General Information

Psychology is a diverse discipline committed to the understanding of the origins, processes, and applied significance of human and animal behavior. The study of behavior and its determinants lies at the heart of our understanding of numerous systems ranging from the biological to the economic and social. Professions like medicine, law, and business, as well as the social and life science disciplines, are intricately connected to a behavioral substrate. The most compelling reason to major in psychology should derive from your interest in probing the complexities of this behavioral and psychological substrate. While only a minority of psychology majors go on to become academic or professional psychologists, this emphasis on the understanding of the complexity of behavioral systems and principles serves students well in all their future endeavors.

At Duke, the psychology major, like other Arts and Science majors, prepares students to become well rounded, liberally educated citizens. It also is an excellent base for proceeding to advanced graduate training in the behavioral, social, biological, and health related sciences. While there are few Bachelor degree employment options directly in psychology, a B.A. or B.S. in psychology is excellent preparation for nearly any life endeavor in which an understanding of human behavior is important. Employers understand this virtue, as well as the students themselves who have benefited from the major.

Becoming a Psychology Major

You should go to the Pre-Major Center to declare a major for the first time. If you are changing a major, or adding a second major or minor, you can accomplish this at the Registrar's Office. Immediately after formally choosing Psychology as a major, come to the Undergraduate Psychology Office (Room 245). The first item of business will be choosing a faculty advisor. Your advisor is your source of the all-important PIN each semester. Double majors are entitled to advisors too since they are as fully Psychology majors as are the single majors, but they get their PINs from their first major department. Those minoring in psychology do not need an advisor, but are advised to check their progress with the DUS or Robin Dunn.

Communication with the Undergraduate Psychology Office

We have a large number of majors--around 400. The most common form of communication used by the Undergraduate Psychology Office is e-mail. Please check your e-mail regularly and get in the habit of printing important information before you delete it. Also make it a habit to check the Psychology Major's bulletin boards outside the office (Room 245), and across the hall next to 242 for current notices. To get an answer to a question, you may either e-mail, use the telephone, or drop in for a visit. If your question is one that needs clarification or if a "dialogue" is likely to be precipitated by your query, please use the telephone or come by. Robin Dunn likes meeting you and talking with you, and it is faster when the question is not "clearcut." If the question is fairly clear, short, and the answer is likely to be the same, then use e-mail: robin.dunn@duke.edu. Robin Dunn's priorities will be to deal with people walking through her door and those on the phone first. If there is a line of people at her door, e-mail will get pushed to the back.

Advising

You can discuss your educational progress at any time with the Director of Undergraduate Studies. However, you should obtain an advisor (at the Undergraduate Office) who can follow your progress more closely. You must have and use a psychology advisor if you are a first major. An advisor is your only source for your PIN. You can obtain an advisor by application at the Undergraduate Psychology Office. You may change your advisor at any time; however, remember that it is beneficial to get to know a few faculty rather well, either advisors or instructors in small classes or independent studies. Advising can be either a waste of time for both parties involved, or a meaningful and beneficial interaction. Do not expect to settle your curriculum in a brief and cursory manner!

There are a few simple points that will facilitate a useful advising session. First, come prepared! Have a plan about what you want to accomplish in the session. Have a list of the courses for which you want to register; perhaps the most wasteful sessions are those in which the students really do not know what they want to do, and they expect the advisor to decide this for them. In general, the advisor cannot do this and will not appreciate the time inefficiently expended; the student will probably not like to waste this time either. So, check the general requirements in the Bulletin and the Psychology major requirements and have a plan in mind.

Don't wait until the last few days of the advising period to schedule an appointment. Your advisor will be booked up or without additional free time. The DUS may help then, but don't expect such hurried advice to come up to your expectations. Courses that require the instructor's permission fill up rapidly. Start getting the instructor's permission early in order to get in the class of your choice.

Seniors get first choice of courses. Often sophomores, or even juniors, don't get into certain courses. Even seniors sometimes get cut out of popular courses with limited enrollment especially if they delay their registration. We regret this, but our resources are not always equal to student demand. Anticipate this; provide yourself with alternate courses of action. Consider the possibility of other small classes, or a Practicum (PSY 103) which can lead to independent studies with your favorite professor (see below). Register early with professors for "permission only" courses.