The Psychology department at Sacred Heart is the largest undergraduate program at the university. The department serves approximately 400 full-time and 75 part-time psychology majors, and provides students with an excellent foundation in research methodology and a broad exposure to many different areas of psychology. All psychology majors take four courses in research methods, in which they learn to do primary research by working on a real data collection project. These research courses are taught exclusively by full-time faculty members, and often involve having students participate in the ongoing research being conducted by these faculty members. Students are involved in all phases of the research process, and these research projects often result in publications in professional journals, such as The Journal of Social Psychology, Social Development, and The Journal of Genetic Psychology. Furthermore, students often have the opportunity to present the results of these studies at local, regional, and national conferences. Recent research topics include infant brain development, attachment styles, children's peer relationships, and attitudes toward stigmatized individuals.
Students may choose from a wide variety of electives on such topics as psychological counseling, abnormal psychology, drugs and behavior, psychology of women, sports psychology, and many others. These electives are taught primarily by full-time faculty, and some are taught by adjunct faculty who are well-known experts in their fields. Psychology majors also do a semester-long internship in a setting (educational, social service, etc.) that fits with each student's personal career goals. Students also can gain real-world experience through the community service components that are part of several psychology classes.
Psychology faculty members provide individual advising to all psychology majors, as well as hosting a workshop each year for students interested in pursuing graduate work in psychology or related fields. Several full-time faculty members are involved in activities outside the department related to professional development, such as consulting work or counseling services. Faculty members are also involved in collaborative working relationships with other faculty from Yale, University of Connecticut, Connecticut College, Emory, and a number of other universities around the country.