The Psychology Program cultivates an environment where teaching and research mutually inform one another by supporting faculty research; providing opportunities for students to become engaged in research during the academic year and summer; encouraging students to gain internships and externships; and hosting speakers from other institutions.
Faculty and students of the Bard Psychology Program.
About the Program
All program courses strive to introduce students to foundational content in psychology’s subfields (see below); take a multilevel approach to answering psychological questions; engage students in integrative, critical thinking about the mechanisms underlying human thought and behavior; educate students in the process of science as it applies to human behavior; and prepare students to excel in their chosen place in an interdependent global society.
The program provides grounding in the areas of abnormal psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, neuroscience, and social psychology. In brief, abnormal psychology is both an applied discipline and a research-oriented science that pertains to the study of psychopathology (psychological disorders, atypical development) and personality.
Areas of Study
Cognitive psychology seeks to understand how the human brain governs action, imagination, decision making, and communication.
Developmental psychology involves the study of change (growth and decline) over the life span, including changes in cognition, social interaction, and brain development.
Neuroscience focuses on understanding the structure and function of the central and peripheral nervous systems as it investigates questions of brain and behavioral development, normal brain function, and disease processes.
Finally, social psychology is the scientific study of people in their social contexts, emphasizing the empirical study of behavior and social thought, preferences, and feelings about oneself, one’s social groups, and others.
Our Mission
The mission of Bard’s Psychology Program is to serve a foundational role in engaging the College and broader community with the science of human behavior. The program serves as a hub for the mind and behavioral sciences through curricular and cocurricular offerings that augment the course of study for all students, especially those in the Divisions of Social Studies and Science, Mathematics, and Computing, as well as through the Mind, Brain, and Behavior Program. The offerings of the Pyschology Program reflect the field’s enormous breadth, covering topics ranging from genes to social systems.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Diversity is a vital foundation for innovation, leadership, and cultural awareness.
The Psychology Program believes that Psychology is a major in which any Bard student can succeed, and we strive to make the Program one in which students in all courses feel like they belong. The Program believes that diversity is a vital foundation for innovation, leadership, and cultural awareness, and we strive to create an inclusive and accessible environment through continual efforts in pedagogy, curriculum, and advising. We aim to foster a welcoming environment that represents opportunities for all students through inclusive representation and promotion of voices historically marginalized because of such factors as race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, religion, nationality, immigration status, age, political affiliation, and physical ability.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
The Psychology Program believes that Psychology is a major in which any Bard student can succeed, and we strive to make the Program one in which students in all courses feel like they belong. The Program believes that diversity is a vital foundation for innovation, leadership, and cultural awareness, and we strive to create an inclusive and accessible environment through continual efforts in pedagogy, curriculum, and advising. We aim to foster a welcoming environment that represents opportunities for all students through inclusive representation and promotion of voices historically marginalized because of such factors as race, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, religion, nationality, immigration status, age, political affiliation, and physical ability.
We recognize that Bard College exists within systemic patterns of cultural and economic oppression that have denied certain groups equal access to education and power. To be a genuinely equitable community, we must welcome and enact change and transformation, and we commit to the continual creation and strengthening of opportunities for equal access both in and outside of the classroom. This commitment necessitates that we create a community that encourages the expression of diverse perspectives, supports learning and work that is free from discrimination and harassment, promotes inclusion and respect, and regularly evaluates progress toward meeting diversity goals.
Supporting a diverse and inclusive environment is everyone’s responsibility. The Program takes seriously our own role in actively contributing to social equality, empowering individuals to share their unique experiences, challenging stereotypes, promoting critical thinking skills, and becoming engaged citizens.
We will continue teaching courses highlighting systemic inequalities, integrating this content into our other courses, and introducing new courses that respond to the impact of racism, stigma, and inequality.
We will incorporate inclusive teaching practices in our courses, and encourage students in all classes to treat one another with dignity and respect.
We commit to auditing our syllabi to increase readings from researchers of all backgrounds.
We work to create inclusive environments in our courses.
Results from Fall 2020 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Climate Survey
Documents can be accessed only when logged into your Bard account:
Psychologist Sarah Dunphy-Lelii Considers the Politics of Sudden Power Transfer Among Chimpanzees
In “The Chimpanzee Wars,” a recent post to Wild Cousins, her Psychology Today UK blog, Associate Professor of Psychology Sarah Dunphy-Lelii engages in a thought experiment about how the state of knowing and of understanding of who knows and who doesn’t know could potentially impact the politics of power transfer within dominance hierarchies of chimpanzees.
Psychologist Sarah Dunphy-Lelii Considers the Politics of Sudden Power Transfer Among Chimpanzees
In “The Chimpanzee Wars,” a recent post to Wild Cousins, her Psychology Today UK blog, Associate Professor of Psychology Sarah Dunphy-Lelii engages in a thought experiment about how the state of knowing and of understanding of who knows and who doesn’t know could potentially impact the politics of power transfer within dominance hierarchies of chimpanzees.
Among more than 200 Ngogo chimpanzees living in Kibale National Park, Uganda, one undisputed alpha named Jackson ruled for years until internal conflicts split the largest known chimpanzee community into two warring factions—Westerners and Centrallers. After Jackson is killed from injuries sustained in a battle, no younger alpha males step up to seize leadership of the Centrallers. A likely explanation, according to researchers, is that they didn’t know Jackson was dead. Only one Centraller, a potential alpha named Peterson, witnessed his death, and none found his body. Theoretically, Peterson could have used this position to his advantage. “Chimpanzees are socially sophisticated. Their dominance hierarchies are not based solely on physical strength. What we might call politics—the accumulation of social capital through strategic alliances over time—play a significant role in the rise to leadership. Under conditions like this one, between the Westerners and the Centrallers, insight into others’ states of knowledge could be decisive,” writes Dunphy-Lelii. She notes, however, that evidence to date suggests chimps, like Peterson, are not using this information the way humans would.
Bard College alumnus Liam Gomez ’22 is among the first Peace Corps volunteers to return to overseas service since the agency’s unprecedented global evacuation in March 2020. The Peace Corps suspended global operations and evacuated nearly 7,000 volunteers from more than 60 countries at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bard College Alumnus Liam Gomez ’22 Among the First Peace Corps Volunteers to Return to Service Overseas
Bard College alumnus Liam Gomez ’22 is among the first Peace Corps volunteers to return to overseas service since the agency’s unprecedented global evacuation in March 2020. The Peace Corps suspended global operations and evacuated nearly 7,000 volunteers from more than 60 countries at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gomez, from Red Hook, New York, graduated in 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He will serve as an education volunteer in the nation of Georgia. He first became interested in the Peace Corps while he was studying abroad in Russia on a Bard language intensive program. He enjoys both speaking and writing in the Russian language, a language he acquired at Bard.
“The Peace Corps was always an option thrown around to employ my language skills post-graduation. I also always love a change of scenery and the challenges that will come from this experience, although daunting, excite me more than anything else,” said Gomez. “I see the Peace Corps as a perfect opportunity for both personal growth and helping others.”
In a recently published article about Gomez, the Red Hook Daily Catch writes "he formally applied to the corps in July 2021 at the height of the pandemic, specifically asking to be sent to Ukraine or Georgia, with the hope of improving his Russian language skills. Georgia attracted him for other reasons, too, notably the food and family culture. Known for khachapuri, a flat cake with cheese, meat, or steamed fish, Georgian cuisine is also famous for various sweet pastries. ‘Their country sounded very alluring,’ Gomez said. ‘The food, how closely and tightly knit the families are, Georgian cheese, it all sounded great.’"
The Peace Corps volunteer cohorts are made up of both first-time volunteers and volunteers who were evacuated in early 2020. Upon finishing a three-month training, volunteers will collaborate with their host communities on locally prioritized projects in one of Peace Corps’ six sectors—agriculture, community economic development, education, environment, health or youth in development—and all will engage in COVID-19 response and recovery work.
Currently, the agency is recruiting volunteers to serve in 56 countries around the world at the request of host country governments, to connect through the Peace Corps grassroots approach across communities and cultures. Volunteers have already returned to a total of 47 countries around the world. The Peace Corps continues to monitor COVID-19 trends in all of its host countries and will send volunteers to serve as conditions permit. Americans interested in transformative service and lifelong connections should apply to Peace Corps service at www.peacecorps.gov/apply. Apply before April 1 to make a global connection by fall 2023.
Isabel Polletta’s 2020 Senior Project at Bard has led to a published study in Frontiers in Psychology. Her research with Assistant Professor of Psychology Richard Lopez, who was her Senior Project adviser, has now been published as “Regulating self-image on Instagram: Links between social anxiety, Instagram contingent self-worth, and content control behaviors.”
Senior Project by Isabel Polletta ’20 MAT ’21 Leads to Published Study on Regulation of Self-Image on Instagram
Isabel Polletta’s 2020 Senior Project at Bard has led to a published study in Frontiers in Psychology. Her research with Assistant Professor of Psychology Richard Lopez, who was her Senior Project adviser, has now been published as “Regulating self-image on Instagram: Links between social anxiety, Instagram contingent self-worth, and content control behaviors.”