Psychology Learning Opportunities
As a Psychology major at MSUM, you’ll gain valuable real-world experience outside of the classroom when you join organizations, attend conferences and land meaningful internships. And by participating and working closely with faculty on research projects and utilizing our psychology labs, you’ll have the opportunity to build a professional portfolio and exponentially expand your knowledge.
Discover how the brain shapes perception in MSUM’s Cognitive Neuroscience Lab. The lab offers psychology students the chance to engage in groundbreaking research that uncovers how individual experiences, expectations, and cognitive mechanisms affect how we understand the world. Explore topics that help illuminate the complexities of the mind.
While internships aren’t required as part of the Psychology program, they’re a great way to gain hands-on experience in your specific area of interest. You can earn up to 12 credits for your internships. Internship opportunities include:
- Youth outreach
- Juvenile and adult corrections
- Elder services
- Halfway house and shelter work
- Vocational rehabilitation
- Human resources
Psi Chi is the National Honor Society in Psychology. Acceptance to this organization is based on academic performance.
When you join Psychology Club, you’ll have access to an abundance of opportunities. This student organization is dedicated to students with an interest in the scientific study of psychology. You’ll be able to attend social events, gather information on careers and graduate schools, and make a positive impact in the community through volunteer opportunities.
If you want to live in an educational environment surrounded by others with the same passion for human services the Human Services learning community is for you. Learning communities provide outstanding opportunity to increase academic success and make connections with those in your major like criminal justice, psychology, social work or sociology.
The Red River Psychology Conference is a student-centered conference that provides students in the tri-college area (e.g., Concordia College, MSUM, NDSU) and beyond with a valuable opportunity for professional presentation and review of their work. The conference attracts undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty from the tri-college community, as well as surrounding colleges, professional schools, and research institutions. You’ll be able to assist in organizing and running a conference, and present your research in your own backyard.
This online academic resource produced by the MSUM Psychology Department is for students, faculty and alumni. The Red River Psychology Journal showcases student research being conducted at MSUM and allows you to be part of the scientific publication process.
The Psychology program encourages faculty-mentored research, and interested undergraduates may conduct an advanced individual research project. Student research contributes to the creation of new knowledge, sharpens critical and analytical thinking skills, enhances confidence, prepares students for graduate-level study, and clarifies career goals. Students often present their research at the Red River Psychology Conference and the MSUM Student Academic Conference. Some student researchers may also present at national or international meetings and conferences, such as the Midwestern Psychological Association, Minnesota Undergraduate Psychology, Vision Sciences Society, Council for Exceptional Children, Acoustical Society of America, Society for Neuroscience, among others.
Our student-focused program gives majors a wide range of professional experiences. All faculty conduct research and supervise undergraduate projects. Graduate students often involve undergraduates in their research as well. The opportunity for one-on-one interactions with faculty in the department promotes additional learning and lends itself to meaningful recommendations for students to secure jobs or to obtain acceptance into graduate school.
Recent Psychology student research projects:
- Post-High School Aspirations of American Indian Students
- Artistic Quality by Beauty and Interestingness
- Artistic Quality by Complexity and Type of Emotion
- Getting to Know You: Differing Perceptions of Online verses Face–to–Face Self–Disclosures and Satisfaction in College Females
- How You Read to Kids Matters: Efficacy of Specific Techniques in Repeated Read Alouds
- Media’s Influence on Body Image: An Eye Tracking Study
Recent faculty-mentored research projects:
- Social and Normative Influences on Health-Related Attitudes and Behaviors
- Spoken Word Recognition
- Memory Performance and False Recognitions
- Computer Attitudes and Computer Phobia
- Infant Depth Perception
- Application of Psychological Principles to the Challenge of Food Safety