AKRON, Ohio — An upcoming University of Akron museum tour is designed to help attendees better understand the role psychology has played in both reinforcing systems of racial injustice and tearing them down.

The Cummings Center for the History of Psychology Race & Psychology Museum Tour is free and will be offered at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15 and 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 15 at the Cummings Center, 73 S. College St. on the UA campus. Each tour takes about an hour.

What You Need To Know

  • The Cummings Center museum tour will explore how psychology has both reinforced and taken down systems of racial injustice

  • The tours are scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15 and 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 15

  • The tour will highlight how research has advanced racism and how psychologists of color have worked to undo that damage

  • A discussion on what led to the American Psychological Association’s Apology to People of Color concludes the tour

Attendees will tour the National Museum of Psychology galleries, with guides highlighting two areas that illustrate the power of psychology to influence racial injustice, said Archives Assistant Tony Pankuch.

Attendees will be exposed to the historical research that helped shape ideas, beliefs and policies that helped create racial hierarchies and the notion of racial differences, Pankuch said.

The other element of the tour is a look at photos, documents and other materials that relate to psychologists of color who, over the years, worked to counter those ideas and beliefs, Pankuch said.

The tour concludes with a discussion about what led to the American Psychological Association’s Apology to People of Color, which was adopted by the APA council in 2021.

The apology, which the Cummings Center participated in developing, opens with plain speak: “The American Psychological Association failed in its role leading the discipline of psychology, was complicit in contributing to systemic inequities, and hurt many through racism, racial discrimination, and denigration of people of color, thereby falling short on its mission to benefit society and improve lives.”

The museum discussion will touch on the history that led up to the apology, with much of that information assembled by the Cummings Center, which is published on the APA website.

Attendees also will discuss what should be done, beyond apologizing, going forward.

“One of the major takeaways that we really emphasize is the idea that science, particularly psychology, but all scientific fields, don't take place in a vacuum,” Pankuch said. “If we look at early scientific research in psychology, we can really see places where individual opinions and racist beliefs filter their way into the interpretation of research.”

It’s important to be aware of how research in any area of study was formulated, he said, from who is conducting the research to what voices are missing from it.

“It’s about critical thinking,” Pankuch said, because research isn’t found only in scientific journals — it comes into play in a multitude of ways in popular media as well.

The Race & Psychology Museum Tour was initially launched last year as part of the university’s Rethinking Race series. Since then, the museum tour has been offered to many public and academic groups.

Attendees are encouraged to arrive early and stay afterward to view the rest of the museum, as the tour covers only a portion of what’s available to view.

The Cummings Center offers an array of exhibits, as well as online resources, such as blogs and videos, that explore the contributions of Black psychologists and examine the broader intersection of psychology and race.

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