.R. (2003). Men, masculinity, and the context of help seeking. American Psychologist, 58, 5-14.
Blazina, C (2003). The cultural myth of masculinity. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Brooks, G.R. & Good, G.E. (Eds., 2001) The new handbook of psychotherapy and counseling with men: A comprehensive guide to settings, problems, and treatment approaches. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Cochran, S.V. & Rabinowitz, F.E. Men and Depression: Clinical and empirical perspectives. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Cohen, T.F. (2001). Men and masculinity: A text reader. Belmont, CA.: Wadsworth-Thomson Learning.
Gilmore, D.D. (1990). Manhood in the making: Cultural concepts of masculinity. New Haven, CT: Yale
Horne, A.M. & Kiselica, M.S. (1999). Handbook of counseling boys and adolescent males: A Practitioners guide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Kilmartin, C. T. (2007). The masculine self. 3rd Edition, Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York: Sloan Publishing.
Kilmartin, C.T. (2001). Sexual assault in context: Teaching college men about gender. Holmes Beach, FL: Learning Publications.
Kilmartin, C. T. (2004). Exposing the default options by teaching men’s studies. SPSMM Bulletin, 10, 29-35.
Kimmel, M.S. & Messner, M.A. (Eds., 1998), Men’s Lives. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Landrine, H. (Ed., 1995) Bridging cultural diversity to feminist psychology: Theory, research, and practice. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
Levant, R.F (1992). The Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 1, 75-76.
Levant, R.F. & Pollack, W.S. (Eds., 1995). A new psychology of men. New York: Basic Books
Lips, H. (2001). Sex and gender: An introduction (4th ed.) Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.
Madden, M.E. & Hyde, J.H. (Eds. 1998). Integrating gender and ethnicity into psychology courses. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 22, 1-130.
Mahalik, J.R. (2004). Teaching the psychology of men and masculinity. SPSMM Bulletin, 10, 53-71.
O’Neil, J.M. (1995) The gender role journey workshop: Exploring sexism and gender role conflict in a coeduational setting. In M. Addronico (Ed.) Men in groups: Insights, interventions, psychoeducational work. Washington, D.C.: APA Books.
O’Neil, J.M. (2001). Promoting men’s growth and development: Teaching the new psychology of men using psychoeducational philosophy and interventions. In G. R. Brooks & G.E. Good (Eds.) The new handbook of psychotherapy and counseling with men: A comprehensive guide to settings, problems, and treatment approaches. San Francisco, CA.: Jossey-Bass.
O’Neil, J.M. (2004) Teaching the psychology of men using psychoeducational principles, SPSMM Bulletin, 10, 36-47.
O’Neil, J.M., Addis, M., Kilmartin, C., Mahalik, J. (2004) Teaching the psychology of men: A potential growth area for psychology and Division 51 – A report from the APA Honolulu convention. SPSMM Bulletin, 10, 1, 21-29.
Pleck, JH. (1981) The myth of masculinity. Cambridge, MA.: MIT Press.
Rabinowitz, F.E. & Cochran, S.V. (2002). Deepening psychotherapy with men. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
Russo, N.F. (1996). Masculinity, male roles, and the future of Feminist psychology. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 20, 1-2.
Smiler, A.P. (2004) Thirty years after the discovery of gender: Psychological concepts and measures Sex Roles, 50, 15-26.
Urschel, J.K. (1999). Pedagogical issues and approaches encountered in a psychology of men course. Journal of Men’s Studies, 8, 1-10.
Student Scholarships to Teaching the Psychology of Men Continuing Education Workshops Presented at APA Conventions
The Committee on Teaching of the Psychology of Men of Division 51 offers Continuing Education Workshop on “Teaching the Psychology of Men” at APA Conventions. The committee uses their $400.00 stipend that APA pays presenters and $300.00 given annually by SPSMM to offer seven scholarships for graduate students to attend the workshop.
Graduate students who want to apply for these scholarships follow the instructions below:
Scholarships are awarded using the following criteria: 1) order of receiving the request for the scholarship, 2) student membership in APA and/or SPSMM, 3) year of masters or doctoral degree program, 3) any supporting information from advisors, mentors, or colleagues. Candidates for the scholarship should have their applications in by June 15. Selections for the scholarships will be finalized in late June.
Committee on the Teaching the Psychology of Men
Division 51of APA
Jim O’Neil, Chair
Michael Addis
Chris Kilmartin
Jim Mahalik

Presenters Immediately After the First Teaching the Psychology of Men Workshop, APA Convention, July 31, 2004, Honolulu Hawaii.
(L to R) Jim O’Neil, University of Connecticut, Michael Addis, Clark University, Chris Kilmartin, University of Mary Washington
The Committee on the Teaching the Psychology of Men of SPSMM and Presenters Immediately After the Third Annual Teaching the Psychology of Men Workshop, APA Convention, August, 11, 2006, New Orleans, LA
(L to R) Jim O’Neil, University of Connecticut, Michael Addis, Clark University, Chris Kilmartin, Mary Washington University, Jim Mahalik, Boston College
Division President
Christopher Kilmartin
Division Membership
Vic Frazao
Interested in joining division 51? Visit the division membership page for details of becoming a member of SPSMM.
Division Student Reps
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Website Editor
Matthew Genuchi
Feel free to email me feedback regarding the SPSMM website.