as the title suggests, i’m in search of LACs that are particularly strong in BOTH history and psychology, not just one, for i want to attempt to double major in these two subjects.
bowdoin, williams, swarthmore, and reed are all on my list (although, the academic rigor of the latter two frightens me a tad… oh, well! i live for a challenge), but i was wondering if you all had more suggestions.
should grinnell be added? vassar? help, please! haha.
disclaimer: if a college is super strong in one of the two but slightly lacking in the other, go ahead and suggest it! i’m absolutely all ears for this. no suggestion can be bad!
If the schools in reply #2 represent the standard, then Bates and Holy Cross would seem to be the two obvious choices for the OP.
Interestingly, but not surprisingly, current and former Sister schools seem to be disproportionately regarded highly by PR for the study of psychology.
However, irrespective of the above, I’d recommend you consider additional curricular factors such as flexibility with respect to double-majoring in general and, most importantly, overall fit factors when selecting your college, @kalons.
Honestly I think that many LACs will be strong in both of those subjects. My D recently graduated from Lafayette and I might add that as a somewhat less competitive admissions-wise LAC that is strong in both areas.
Not on the lists above - but I would recommend Claremont McKenna College for both psychology and history. (My older S has a psych degree from there and he had great opportunities in the field for internships and in their institutes. He did take courses at Pitzer, Scripps and Pomona, as well.) I know CMC always comes up for Econ - but it’s really strong in much of the humanities.
@SpiritManager i’ve actually been paying VERY close attention to the claremont consortium as well as the quaker consortium! thank you for mentioning that
@kalons - I recommend that you look at the actual course listings for history and psychology at the schools which are of interest. You’ll find there can be quite a different direction/emphasis. For instance, my other S went to Bard College, which has a fabulous history department and is also strong in psychology - but the course offerings in Psych are different than the ones at CMC - or, at least, were. You may be more drawn to theoretical than practical or vice versa. The departments of these schools might start to differentiate themselves. You can also research some of the professors in the departments and their interests & experience.
With respect to researching psychology departments, the strongest and broadest will offer instruction in the major subfields of modern psychology: biological/physiological, clinical, cognitive, developmental, social, personality, educational and sensory. You may want to look for these curricular aspects (either as individual courses or as components within courses) to the extent that they interest you, as well as for opportunities for research and fieldwork.
Clark University, in Massachusetts, is the gold standard for a psychology major and the college’s undergraduate program is the size of a small liberal arts college, although there are a few MA and doctoral programs as well. It is the only college in the United States where Freud lectured and thus the place where Freud introduced psychoanalysis to America, its former president G. Stanley Hall founded the American Psychological Association, and its psychology program maintains a stellar reputation to this day.
It is highly respected by psychodynamically oriented psychologists (such as my husband and his colleagues… although my husband went to Vassar for undergrad and Ferkauf at Yeshiva for his doctorate).
@kalons, History and Psychology are the bread and butter of liberal arts colleges – small, medium and large – and most have solid programs. Because small LACs vary greatly by character and culture you’d be better off choosing the schools on your list by fit rather than department. For example, the culture of Williams is very different from Reed. The culture of Swarthmore is very different from Bowdoin.
Of course it’s possible to like more than one environment, but chances are you would be happier at one or the other. After you’ve narrowed down your list by personality type, then make sure you have a balanced list of reach/match/safety. And be sure to consider your financial situation as well.
For those who are aware of Skinner’s deep reaching influences – across both the field of psychology and popular culture – this reply, by calling attention also to the longevity of these influences, serves to underscore the relevance of @apple23 's comment, particularly as regards a field in which the early pantheon were largely European.
You’re really going to draw a connection between the fact that Skinner attended in the 1920s and majored in English at Hamilton and the merit of that as an endorsement of the psychology department of the college in 2018? If you want to speak to current professors, curriculum, and other attributes that Hamilton’s Psychology Dept. possesses, that would be valid, IMO. Skinner’s body of work in Psychology was not formulated during his time at Hamilton. Interesting trivia but not a current endorsement of the department. However, I do see that the poster of that comment has subsequently and accurately edited the original comment to reflect Skinner’s time at Hamilton as more of an interesting tidbit of info.
