Department Chair:
Dr. David Rice (Professor)
Faculty:
Dr. Jann Adams (Professor); Dr. Jennifer Andrews (Assistant Professor NTT); Dr. Kendrick Brown (Professor); Dr. Tina Chang (Associate Professor); Dr. Chris Markham (Associate Professor); Dr. Bryant Marks (Associate Professor); Dr. Yohance Murray (Assistant Professor NTT); Dr. Martin Rosenman (Professor); Dr. Sinead Younge (Professor)
Program overview:
Psychology develops thoughtful servant leaders through a complete understanding of human behavior. Our department advances the understanding and application of psychology among our students, emphasizing teaching the history, culture, and role of Black people in the psychological sciences. We equip our students with an understanding of fundamental and evolving theories and concepts in psychology to provide a strong foundation for understanding the basic principles of research in the behavioral sciences. We further prepare our students for academic and professional pursuits by providing awareness of the African American experience and other cultural perspectives with the skills, training, and ethical behavior needed to lead in careers ranging from clinical practice to education, research, social work, business, and other areas.
Students interested in majoring in Psychology are considered Pre-Psychology majors until they have successfully completed the following courses with a C or better grade:
- Introduction to Psychology as a Social Science (HPSY 101)
- Introduction to Psychology as a Natural Science (HPSY 102)
- Research Methods & Statistics I (HPSY 210)
- Research Methods & Statistics I Laboratory (HPSY 210L)
Psychology majors planning to attend medical, dental, or other health professional school after graduation must take the following courses to meet minimum admission requirements for most medical/dental schools. This sequence should be started in the freshman year.
- • General Biology for majors 8 credit hours
- • General Chemistry for majors 8 credit hours
- • Organic Chemistry for majors 8 credit hours
- • Physics for majors 8 credit hours
- • Mathematics (MAT105 or above) 6 credit hours
Note: Some medical schools may require a year of calculus.
Additional courses (such as anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, etc.) may be required by some schools. Students planning to attend medical or dental school must check with the Office of Health Professions to remain current on application procedures, specific requirements for the schools you are interested in, and information on special summer programs.
Psychology Department Core Objectives:
- Equip students with an understanding of basic and evolving theories and concepts in psychology;
- Provide a strong foundation for understanding the basic principles of research in the behavioral sciences;
- Prepare students, academically and professionally, for advanced graduate training in psychology and related fields;
- Provide students with an awareness of the African American experience, and other cultural perspectives as they relate to psychology;
- Equip students with skills and experiences for understanding and working effectively with social and psychological issues encountered by African Americans and other communities;
- Enhance the liberal arts experience with training in effective written and oral communication skills;
- Encourage and provide training in critical and analytical reading, writing and thinking;
- Encourage ethical behavior, reflecting the values of the discipline of psychology as informed by the mission of Morehouse College;
- Foster self-understanding, self-improvement, psychological health and insight into behavior.
Student learning outcomes:
- Demonstrate familiarity with the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, empirical findings, and historical trends in psychology
- Understand and apply basic research methods in psychology, including research design, data analysis, and interpretation
- Respect and use critical and creative thinking, skeptical inquiry, and, when possible, the scientific approach to solve behavior and mental processes
- Apply psychological principles to personal, social, and organizational issues
- Recognize, understand, and respect the complexity of sociocultural and international diversity
- Develop insight into the behavior and mental processes of themselves and others and apply effective self-management and self-improvement strategies
Department policies and/or General Education modifications:
- To complete the Bachelor of Arts or the Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology, a student must have: A minimum overall GPA of 2.0, a final course grade of C or better in all required major courses, and satisfactory completion of general education courses as required in the core curriculum.
- Bachelor of Science majors are required to complete two math courses equivalent to Math 105 (College Algebra I) or above (or other approved science sequence in math).
- Bachelor of Science majors are required to complete General Biology 111/111L & 112/112L (for majors) in place of Biology 101 (Biological Science).
- Bachelor of Science majors are required to complete at least one semester of Chemistry with lab (e.g., Chemistry 111/111L) -OR- Physics with lab (e.g., Physics 151/151L) in place of Physics 102 (Physical Science). The full year of either the chemistry or physics is recommended.
