Understanding why we behave, think, and feel as we do is a task that has engaged scholars for centuries and continues to dominate scientific and social debate.
Some people are shy, while others are outgoing or even aggressive; some people are moral, while others seem immoral; some forms of deviance are termed “insanity,” while others are termed “genius;” all children learn how to speak and to understand language quite easily, while adults often have great difficulty acquiring a new language; many people all over the world are affected by racial, ethnic, and gender-based prejudices; as humans, many of our cognitive, sexual, and perceptual traits are shared with other species, such as monkeys, rats, and horseshoe crabs.
Whether their focus is on the neural structures and hormones that mediate behavior or on how different societies evolve distinctive cultures, psychologists share the goal of understanding humans and our place in the world.
Psychology is such a diverse field that every Psychology Department must focus on a small number of topics. Students considering applying to the Boston College Psychology department should examine carefully the pages of our website that list our specific research foci: departmental areas, interdisciplinary programs, and laboratories.
The Psychology Department includes 20 full-time faculty members, plus several part-time faculty, graduate students working towards their Ph.D. or M.A., office staff, and undergraduate majors working toward their B.A. in Psychology. Faculty and most graduate student offices and laboratories are located in McGuinn Hall.
The Department office is staffed by six individuals. Please feel to contact any one of them. These people include the Department Chair, who oversees the operation of the entire department, the Director of Undergraduate Studies, who deals with most matters pertaining to undergraduates, and the Director of Graduate Program, who supervises the graduate program.