Psychology & Neuroscience at Yale

Students will learn to tackle these fundamental questions with the tools of psychological science. Students will learn about classic experiments in psychology, with the goal of getting a hands-on, experiential understanding of how people work and how psychologists study them. They will explore social dynamics; emotions; personality; mental illness; the nature of beliefs; neuroscience; and the relationship between the mind, brain, and body. As a capstone project, they will construct their own miniature psychology theory, design/run an experiment to test it, and present findings to the class.

Students will visit the Cushing Center at Yale University, named after one of the most important names in neurosurgery. Harvey Cushing, the pioneer and father of neurosurgery, was born on April 8, 1869, graduated from Yale University in 1891, studied medicine at Harvard Medical School and received his medical degree in 1895. In 1896, he moved to Johns Hopkins Hospital where there were countless discoveries in the field of neuroscience. The Cushing Center serves as a museum dedicated to the life and work of Dr. Cushing. It contains a collection of brain tumor specimens from Dr. Cushing's patients, photos of the patients, a range of personal documents and memorabilia related to Cushing, and some of the highlights of the Medical Historical Library's special collections.