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Overview
Faculty Courses
Major
Student
Research
Opportunities
& Activities
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Undergraduate Psychology at Wheaton College
 The
Wheaton College Department of Psychology, through its undergraduate,
masters and doctoral programs, strives to educate its students
in a manner grounded in, informed by, and shaped by the
beliefs and practices of the Christian faith. We recognize
that psychology is a diverse and rich discipline and that
each student has a unique set of interests, gifts, and learning
styles. As a result, each program is designed to familiarize
students in the traditional theoretical, empirical, and
applied areas of psychology and clinical psychology, how
to conduct psychological research, and how to evaluate the
important theories and presuppositions in psychology from
a Christian perspective. The faculty represents a wide cross-section
of interests within psychology to meet this need, and is
actively involved in research funded through the College
and external funding sources.
In an
effort to provide a comprehensive training program, the undergraduate
program has chosen academic requirements that support
the needs of students wanting to pursue graduate training
as well as provide a solid liberal arts degree for students
entering the broader market. This is done through the specific
course requirements, varied electives, opportunities for
research experience in the classroom, through faculty collaboration,
the Honors Program, and internship experiences. In addition,
the department serves the greater student body by providing
a number of courses for general education credit including
Introduction to Psychology, Developmental Psychology, and Social
Psychology.
Because
psychology is a multifaceted field of study, we strive to
reflect this in the various courses that we offer. As a
psychology major, you will have the opportunity to:
- learn
about the traditional empirical areas of psychology and
clinical psychology,
- learn
how to conduct psychological research
- learn
how to evaluate the important theories and presuppositions
in psychology from a Christian perspective.
A major
in psychology is a good liberal arts degree for those students
who plan to enter the job market with a bachelor's degree.
For example, many community agencies (police departments,
community mental health facilities, half-way houses, etc.)
need people who have had some training in psychology to
work as staff or assistants. Employment is also available
within psychiatric divisions of general hospitals or in
mental health institutions. Some
of our recent graduates have gone directly into graduate
programs in clinical, counseling, developmental, physiological,
social, educational, school, and industrial psychology. Others have chosen psychologically related fields such as
personnel management, social work, guidance counseling,
or special education with developmentally delayed or emotionally
disturbed children. Information on the graduate pschology programs (Master's & Psy.D.) at Wheaton.
Our
departmental facilities include a number of conference and
seminar rooms and a Child Development Laboratory. The department is also home to the
Robert G. Vautin Memorial Laboratory in the basement of
the BGC, in which animal learning studies, sensation/perception
work, and human research (such as social or personality
psychology) can take place.
Psychology
Majors and Minors have the opportunity to become a member
of the Wheaton College chapter of Psi Chi, the National
Honor Society in psychology. Psi Chi offers a variety of
educational and social activities for all psychology students
throughout the school year.
The
Department annually sponsors several lectures by distinguished
psychologists. The most important of these is the annual
Scandrette Lecture during the school year. In addition,
the Department has a yearly meeting for all students considering
an internship experience. A day-long department-wide graduation celebration of all our psychology department graduates is a highlight of the year.
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