The Department of Psychology’s mission is to encourage students to become independent thinkers who read critically, who can make sensitive observations and who can generate original ideas, making use of current theoretical constructs and relevant empirical data. The department attempts to stimulate students:

to think systematically about psychological phenomena from multiple disciplinary perspectives and methodologies;

to evaluate and employ recent as well as time tested theories to elucidate psychological processes in their social and cultural contexts;

to write clearly and coherently, developing sound arguments on the basis of appropriate sources and pertinent observations;

to heighten their personal awareness of themselves as participant observers and of others both in the laboratory and in the natural setting. The department endeavors to foster students’ capacity to take responsibility for their own learning with, as its end goal, their eventual contribution to the advancement of psychology as a multifaceted discipline, both scientific and humanistic.

Program Goals

Psychology at AUP provides students with a solid background in the central theories, approaches and controversies in contemporary psychology and an understanding of their historical underpinnings. The department is especially interested in how culture and social context influence basic aspects of psychology: identity, human development and the life course; motivation, cognition and perception; gender and sexuality; conscious and unconscious processes; interpersonal relationships and social representations; health, pathology and the concept of normality. Courses consider human psychology from a variety of analytical frameworks (neuropsychological, psychodynamic, cognitive, cultural, developmental, social etc.) with the goal of giving students insight into the complexity of human beings, their social positions and relationships. Challenging the validity of any single framework, the program aims to foster dialogue and debate between different orientations on psychology.

The program prepares students for entry into professional life or for graduate studies in diverse programs of study, including clinical, neuroscience, developmental, social and cultural psychology. Psychology majors work in a variety of fields, where knowledge of human motivation, critical thinking skills, and sensitivity are valued. To become a practicing psychologist, students must pursue a degree at the Masters or Doctorate level.

FirstBridge
8 FirstBridge courses change every year.
 

GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS
Up to 8 EN 110 College Writing, EN 220 Writing and Criticism
Up to 22 French through FR 235 and FrenchBridge
4 Historical and Cross-Cultural Understandings
4 Social Experience and Organization
4 from either of the above two categories
Up to 8 Scientific and Mathematical Investigations
 

CORE
Required
(12 credits)
 

PY 100 Introduction to Psychology
PY 220 Research Methods in Psychology
PY 490 Senior Seminar or PY 495 Supervised Senior Project
 

Select three fundamental courses from the following list:
(12 credits)
 

PY 213 Developmental Psychology: A Lifespan Approach
PY 221 Psychoanalytic Theories of Personality
PY 222 Personality and Individual Differences
PY 242 The Psychoneuroses: A Psychodynamic Approach to the Neuroses
PY 243 Abnormal and Clinical Psychology
PY/GS 245 Social Psychology
PY 246 Cultural Psychology
PY 255 Biological Psychology
PY 275 Cognitive Psychology
 

ELECTIVES
Select five additional courses from the following list: (if not taken above)
(20 credits)

PY 207 Madness, Mania and the Cinema
PY 209 Shattered Brains and Fractured Minds
PY 213 Developmental Psychology: A Lifespan Approach
PY 221 Psychoanalytic Theories of Personality
PY 222 Personality and Individual Differences
PY 242 Abnormal Psychology: A Psychodynamic Approach to the Neuroses
PY 243 Abnormal and Clinical Psychology
PY 246 Cultural Psychology
PY 255 Biological Psychology
PY 275 Cognitive Psychology
PY 277 History and Systems in Psychology
PY 325 Psychology of Sensation and Perception
PY 327 Psychological Tests and Measurements
PY 365 Psychology of Learning and Memory
PY 366 Life Stories
PY 367 Social Memory
PY 369 Society, Illness & Health
PY 391 Topics in Psychology
PY/FS 390 Topics in French Literature (only topics on Psychoanalysis, maximum one course)
PY/GS 208 Gender Identity, Homosexuality, and the Cinema
PY/GS 210 Psychology and Gender
PY/GS 239 Human Nature and Eros
PY/GS 245 Social Psychology
PY/GS 251 Sexuality, Aggression and Guilt
PY/GS 261 Love, Sexuality and the Cinema
PY/LI 335 Psycholinguistics
MA 120 Statistics I*
MA 220 Applied Statistics II
CS/CM 348 Human-Computer Interaction
 

Plus GENERAL ELECTIVES to total 128 credits

Psychology