Psychology

People study psychology because they have an interest in understanding human behavior and experience. MMC’s Psychology program encompasses diverse areas with the goal of preparing students for living and working in a complex society.

The Psychology program is designed for students with a range of academic interests and prepares students for graduate work in all areas of psychology, including clinical psychology, forensic psychology, neuroscience, and experimental research. It also prepares students for further education in other fields, including law, social work, mental health counseling, creative arts therapies and other helping professions or for entry-level positions in many fields, including social services and business. While giving students the tools to understand human behavior, our program emphasizes critical thinking and the scientific method, with research at many levels of the curriculum considered to be important preparation for many psychology-related careers.

The program provides a broad background and foundation in the field by offering courses in traditional core content areas (e.g., Personality, Abnormal Psychology, Child and Adult Development, Cognition, and Social Psychology) as well as in several applied fields (e.g., Forensic Psychology, Health Psychology, and Neuroscience). Students gain proficiency in research techniques through courses in Statistics and Experimental Psychology and expand their knowledge through electives such as Animal Behavior, Human Sexuality, Group Dynamics, and Techniques of Counseling.

Psychology students at MMC can benefit from additional learning opportunities by completing minors in Art Therapy, Drama Therapy, Neuroscience or Forensic Psychology. The Art Therapy and Drama Therapy minors introduce students to the practices and principles of Creative Arts therapy. The Forensic Psychology Minor provides students with the tools for understanding and critically assessing important questions of law and mental health issues. The minor addresses social and political issues, such as crime investigations, racial profiling, the death penalty, the prison system, the psychology of violence, and the assessment and treatment of defendants and convicted offenders. The Neuroscience Minor is the interdisciplinary study of the neural basis of cognition and behavior and includes courses in biology, chemistry, and psychology. The goal of the Neuroscience Minor is to expose students to the relationships between the nervous system, the mind, and behavior by examining mechanisms and processes from the molecular to the systems level with an evolutionary perspective. The Neuroscience Minor provides students with theoretical and practical skills for future graduate work and careers in basic and applied science.

We encourage students to take advantage of the numerous research and field experiences available in New York City. Psychology faculty work with students to locate internship opportunities and MMC students have worked in field placement settings as diverse as hospital research laboratories, criminal court psychiatric clinics, human resource offices, children’s media companies, and public schools. They have worked with diverse populations including preschool children with developmental disabilities, adults with neurological disorders/challenges, defendants in criminal court, and elderly residents of nursing homes.

Students have the opportunity to collaborate with faculty on their ongoing research projects, as well as to explore their own research interests. Recent student projects have included “Food Intolerance, Systemic Inflammation, and Quality of Life,” Differences in Psychophysiological Responses to Self-Selected Music,” “Understanding of Mental Health: The Effect of Exposure to Popular Films” and “Stigma Associated with Children with Disabilities.” Faculty-student research reports have been presented at annual local and national professional conferences (including the Eastern Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science and the American Psychological Association). These reports have also appeared in such journals as The Academic Psychology Bulletin, The Journal of Social Psychology, and The Psi Chi Research Journal.

Some recent graduates have secured employment in such areas as market research, social service, event planning, and human resources. Others have enrolled in masters or doctoral-level graduate programs in Clinical Psychology, Educational Psychology, Neuroscience, Forensic Psychology, Medicine, Nursing, Law, and Social Work. A major in Psychology is highly versatile and can open many doors.

Division:	Sciences
Division Office:	Carson Hall 706
Phone:	212-774-0725
Division Chair:	Benedetta Sampoli Benitez, Ph.D. bsampoli@mmm.edu
Division Assistant:	Kate Warner kwarner@mmm.edu