The psychology faculty consists of dedicated and innovative teachers and researchers who have received national teaching awards and been awarded federal research grants. Our curriculum encourages students to think like scientists and to apply empirically-based research findings to everyday life by assigning current and culturally-relevant projects, challenging students to evaluate and critique research, and inviting students to participate and contribute to on-going faculty-led research projects. In a term, you might find psychology majors (or prospective psychology majors) visiting psychiatric treatment centers in Prague in Dr. Ken Abrams’ popular Cross-Cultural Psychology in Prague study-abroad program, investigating the effects of estrogen on the sexual behavior of female rats with Dr. Sarah Meerts, consulting with community partners on health initiatives with Dr. Gisel Flores-Montoya, studying color from an interdisciplinary perspective with Dr. Julia Strand, or presenting research at a national conference with Dr. Emma McGorray.
Research in psychology touches on a wide range of topics, and our curriculum reflects this diversity. After taking our introductory psychology course, students can choose from a wide array of courses to focus on areas that resonate with their interests. Our courses are roughly divided into three subareas: (1) biological and behavioral psychology, with courses such as Sleep and Dreaming, Hormones and Behavior, and Neuroimmunology; (2) cognitive psychology,with courses such as Sensation and Perception, Infant Cognition, and Language and Deception; and (3) social, personality, clinical and developmental psychology, with courses such as Relationship Science, Psychology of Prejudice, Human Sexuality, and The Psychology of Endings. Our interdisciplinary approach encourages many of our majors have a minor or even a second major in related fields, such as neuroscience, cognitive science, statistics and data science, and educational studies.
Our classes help students develop a range of skills, such as writing and speaking, information literacy, quantitative reasoning, scientific literacy, and critical thinking. This solid foundation enables our students to go on to a wide range of careers in counseling and social services, medicine and public health, K-12 and higher education, as well as business-related careers in technology design, marketing, law, and finance. Most of our students earn graduate and professional programs, including law, medical, and business degrees, and a significant number of Carleton graduates are among the most prominent research psychologists in the field today.