The annual meeting of Cheiron: The International Society for the History of Behavioral and Social Sciences opened today at Pennsyvania State University, hosted by Greg Eghigian the director of the Science, Technology, and Society Program there. The expansive campus in beautiful  and the day is hot and sunny (excellent for being in an air-conditioned theater!).

The first session included talks by Michael Pettit (York), Vincent Hevern (Le Moyne), Jill Morawski (Wesleyan), and Betty Bayer (Hobart & William Smith) on the influences of sociologist Irving Goffman. The session concluded with a commentary by Karl Scheibe (Wesleyan), who was well acquainted with Goffaman. The second session was entitled “Psychotherapy after 1908: Creativity on the Periphery” and consisted of papers by Jay Sherry (Murry Bergtraum HS, NYC) on Beatrice Hinkle, and by Courtney Stevens and Ben Harris (New Hampshire) on John G. Gehring.

Tonight will be the poster session and reception. Tomorrow morning will see sessions on “Ideas of Race in Modern American Psychiatry, 1900-2000,” “Tracing Psychological Careers,” and on “Institutionalizing the Social Sciences.”