2026-2027 Academic Catalog

May 05, 2026

2026-2027 Academic Catalog

Psychology Major

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Frances L. Hiatt School of Psychology

The Frances L. Hiatt School of Psychology, formed in 1987, has a major endowment provided through the generous support of the Hiatt family, and provides support for a number of psychology-related activities and functions, including opportunities for organizing and attending conferences, graduate fellowships, and travel and research activities for the school’s faculty and students.

Psychology Overview

The department provides educational experiences that both contribute to liberal-arts education and prepare students for careers after Clark University, including graduate work in psychology or related disciplines. The program emphasizes the role of psychological scholarship in understanding human behavior and experience. The program culminates in small and intensive capstone courses that offer students an opportunity to participate fully in the theoretical and research life of the department.

For more information, please visit the Psychology Department’s website.

Declaring a Psychology Major

A student nearing the end of their sequence of introductory orientation courses should contact the Psychology Department Administrator to declare a major and be assigned a psychology adviser. A student can declare their major anytime but no later than the end of sophomore year.

Major Requirements

There are ten course requirements in the Psychology major. The six introductory Orientation courses provide a foundation in the content and method of psychology, and should normally be completed by the end of the sophomore year. These include the three Introduction and Methods courses and a minimum of three courses from the broad-topic Foundation courses (please see Degree Audit for more information).

Students must earn a minimum course grade of C- in order to receive major credit in Psychology. Courses taken Pass/Fail will not be accepted toward major.

Orientation Courses

Introduction and Methods Courses

Students must successfully complete PSYC 101, PSYC 108, and PSYC 109 or PSYC 110.

Foundation Courses:

Students must complete three (3) courses within PSYC 120-179 range.

PSYC 120-144 are broad-topic courses in learning, human sexuality, health psychology, interpersonal psychology, and cognition.

PSYC 150-156 are broad-topic courses in human development and cultural psychology. Students may only count (1) of these courses towards the Foundation requirement.

PSYC 170-179 are broad-topic courses in social and clinical psychology. Students may only count (1) PSYC 170 or PSYC 171 towards the Foundation requirement.

Exploration Courses

Majors must take at least two mid-level Exploration courses that provide experience with the fundamental activities of academic psychology and its application to psychological practice, including the analysis and interpretation of psychological literatures and the conduct of psychological investigations, professional practice, or community-engaged work. Students complete at least one each of the following types of mid-level courses by the end of the junior year: a First Seminar (PSYC 236-259) and a Practicing Psychology component (PSYC 200-235 and/or 200+ PoP course).

First Seminars (PSYC 236-259)

The mid-level First Seminars focus on the attentive analysis of psychological texts, the articulation of opinions concerning psychological issues, and the use of library and reference skills in psychological writing.

Practicing Psychology (PSYC 200-235)

Practicing Psychology courses offer opportunities for developing and honing your research skills through labs and research courses as well as practical application through internship courses, such as PSYC 208/PSYC 209 and PSYC 211.

Labs

The mid-level one-semester Lab Courses focus on doing psychological research including planning, data collection, analysis, interpretation and presentation. The laboratory requirement may also be fulfilled by taking a research course in one of the faculty labs.

Research Courses

Research Courses are opportunities to participate in faculty and/or graduate student research projects, in all stages of the research process from conceptualization to presentation. The work normally terminates in a ClarkFEST presentation and in some cases may result in co-authorship of a scholarly paper or a conference presentation. Students desiring to join a research course should make arrangements with a faculty sponsor well in advance. In approaching faculty members to make these arrangements, students should bear in mind that research courses are taken on as an addition to a faculty member’s normal teaching load and space is limited. Many of the faculty research labs require a two-semester commitment. In such cases, if taken as a full unit of credit, the first semester fulfills the mid-level research credit. The second semester may count as either an additional general unit of credit or, upon completion of an independent project, may count in fulfillment of the capstone research requirement (PSYC 292-Capstone Research), at the discretion of the faculty.

Internships

Practicing Psychology Internships combine classroom learning with first-hand experience. Students attend a weekly, three-hour seminar and complete a placement at a local community organization (10 hrs/week). There are two options for completing internships which satisfy this requirement:

PSYC 208/PSC 209 is a two-semester academic year internship.

PSYC 211 is a single spring semester internship.

Capstone Experience

Capstone courses provide an opportunity for Psychology students to integrate and apply their learning. While various topical areas are covered and some students enroll in seminars while others become involved in research or honors, all students are involved in some sort of open-ended project (individual or group) that is defined and carried forward by the student. One goal of the Psychology capstone is to demonstrate breadth and depth of knowledge as well as skills used in the practice of psychology. In addition, the capstone in Psychology provides a chance for students to demonstrate accomplishment of Clark’s Liberal Education goals and the ability to apply this learning in a project related to psychology.

The capstone experience is required of all students and is the final requirement of the Psychology major.

Capstone Seminars (PSYC 260-296)

Capstone Seminars are open to undergraduates (primarily juniors and seniors) and, in many cases, to graduate students, and are taught at or near the graduate level. Six to eight capstone seminars are taught each year on a rotating basis, with themes that are reflective of the broad thematic interests of the department around topics in developmental, social, and clinical psychology. These courses generally involve reading primary sources, class discussion, and writing research papers.

Capstone Research (PSYC 292)

These courses are by faculty permission only. Capstone research students should expect to write a substantial research report describing the theory, methods, statistical method, results and conclusions of the independent project they conducted. The second semester of conducting research in a faculty lab may also be counted for capstone research credit at the discretion of the faculty.

Psychology Honors (PSYC 297)

The Psychology Honors Program is a two-semester sequence whose focus is to guide honors students through the design and execution of an independent honors research project under the guidance of one or more faculty mentors. These collaborations typically occur in individual meetings, as well as group meetings as part of the faculty member’s research team. This research provides the basis for a thesis that, upon completion, is presented and defended by the student before an examining committee and the student’s project advisor.

Honors work in psychology is open to students who have demonstrated high scholastic achievement and the motivation and ability to work as scholars; students considering graduate study in psychology or another related discipline are strongly encouraged to consider applying to the program. Students interested in pursuing an Honors project should try to identify a faculty supervisor as early as the end of the sophomore year, as some faculty members may require enrollment in their research lab during junior year in order to start developing the Honors thesis. Honors applications are submitted to the Department in the spring of junior year.

Students accepted into the Honors Program should consult with their faculty mentor on a timeline for completion of the project, including applications to IRB, if needed. Honors students are encouraged to present their projects at ClarkFEST, the university’s student research festival.

Students must complete two (2) semesters of PSYC 297.
Students must complete one (1) PSYC 266 Advanced Qualitative Methods or one (1) Graduate Statistics.

Internship (PSYC 298) and Directed Studies (PSYC 299)

Internships and Directed Studies may count as University credits, but do not count toward the Psychology major requirements. Students who wish to do an internship in Psychology for major credit may do so in fulfillment of the mid-level Research requirement by enrolling in PSYC 208 /PSYC 209 or PSYC 211 , which is offered in the spring semester.

Minor or Cluster Requirement

In addition to the ten major requirements, Psychology majors fulfill a minor or cluster requirement. This requirement reflects the conviction of the faculty that all academic areas are usefully related to psychology and that understanding the relation between psychology and another discipline requires knowing that other discipline in considerable depth. A related field is generally a recognized six-course concentration, minor, or second major. Alternatively, a student may choose to complete a cluster of related classes, which consists of any pattern of six courses, excluding psychology courses, which the psychology faculty adviser has approved as providing depth of knowledge in a discipline related to psychology. Exceptions allowing the inclusion of one psychology course in the cluster may be granted at the discretion of the faculty advisor. Please note that department-approved clusters do not appear on a student’s transcript or diploma.

The department will accept one pre-approved School of Professional Studies Undergraduate (SPS UG) course in the fulfillment of the cluster requirement, in addition to one departmentally pre-approved SPS UG course in Psychology toward the fulfillment of the major requirements.

Psychology Elective

Students must complete any one (1) Psychology elective. The elective may be from Orientation, Exploration or Capstone coursework.

Transfer and AP Courses for Psychology Major Credit

Transfer Credits

The Psychology Department accepts up to five transfer courses to count toward the major requirements, one of which can be a 200-level course at the discretion of the faculty.

AP credits: Students who receive a 4 or a 5 score on the Psychology AP exam can use that to satisfy the department requirement Psychology 101. The department does not accept the AP Statistics course as a waiver for PSYC 105-Statistics.

Students transferring to Clark from another institution: If you have transferred to Clark from another university and have Psychology courses already approved for university credit, these courses can then be considered for fulfilling major credit by the Psychology department. Transfer students wishing to have courses from another institution reviewed for major credit should set up a meeting with the Psychology Department Administrator prior to beginning their coursework at Clark to formally declare the major and to review transfer credits as fulfilling major requirements.

Psychology Majors requests to transfer summer or study abroad courses: Declared majors who wish to obtain major credit for summer or study abroad coursework should send an electronic copy of the syllabus for faculty review to the Psychology Department Administrator prior to enrolling.

All transfer courses must also be approved through Clark’s Academic Advising Office.

Psychology Faculty

Program Faculty

Andrew Stewart, Ph.D. - Department Chair
Michael Addis, Ph.D.
Michael Bamberg, Ph.D.
Nancy Budwig, Ph.D.
Esteban Cardemil, Ph.D.
James Córdova, Ph.D.
Alena Esposito, Ph.D.
Jessica Glazier, Ph.D.
Abbie Goldberg, Ph.D.
Amy Heberle, Ph.D.
Ana K. Marcelo, Ph.D.
Nicole Overstreet, Ph.D.
Kathleen Palm Reed, Ph.D.
Johanna Ray Vollhardt, Ph.D.

Clinical Faculty

Kathleen Palm Reed, Ph.D. - Director of Clinical Training (Fall 2025)
Abbie Goldberg, Ph.D. - Director of Clinical Training (Spring 2026)
Amy Heberle, Ph.D. - Associate Director of Clinical Training
Michael Addis, Ph.D.
Esteban Cardemil, Ph.D.
James Cordova, Ph.D.

Developmental Faculty

Ana K. Marcelo, Ph.D. - Head of Developmental Program
Nancy Budwig, Ph.D.
Michael Bamberg, Ph.D.
Alena Esposito, Ph.D.
Samantha Francois, Ph.D.

Social Faculty

Nicole Overstreet, Ph.D. - Head of Social Program
Jessica Glazier, Ph.D.
Johanna Ray Vollhardt, Ph.D
Andrew Stewart, Ph.D.

Visiting Faculty

Michael Miller, Ph.D.

Research Faculty

Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, Ph.D.
Joseph de Rivera, Ph.D.
Rachel Joffe Falmagne, Ph.D.
Lene Arnett Jensen, Ph.D.
Elena Zaretsky, Ph.D.

Faculty Emeritus

Joseph de Rivera, Ph.D.
Rachel Joffe Falmagne, Ph.D.
Wendy Grolnick, Ph.D.
Nicholas Thompson, Ph.D.
Jaan Valsiner, Ph.D.
Marianne Wiser, Ph.D.

Affiliate Faculty

Ashley Hart, Ph.D
Christina Hatgis, Ph.D.
Phoebe Moore, Ph.D.

Courses

Courses offered within the last 2 Academic Years