Academic Catalog 2017-2018 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
Academic Catalog 2017-2018 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Psychology, B.S.


Return to {$returnto_text} Return to: Majors, Minors, and Other Programs

Requirements for the Major:


The following major requirements apply to students in the class of 2019 and onward, until further notice. *Students from the class of 2018 should refer to their requirements specified further down on this page.

1. Psychology Requirements


Nine other courses (one of which can be selected from a list of cognate courses from related disciplines):


2. At least one course from each of the following four content areas:


5. Senior Writing Requirement:


Students may fulfill the senior writing requirement in psychology in one of three ways: (1) by writing a thesis; (2) by completing a seminar (400-level) course designated WS in the senior year (this course must be in addition to any other seminar used to fulfill the basic WAC requirements); or (3) by completing a one- or two-term senior project. Any seminar which fulfills the Senior Writing Requirement also counts toward the requirement of one seminar (see above).

*Requirements for Students in the Class of 2018:


As of September 2015 the requirements for the psychology major changed. Students in the class of 2018 are encouraged to fulfill the new major requirements, but may instead fulfill a hybrid of the old and new requirements as follows. 

Core courses:

Students have the option of fulfilling either the old or the new area requirements (#2 above). Students who have taken PSY 211 with a lab may count PSY 211 as a Neuroscience (Area 1) course.

Lab courses: Students who have taken any of the following courses with a lab (PSY 210   , PSY 211, PSY 220   or PSY 225   ) may count that course for the lab requirement (#3 above). Please note that students who have already taken PSY 210   with a lab may not also take PSY 310   . Students who have completed PSY 211 with a lab may not take PSY 313 (211)  . 

Double counting courses: If a student has already taken PSY 210   , PSY 211, PSY 220   or PSY 225   with an associated lab, the course may count as fulfilling both one of the core area requirements plus the new lab requirement.  Note that if a course is “double counted” for requirements in this way, it still only counts as one of the 12 courses needed to complete the psychology major. 

Seminar requirement: Only one 400-level class is required, and that must be a seminar between PSY 410   - PSY 450   .

Honors in Psychology


All proposals for honors theses must be submitted to the department administrative assistant no later than the end of the eighth week of the spring term of the junior year. The proposal should be one typewritten page describing the general area of the project, the student’s preparation for the project (e.g., related course work), and the proposed faculty supervisor. Further information is available from the department administrative assistant.

Requirements for Honors in Psychology:


In addition to meeting College-wide requirements, honors in psychology requires:

1. A psychology grade point average of 3.40 or higher


3. A two-term thesis with a grade of “A” or “A minus”


4. An oral presentation of the student’s work (usually at the Steinmetz Symposium)


Return to {$returnto_text} Return to: Majors, Minors, and Other Programs