UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM

The undergraduate program has two homes. One is in Fordham College on the Rose Hill campus located in the Bronx. The other is in Fordham College Lincoln Center, located in Manhattan. Evening classes are conducted on both campuses in Fordham College of Liberal Studies. While these locations share members of the faculty, professors tend to have one college that serves as their home base. Similarly, while students are accepted into one college or the other, students are invited to take classes at both of the campuses.

Mission Statement

Fordham's Jesuit educational tradition emphasizes both academic excellence and the development of the whole person. Students are challenged to develop a capacity for critical thinking and a willingness to submit their efforts to clear and high standards. At the same time, students are also challenged to understand the ethical dimensions of personal and professional life and to examine their own values, attitudes, and beliefs.

In the Department of Psychology, the emphasis on critical thinking is communicated to students through a set of clear and high expectations that challenge students to think scientifically about behavior and mental processes. Through a common, comprehensive, and structured baccalaureate curriculum, students are exposed to the core content areas of psychological science. The breadth of content includes basic and complex processes, which are covered in a developmental sequence. Students are taught to distinguish observations from conclusions, to synthesize the basic and applied aspects of psychology, to evaluate research methods, and to speak and write clearly in the discourse of the discipline. Through the capstone experience, students are challenged to expand their acquired knowledge base within psychology and in relation to other disciplines. A sensitivity to cross-cultural differences and the necessity of their consideration in psychological research and practice is fostered across the curriculum. The successful implementation of these clear and high expectations is assessed at regular intervals by means of multiple measures of student learning, both within courses and department-wide.

Through classroom instruction, advising, and supervision of student research and practica experiences, students are challenged to explore questions of values and ethics. Students are informed and encouraged to learn about the multiple applications of psychological science to the service of others, and especially those whose human dignity is most threatened in our society. Students are likewise encouraged and mentored through service opportunities, to integrate their knowledge of psychology, its processes and applications, with their own developing values and beliefs.

The 2007-2008 Student Handbooks are now online.

If You Are Thinking of Majoring in Psychology

Major & Minor Checklist with Prerequisites

This APA website is very informative: www.psyccareers.com
Here is a website with career information about social psychology: http://www.socialpsychology.org/career.htm

What can I do with a B.S. degree in Psychology?

There are lots of possible career tracks that can come out of an undergraduate psychology degree.

A B.S. in psychology is essential for the following:

• A Clinical Psychologist
• A School Psychologist
• A Developmental Psychologist
• A Biostatistician
• Neuropsychologist
• Sports or Health Psychologist

It is extremely helpful if you are thinking of going into:

• Any type of counselling work
  (pastoral, social work, counselling, career planning, Guidance Counselor)
• M.D. with specialization in Psychiatry
• Special Education
• Case Management
• Hotel Management/Hospitality
• Physical Therapy

It is very helpful if you are thinking of going into:

• Teaching or education
• Marketing, advertising, or human resources
• Organizational and management consulting
• Law
• Medicine
• Criminal Justice
• Financial Planning
• Government

Are there opportunities for practical experience?

There are lots of opportunities for practical experience in Psychology as a Psychology major. Psychologists engage in work with persons, and research.

Course-based practica

• Practicum in Psychology is a course for Juniors and Seniors that provides opoortunities for work in a variety of settings in Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn.
• Community Psychology is a course for Juniors and Seniors that provides opportunities for work in a variety of community settings, including Bronx Psychiatric Center, New York Hospital, and many others.
• Clinical Child Psychology is a course for Juniors and Seniors that provides opportunities to work with children and adolescents in a variety of settings, including Bronx Children’s Center, Astor Day Care, and many others.

Research Experience

Many of the Psychology faculty have ongoing research projects that students can get involved with both for practical experience, and at times for Independent Study course credit. These faculty often mentor students with whom they have worked on Senior Honors Theses. A sampling of faculty research projects include:

• Dr. John Cecero works with undergraduates in research into the relationship between spirituality and mental health, including measures of mood, adjustment, and well-being.
• Dr. Celia Fisher works with undergraduates on topics related to cultural influences on adolescent development and ethical issues in psychology.
• Dr. James MacDonall works with undergraduates in his Animal Learning laboratory on projects involving operant and classical conditioning.
• Dr. Dean McKay works with undergraduates interested in conducting laboratory studies related to the cognitive and affective components of anxiety
• Dr. Monica Rivera Mindt works with undergraduates on topics related to neuropsychological and everyday functioning, as well as influences on neuropsychological test performance such as depression and cultural influences.
• Dr. Kathleen Schiaffino works with undergraduates interested in health psychology.

Virtually all of our faculty have ongoing research, and are happy to work with undergraduates on their research projects.

Psychology Minor

A minor in Psychology involves Introductory Psychology, and 5 other courses in Psychology. Although neither statistics nor the laboratory courses are required, we encourage students earning the minor to take these courses. They are the courses most often required by graduate programs.

Resources

American Psychological Association
Association for Psychological Science
Psychology Careers
Society for Research in Child Development