When making the next big step in one’s academic career, it may be hard to decide which way you should go. Everyone chooses their own career path that best suits their personality and what they want to do with their life after college. Gannon University has many programs to suit almost every area of interest and career type, and can provide you with the tools needed to make your dream career path become a reality. One of the most popular programs on campus is the psychology program offered through CHESS, or the College of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education. We spoke to Dr. Caswell, one of Gannon’s psychology professors, about the psychology program here.
Dr. Caswell has been teaching here at Gannon for over three years. Before teaching at Gannon, Dr. Caswell taught high school classes in China and is bilingual, being able to speak both English and standard mandarin. Once I got to know more about Dr. Caswell, we started to talk more about the psychology program offered here on the Gannon campus.
The psychology program consists of over 70 students, including many students who are minoring in psychology. There is no application or prior experience necessary to join. While many high schools offer AP classes in psychology, they are not required to declare a psychology major or minor.
When asked what students can expect from the classes offered in the psychology program, Dr. Caswell had some wisdom to offer.
“It depends on your instructor and topic,” says Caswell. “There are many different subfields that branch off of psychology. It depends on what you want to study.”
There are many common misconceptions people have when it comes to understanding what the psychology major is about. One of the most common according to Dr. Caswell is that many students come in thinking they are being trained only to be health professionals, and will be able to open their own practice once they come out of college. Instead, they are being trained to apply what they learn in many different job areas. While many believe that with a psychology major you can only be a psychiatrist, there are more opportunities with the degree than most know. Many alumni of the psychology program go on to be attorneys or counselors in the workplace.
With all of this information about the psychology major offered through the CHESS program here at Gannon, one can formulate a good idea of what they are to expect when entering the program. With no prior knowledge necessary to enter, the psychology program is great for those who are trying to find out what they want to do with their college education. In addition to this, the program offers a lot of opportunity for work after college other than work in the health profession.
“Students should know that the program is taught as a science program where they will learn the methods of science in correlation to psychology and how to apply it to psychology,” says Dr. Caswell, confirming the most important information regarding Gannon’s psychology program.
