It appears that this forum is pretty inactive so I’m hoping I can get at least one apply (aha). I’m an uprising senior interested in studying both creative writing and psychology. I’m not too worried about the rigor of the creative writing program at Bennington, but I am worried about the psychology program (especially because of its size - only two professors). Could anyone tell me about this program and their experience with it? Do students in this department land any credible internships or research opportunities during their FWT? About how many other students have psychology as a majors - or “concentrations” as I should say - are there at Bennington?
Hey! I’m really really hoping this response isn’t coming too late. I am a psychology student, current sophomore, and intern in the Office of Admissions here at Bennington. The psychology program, and general social sciences program, are both great! I’ve had nothing but positive experiences and I’ve only studied with one professor so far (David Anderegg). I wouldn’t be too daunted by our small psychology faculty- that will be changing really soon, not necessarily in number, but in who will be teaching, as Ron Cohen is retiring at the end of the school year. Psychology is a very popular concentration, and an even more popular as a supplemental concentration in students’ Plans, here at Bennington.
We also have lots of visiting faculty teaching in the field, as well as classes in other disciplines that focus in psychology AND another subject. For example, I took a class last term taught by a Spanish professor that combined literature and trauma studies. Talk about a collaboration of disciplines! It was actually my favorite Bennington class so far, and totally changed the trajectory of my studies. It was called Wounded Literature and was taught by Sarah Harris- you should check it out in the Spring 2015 section of our course catalogue (http://curriculum.bennington.edu/).
Students also have many opportunities to work in theoretical as well as clinical psychology during FWT- I know a student who worked as a research assistant to a psychotherapist, and there was an opportunity last year for a student to shadow a doctor in a psychiatric hospital in Maine. Sooo cool!
If you have any more questions or just want to talk about psych, feel free to email me at maevek@bennington.edu! Hope this helps
@maevek Thanks so much for your response! It isn’t late at all really; actually, I was just finishing up my last supplement for Bennington so if anything you’re very punctual
(Oh and I’ve asked about the psych department at Bennington on the student blog so depending on whenever you joined the admissions office you might’ve answered a few of my questions ^_^)
