Students can choose coursework in topical areas that reflect the breadth of faculty expertise and interests, including clinical, cognitive, community, cross-cultural, developmental, educational, engineering, health, industrial/organizational, social, physiological, and sports psychology. All courses emphasize a solid foundation in empirical methods and data analysis. A number of courses in the curriculum reflect the Department's commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice by intentionally featuring and centering issues of social importance, including systemic racism, gender inequities, ageism, mental health stigma, and disability.
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PSYC 219 will count toward the Social Psychology subdivision of the Psychology major for students who take the course during the 2026-27 academic year.
PSYC 490.01: Guilty Pleasures
In this capstone course, we will take an interdisciplinary approach to examining the phenomenon of “guilty pleasures” to understand how various leisure activities (e.g., watching reality TV, eating snacks and comfort food, listening to music) can be both helpful and harmful to psychological well-being. Students will read and evaluate scientific psychological research on topics related to media consumption, music, eating and food, parasocial relationships, nostalgia, secrecy, and more to ultimately develop a deeper understanding of and appreciation for why people are drawn toward activities that simultaneously make them feel guilty, shameful, or embarrassed. Through seminar discussions, critical writing, and oral presentations, students will analyze how guilty pleasures reflect broader psychological and social dynamics while honing skills essential for post-graduate work.
Instructor
Togans
PSYC 490.02: Neurodiversity
This interdisciplinary, discussion-based seminar will investigate the emerging concepts of neurodiversity and neurodivergence as both a sociocultural phenomenon and as a perspective aimed at understanding individual differences in human behavior. Course materials will incorporate perspectives from disability studies, psychology, cultural studies, and feminist theory. The course is split into two modules focused first on defining neurodiversity, identifying who is represented by neurodivergence and why, and what that means for social behavior. Second, we focus on how different areas of psychology address, interact with (or not), and contribute to science around neurodivergent populations and neurodiversity in general. The course empowers you in the acquisition of skills to arrive at a more nuanced sense of yourself, the world around you, and intersections with culture and context. You will foster critical thinking skills as well as oral and written communication skills.
Instructor
Greenlee