On Nov. 12, 2013, Connecticut College’s Psychology Department was selected as a recipient of the American Psychological Association (APA) Departmental Award for Culture of Service in the Psychological Sciences. The department was recognized for the extent and variety of the service it provides to the students, the field, the College and the public, both on and off campus. The award included a stipend, which the faculty intends to use for research and attendance of conferences.
The Psychology Department, which also houses the neuroscience department, has 11 faculty members, many of whom have also served on major committees, such as the APA, the New England Psychological Association (NEPA) and the Association for Women in Psychology (AWP). Faculty members have also helped to edit dozens of psychology journals. Such involvements, according to Professor of Psychology Ruth Grahn, make psychology accessible to the average person, both in and out of the field.
On campus, the department conducts research projects with students and collaborates with both the Connecticut College Counseling Services and Active Minds, an on-campus organization committed to spreading awareness about mental illnesses. Each faculty member also mentors students in pre-major, major, minor and master’s advising. As one of the most popular majors at Connecticut College, the Psychology Department also typically graduates close to 60 majors per year. The Psychology Department is also the only department on campus with a master’s program, and usually graduates around five master’s students per year.
Sophomore psychology major, Aleksandr Chandra, elaborates on the dedication of the department: “The professors are passionate about psychology and are very involved on campus. There is also collaboration with other departments through research participation and interdisciplinary education.” Emily Impellitteri ’15, a psychology major, agrees, “the interdisciplinary nature of the psychology department speaks to the idea of liberal arts.”
Off campus, many psychology professors regularly give talks to community groups and schools and have written about current psychological research for newsletters widely read by nonprofessionals, helping to “give psychology away” to a larger community. Grahn explained to the Office of College Relations in an interview for the College website that these types of service “promote access to the professional end of psychology.”
Professor of Psychology Jefferson Singer, has noted that a sort of service for others is a basis of psychology. Therefore, the department’s award for service fits the greater intention of psychology to help other people. These incredible acts of service reflect the culture of community service and activism on Connecticut College’s campus that further help to put the liberal arts in action. •