BA Psychology
Overview
Our Psychology faculty are passionate about issues like human development, motivation, relationships, and mental health. We will provide you with numerous opportunities for growth and a better understanding of yourself and others in our nurturing environment. Challenged, encouraged, and supported, you will become self directed and able to analyze and solve problems.
This program is designed to help you go to graduate school; achieve your goals to work in the field of human services; or become a better sales person, communicator, or employer. Our program provides students a strong foundational overview of the various disciplines within the practice of psychology and is currently the only undergraduate program in New Hampshire that fulfills the core competencies required to work in the field at the bachelor’s level.
Available Concentration:
Human Services
Program Details
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Live What You Learn
- You will engage in real-life application of psychology through service projects, educational and inspiring internships, and site visits to local agency and direct service providers.
- You will work directly with psychology practitioners in the field.
- Along with exploring the application of psychology as a helping profession, you will learn to generate original findings by conducting your own research. You will be trained to use science to provide explanations of human behavior and attitudes and utilize and develop your observation and reasoning skills to generate sound answers.
- Many students present their research at local, regional, and national conferences. You May also take a leadership role and help host campus-wide educational events for others in the NEC community.
- Students are also challenged to compete and test their knowledge in the annual “PsychCup” at the New Hampshire Psychological Association meeting.
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Career Opportunities
- Social work
- Direct service with a variety of clientele, including individuals with autism, development delays, and emotional difficulties
- Counseling
- Criminal Justice
- Law
- Teaching
- Business
- Medicine and Nursing
Hidden Gem: NEC’s Summer Undergraduate Research Program
For more than a decade, NEC’s Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) has been quietly helping students embark on their science and healthcare careers. Each summer, students do real research and present their work at the NH-INBRE Conference.
SURP is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), specifically the IDeA Network of Biological Research Excellence (INBRE) grant, which encourages students to pursue graduate programs in biomedical research. The program offers NEC’s students in Biology, Biology—Conservation Biology, Health Science, Kinesiology, Psychology, and Psychology—Human Services the opportunity to do paid research alongside NEC faculty members during the eight-week program.
“We have enough funding to pay approximately 12 students each year,” explains Dr. James Newcomb, Professor of Biology and Health Science and Co-Director of the Center for Undergraduate Science Research, “And every year, we have more applicants than we have spots available.”
Faculty
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Alexander Walsh
Assistant Professor, Psychology
Office: Science Building 116A, Henniker Campus
Phone: 603.428.2231
Email: awalsh1@nec.eduExpertise
Lead presenter on assessing student learning and sole presenter on resilience in the classroom for the 2021 NEC Assessment Conference.Educational Background
- EdD in Counseling Psychology with specialization In Sport Psychology, Boston University
- MA in Clinical Psychology, American International College
- BA in Elementary Education, American International College
Research Interests
- Resilience In higher education
- Assessment of student learning
Bio
Alex Walsh came to NEC in 2018 after serving as an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Mount Ida College from 2014–2018. Alex teaches a range of classes, from lower-level classes such as Introduction to Psychology and Writing and Research in Psychology, to higher-level classes such as Cognitive Psychology and Neuropsychology.Alex focuses his work outside of teaching on the importance of assessment of student learning and resilience in higher education. Alex’s assessment work centers on the importance of clear course learning outcomes driving the process of assessment, which has implications at the course and program level. Alex has also begun to run intervention and non-intervention research on psychological factors that influence healthy academic and psychological functioning. Alex’s goal is to uncover trends across multiple years of research that can help Inform optimal practices that promote students’ healthy academic and psychological functioning. Alex has presented his work in both topic areas and looks forward to sharing more of his work in academic settings in the future.
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Sarah Gunnery
Assistant Professor, Psychology
Office: Science Building 118A, Henniker Campus
Phone: 603.428.2270
Email: sgunnery@nec.eduExpertise and Awards
- Principal investigator, The Effects of Facial Masking on Health-Related Quality of Life in Care Partners of People with Parkinson’s Disease
- NH-INBRE Seed Grant (P20GM103506): $20,000 (July 1, 2020–June 20, 2021); Facial Action Coding System Certified
Educational Background
PhD in Psychology, Northeastern University
MA in Psychology, Northeastern University
BA in Psychology, Stonehill CollegeResearch interests
- Nonverbal behavior
- Facial expression in people with chronic health conditions
- Smiling
- Expressive control
- Aging
- Gender
- Accuracy in person perception
Bio
Sarah Gunnery has been a member of the psychology department faculty since 2018. Before coming to NEC, she was a postdoctoral fellow in the department of Occupational Therapy at Tufts University, where she completed a federally funded project to map the social and emotional function of the Parkinsonian face. Her research focuses on stigma and quality life in people with chronic health conditions that affect nonverbal communication. She specifically studies facial masking in people with Parkinson’s disease and compensatory strategies to help people with Parkinson’s disease communicate emotion in their face more accurately. Dr. Gunnery serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior and is a member of the American Psychological Association and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
Degree Requirements
Psychology, General, B.A.
Requirements
Students must complete the core and concentration courses below. A C or higher is required in all 1000 and 2000 level courses. A student May not earn more than two "C‐" grades in courses at the 3000 level or higher.
Psychology Core Courses
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PS 1110 - Introduction to Psychology
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PS 2050 - Social Psychology
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PS 2100 - Careers in Psychology
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PS 2110 - Writing and Research in Psychology
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PS 2160 - Life‐Span Development
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PS 2310 - Statistics for the Social Sciences
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PS 3210 - Perspectives in Mental Health and Mental Health Disorders
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PS 3260 - Cognitive Psychology
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PS 4100 - Professional Preparation in Psychology
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PS 4220 - Research Methods I
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PS 4260 - Neuropsychology
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PS 4400 - Research Methods II
General Psychology Concentration
Complete at least 8 credits in Psychology courses to be composed of:
- 4 Credits at the 4000 level from the list of applied and engaged elective courses. (Students must have taken the necessary prerequisites).
- Only 4 credits May be Special Topics courses (numbered 1990, 2990, 3990 or 4990).
Liberal Arts & Sciences Core Curriculum, Bachelor's Degree
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LAS 1000 - Bridges to Learning
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WR 1010 - Composition
or approved LAS Writing Course.
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MT 1100 - Quantitative Reasoning
(MT courses numbered higher than 1100 are acceptable)
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LAS 1 (LAS 1110) - The Natural Environment - Understanding Our Place in the Natural World
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LAS 2 (LAS 1120) - The Civic Environment - Democratic Values
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LAS 3 (LAS 2110) - Creative Arts
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LAS 4 (LAS 2120) - Social Sciences
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LAS 5 (LAS 2130) - Natural and Biological Sciences
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LAS 6 (LAS 2140) - Humanities
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LAS 7 (LAS 3110) - Global Perspectives
- LAS Elective Credits: 4 (One additional course that meets any LAS requirement or combination of two 2-credit approved electives.)
Electives
Select additional electives to reach 120 credits for a Bachelor's degree.