Fear of becoming »bad psychologists« still haunts students

Three years after psychology students at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) blockaded their department in protest against what they saw as a one-sided approach to their subject, the criticism persists.

It now lives on through the student-led alternative lecture series (DAF) initiative, which continues to maintain that the psychology programme has become too natural science-based — and lacks humanities and social science approaches.

Master’s students Aja Skafte and Christine Volck Paulsen were both involved in the 2022 blockade, which ended with an agreement between the department and the students. But promised changes have yet to happen, according to the two students: They help organise DAF — a platform to explore theories outside the official curriculum.

We should not just understand the brain — we should understand the human being in the world

Aja Skafte, master’s student of psychology and DAF member

»We’ve seen humanities’ and critical social science perspectives disappear from our curriculum and teaching,« says Aja Skafte.

»It’s not that we reject the natural sciences. But when the biomedical perspective becomes the dominant one, we lose the complexity that makes us good psychologists. We should not just understand the brain — we should understand the human being in the world,« she adds.

Psychology traditionally rests on three key academic traditions, according to DAF: the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities.

»If one of those traditions becomes too dominant, we lose our balance. We believe that the Department of Psychology at UCPH is leaning too heavily towards the natural sciences,« says Christine Volck Paulsen.

The two students say their movement is both a critique of, and a declaration of love for, the discipline.

»Our criticism stems from a concern that we’ll become bad psychologists if we don’t learn to see people as social and cultural beings,« says Christine Volck Paulsen.

Parallel lectures

The alternative lecture series emerged in spring 2022 as part of the same academic critique that culminated in the blockade later that year in December. Since then, DAF has hosted alternative lectures every semester — typically five to six talks per semester, with researchers from other universities, or former UCPH staff, presenting the perspectives that students feel are missing from the official curriculum.

»We’ve had researchers from other Danish universities, and former staff members who represent humanities and Scandinavian approaches to psychology. These approaches still exist — they’re just no longer represented in our education,« says Christine Volck Paulsen.

According to Aja Skafte and Christine Volck Paulsen, it’s not just about the content of the curriculum  — it’s also about who does the teaching.

»The small group of researchers who work with humanities and social science approaches is getting smaller and smaller. This makes it difficult to maintain academic diversity — and it makes it hard for those researchers to thrive at the department,« says Aja Skafte.

Support from the outside

The alternative lecture series emphasises that their critique is not directed at individuals but at what they see as a structural trend in academia.

»We’ve tried to engage in dialogue through every forum available — through the the psychology student council, the study board, and meetings with management. They have been willing to listen, but we haven’t seen any concrete changes,« says Christine Volck Paulsen.

We still want the criticism to be handled through dialogue, not confrontation. But that requires us to be taken seriously

Christine Volck Paulsen, graduate student of Psychology and DAF member

The University Post has asked Head of Department Annemarie Olsen to comment on the students’ criticism, but she declined to be interviewed.

The two students stress that several former staff members share their concerns — even if they don’t necessarily support the students’ methods.

»During the blockade, both practising psychologists and researchers from other Danish universities publicly agreed with our position. And some of them have continued to attend our lectures. That means a lot — it shows that there’s support for us within the academic field,« says Christine Volck Paulsen.

Continued scepticism

DAF’s most recent lecture took place on 24 October, and according to Aja Skafte, representatives from the department’s management were in attendance.

She’s pleased that management showed up — but remains sceptical about whether it will lead to anything concrete.

»We decided to tell the whole story again and explain the basis of our criticism. At the end, the floor was opened for comments, and one of the managers present said it was moving to meet up with students who cared so deeply about their discipline and the curriculum,« says Aja Skafte.

READ ALSO: Psychology staff: We strongly disagree with the student blockade

According to her, the message from management was also that students should reach out directly to lecturers and course coordinators if they have suggestions for course changes.

»We’ve heard that multiple times already, but we’re happy to try again. Of course we hope something will happen this time — but it’s hard to believe it will,« says Aja Skafte.

How close are we to another blockade of the Department of Psychology?

»Unfortunately, I think a lot of us have been left disillusioned after the last experience. It was tough to be misunderstood when all we wanted was to improve our education,« says Christine Volck Paulsen.

»The blockade was a drastic step, but it only came after hundreds of hours of student volunteer work and dialogue with management that led nowhere. We still want our criticism to be handled through dialogue and not confrontation. But this requires that we be taken seriously,« she says.

This article was first written in Danish and published on 29 October 2025. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.