Curriculum Changes


The Department's latest addition is the Behavioral Neuroscience Program which offers students the option of combined Psychology-Biology curriculum that will prepare students well for medical school and other experimental psychology graduate programs. For more information, click on the highlighted words above (or here). The college also has a page advertising the new program - click here. In addition to the recent changes in the college's general education curriculum which have been reported in alumni publications, the requirements for the psychology major have continued to evolve. Long the only degree option in the department, the Bachelor of Arts degree is essentially unchanged from recent years. Recognizing the increasing interest among students in a Bachelor of Science degree, the department has developed a rigorous and increasingly popular B.S. program.

In addition to the usual A.B. requirements, the B.S. student must take six courses in the natural sciences outside the department, as well as four courses each in the humanities and social science divisions. An additional psychology laboratory course (for a total of three), plus a full year of Mathematics, and seven elective courses in the department, in addition to the required 101, 102, and 203, round out this new offering.

The B.S. option in the department has been especially popular with students interested in graduate school in psychology (whose numbers have been increasing in recent years), along with those interested in medical or dental school. Many of the laboratory courses have been full to bursting in recent semesters, reflecting the interest in the new major, but also the return of interest in the science of psychology. Waiting lists have existed for virtually every lab offering, with students clamoring for additional sections. Many of our non-laboratory courses are bursting at the seams as well, especially those in developmental, social, clinical, psychopharma- cology, and health psychology. The department is now averaging about 70 majors a class and is the third largest major on campus, following Economics and Government and Law.


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