Overview

As a psychology student at Calvin, you'll develop skills in areas like science and mathematics, research design, critical thinking and problem solving. Program highlights include:

• the flexible, 10-course major allows you to combine psychology with another major or minor
• dig deep into specific areas of psychology by choosing from over 25 different courses
• gain hands-on experience in psychology by working alongside 12 full-time professors in ongoing research
• connect psychology to real life through internships in local mental health centers, hospitals, social service agencies, research organizations, schools and businesses

Careers in Psychology

• School Counselor
• Psychotherapist
• Music or Art Therapist
• Crisis Worker
• More

See job placement rates for Calvin grads.

Student involvement

Design your own independent study; Assist a professor through a summer research fellowship; Volunteer or work at the Hope Network; Attend department-wide events, such as movies, lectures and picnics.

Course Requirements 2012-13

Psychology major

(at least 32 semester hours)

• PSYC-151 Introductory Psychology: Perspectives on the Self
• PSYC-255 Statistics and Research Design
• PSYC-256 Fundamentals of Research and Practice
• Three psychology electives
• Two 300-level psychology courses
• One 330-level psychology course
• PSYC-399 Psychology and Religion

Students must complete a minimum of 10 psychology courses AND a minimum of 32 semester hours of psychology course credit. (This means that students who take a 2 credit hour elective will need more than 10 courses total.)

Students must have a minimum grade point average of 2.00 in psychology courses to declare a psychology major.

Ordinarily a psychology interim is not considered as a general elective course for the major. With the permission of the student’s major advisor for psychology, one interim course may be substituted for a general elective course for the major. Students may include developmental psychology courses from either group A (PSYC-208 Developmental Psychology I: Child, PSYC-209 Developmental Psychology II: Adolescence and Adulthood) or group B (PSYC-201 Developmental Psychology: Lifespan, PSYC-202 Youth Faith Development and Spiritual Formation), but not both groups, as part of their major.

Students should ordinarily take PSYC-255 during their sophomore year and PSYC-256 in the semester following completion of PSYC-255. Students may not take PSYC-255 and PSYC-256 simultaneously.

When possible, students are encouraged to postpone taking 330-level courses until after the completion of PSYC-256. PSYC-399 is a course that may be taken either fall or spring semester of the senior year, or in the junior year if a student has completed a majority of the psychology courses that are required for the psychology major.

Students intending to do doctoral work in psychology are strongly encouraged to take PSYC-356 Experimental Psychology during their junior or senior year and to include more than one 330-level course in their program of study. These courses are less important for masters and/or counseling programs.

A model “four-year plan” and a “two year plan” (for those who declare their major later in their college career) are available in the psychology department office.

All majors must complete the psychology department senior assessment during their last semester on campus. Information on the senior assessment is available from the psychology department office.

Psychology minor

(at least 18 semester hours)

• PSYC-151 Introductory Psychology: Perspectives on the Self
• At least one course from:
  • PSYC-255 Statistics and Research Design
  • PSYC-330 Psychology of Motivation
  • PSYC-332 Psychology of Learning Processes
  • PSYC-333 Brain and Behavior
  • PSYC-334 Cognitive Psychology
  • PSYC-335 Health Psychology
• Four psychology electives

Students must complete a minimum of 6 psychology courses and a minimum of 18 semester hours of psychology course credit.

Students may include developmental psychology courses from either group A (PSYC-208 Developmental Psychology I: Child, PSYC-209 Developmental Psychology II: Adolescence and Adulthood) or group B (PSYC-201 Developmental Psychology: Lifespan, PSYC-202 Youth Faith Development and Spiritual Formation), but not both groups, as part of their minor.

Scholarships

Dollar amounts reflect awards given for the 2012-13 academic year.

Bolt Family Scholarship

• award amount: $3,200
• junior or senior psychology major or pursuing a pre-ministry program
• GPA 3.3+
• financial need required
• psychology students apply through the psychology department
  pre-ministry students apply through the Calvin Portal

John T. Daling Memorial Scholarship

• award amount: $2,500
• junior or senior
• GPA of 3.2+
• financial need not required
• apply through the psychology department

Lester and Viola De Boer Psychology Scholarship

• award amount: $4,700
• junior or senior
• GPA 2.5+
• financial need required; preference to students with physical disabilities or to students that have an interest in working with children with special needs
• apply through the psychology department

John and Gwendolyn Jansma Scholarship

• award amount: $1,800
• sophomore, junior or senior
• GPA of 3.5 or higher+
• financial need required
• apply through the psychology department

Cornelius A. and Lettie G. Plantinga Scholarship

• award amount: $4,400
• senior
• GPA of 3.5+
• financial need required; demonstrate a strong interest in pursuing psychology from a Christian perspective
• apply through the psychology department

Alfred J. Reynolds and Bette Reynolds Goote Scholarship in Psychology

• award amount: $2,400
• junior or senior
• GPA 2.5+
• financial need not required; preference to those interested in statistics and research design
• apply through the psychology department

Vanderploeg-Edgerly Scholarship

• award amount: $1,500
• junior or senior
• GPA of 3.0+
• financial need not required; agree to write a major paper on the topic of child sexual abuse
• apply through the psychology department or the sociology and social work department

Theodore C. Wagenaar Scholarship

• award amount: $400
• any class level
• GPA 3.0+
• financial need required; planning to participate in an off-campus interim or semester in the Southwest United States; pursuing a degree in social sciences or education, in that order
• automatic consideration

View all scholarship opportunities

Faculty

Richard Baez Counselor, Broene Counseling Center SC 368G rb27@calvin.edu (616) 526-7348 John Brink Professor of Psychology Department of Psychology SB 326 brnk@calvin.edu (616) 526-6627 Laura DeHaan Professor Department of Psychology SB 375 ldehaan@calvin.edu (616) 526-8689 Marjorie Gunnoe Professor Department of Psychology SB 373 mgunnoe@calvin.edu (616) 526-6227 Emily Helder Assistant Professor Department of Psychology SB 326 emily.helder@calvin.edu (616) 526-6396 Paul Moes Professor Department of Psychology SB 360 pmoes@calvin.edu (616) 526-8672

Blake Riek Assistant Professor Department of Psychology SB 341 bmr2@calvin.edu (616) 526-7622 Allen Shoemaker Professor Department of Psychology SB 344 shoe@calvin.edu (616) 526-8536 R. Scott Stehouwer Professor Department of Psychology SB 330 rstehouw@calvin.edu (616) 526-6228 Donald Tellinghuisen Professor Department of Psychology SB 361 dtelling@calvin.edu (616) 526-6745 Glenn Weaver Professor Department of Psychology SB 335 weav@calvin.edu (616) 526-6220 Julie Yonker Assistant Professor Department of Psychology SB 380 jey2@calvin.edu (616) 526-7668