Psychology Combined Majors

An undergraduate degree in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences requires that a student complete at least 120 credit hours in courses. Typically, a student will dedicate about 40 hours to a major, about 35 credit hours to courses in the core curriculum, and the remaining 45 credit hours to other, “elective” courses. This provides a student with several options:

The student may use all 45 credit hours to sample courses in a broad range of fields, thus contributing to the student’s general education.
The student may use about 20 of these credit hours to complete a minor in a second discipline, leaving about 25 truly elective credit hours.
A student may use almost all of these 45 credit hours to complete a second major, specializing in two disciplines, but leaving little opportunity for a broader education.

The Combined Major provides a fourth option—one that may be preferable to any of those above. Combined majors require more coursework than a regular major, but less coursework than completing a major in each subject area separately (i.e., double majoring). Students completing a combined major receive one degree in a combination of disciplines rather than two degrees in different disciplines.

A student in a Combined Major completes about 30 credit hours—the most important courses—in each of two disciplines. A student with such a degree is often more appealing to a prospective employer or graduate program than a student with a major in one discipline and a minor in the other (even though the Combined Major requires the same number of credit hours as a major in one field and a minor in the other).

For course descriptions, visit the online Class Search.

The information found on this website with respect to major/minor/program requirements is primarily directed at providing prospective students a general roadmap of the curriculum. Current Butler students are expected to review their degree audit report at my.butler.edu and speak with their advisor regularly for detailed information regarding their specific degree requirements and their progress toward degree completion.

SW 250, Psychological Inquiry
PS 210, Research Methods/Statistics I
PS 211, Research Methods/Statistics II
PS 310, Advanced Statistics in Psychology
PS 320, Life Span Developmental Psychology
PS 350, Social Psychology
PS 440, Psychology of Personality

Two of the following:

PS 202, Learning
PS 235, Biological Bases of Behavior
PS 385, Cognitive Process

SW 215, Being Human
AN 101, First Year Seminar
AN 350, Anthropological Methods
AN 352, Ethnography
AN 390, Development of Anthropological Thought
Five additional courses at 300-level or higher

Any Psychology or Anthropology course at the 300-400 level

(Each department may determine acceptable substitutions.)

SW 250, Psychological Inquiry
PS 202, Learning
PS 210, Research Methods/Statistics I
PS 211, Research Methods/Statistics II
PS 235, Biological Bases of Behavior
PS 310, Advanced Statistics in Psychology
PS 320, Life Span Developmental Psychology
PS 350, Social Psychology
PS 440, Psychology of Personality
PS elective, 3 hours of any 300 or 400 level PS class not listed above (may include directed research, independent study, internship, seminar, or thesis)

Core Requirements (12 cr hrs)

SW 200-SO Understanding Society
SO 391 Social Theory Seminar
SO 393 Social Research seminar
SO 486 Senior Research Seminar or SO499 Honors Thesis

Required Courses (12 credit hours)

A. Two required courses:

SO 321 Crime and Society
SO 345 Deviance and Social Control

B. Inequality-One from the following:

SO 317 Gender and Society
SO 323 Race and Ethnic Relations
SO 326 Gender, Race and Crime
SO 329 Sociology of Racism

C. Transnational-One from the following:

SO 331 Latin American Societies (SL; also fulfills the major’s Community Engagement Requirement)
SO 334 Immigration
SO 355 International Crime

Criminology Electives (6 credit hours)

SO 311 Law and Society
SO 326 Gender, Race and Crime
SO 339 Violence, Media and Culture
SO 351 Punishment and Society
SO 352 Mental Illness and the Criminal Justice System
SO 353 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency (SL; also fulfills the major’s Community Engagement Requirement)
SO 355 International Crime

Community Engagement Requirement

Students must complete an internship (SO 484, SO 485) or a service learning course (SL).

SW 250 Psychological Inquiry
PS 210 Research Methods/Statistics I
PS 211 Research Methods/Statistics II
PS 310 Advanced Statistics in Psychology
PS 385 Cognitive Processes
PS 440 Psychology of Personality

One of the following seminars or equivalent:

PS 412, Advanced Applied Neuroscience
PS 413, Neuroscience of Drugs
PS 415, Psychological Testing
PS 420, History of Psychology
PS 475, Advanced Seminar in Cognitive Psychology
PS 476, Advanced Seminar in Biopsychology
PS 477, Advanced Seminar in Social Psychology
PS 478, Advanced Seminar in Developmental Psychology
PS 479, Advanced Seminar in Applied Psychology

Psychology Electives: Student must complete A and B (6 hours)

A. Either PS 202 (Learning) or PS 235 (Biological Bases of Behavior)
B. Either PS 320 (Lifespan Developmental) or PS 350 (Social Psychology)

PL 310, Introduction to Logic
PL 311, History of Ancient Philosophy
PL 313, History of Modern Philosophy
PL 343, Philosophy of Science
PL 346, Philosophy of Mind
PL 360, Ethics/Value Theory cause
PL 400, A 400-level philosophy course

Program Elective (3 hours)

Any philosophy or psychology course at the 400-level

SW 250, Psychological Inquiry
PS 202, Learning
PS 210, Research Methods/Statistics I
PS 211, Research Methods/Statistics II
PS 235, Biological Bases of Behavior
PS 310, Advanced Statistics in Psychology
PS 320, Life Span Developmental Psychology
PS 350, Social Psychology
PS 440, Psychology of Personality

PO 201, Research and Analysis
Any TWO of the following:
- PO 101, Introduction to Politics
- PO 131, Introduction to US Politics
- PO 141, Introduction to International Politics
- PO 151, Introduction to Comparative Politics
- PO 210, Basic Political Thought
- PO 220, Community Mediation
18 hours of PO courses at the 300-level or above, including at least one semester of PO 490

Either a second semester of PO 490 or one of the following seminars:
- PS 412, Advanced Applied Neuroscience
- PS 413, Neuroscience of Drugs
- PS 415, Psychological Testing
- PS 420, History of Psychology
- PS 475, Advanced Seminar in Cognitive Psychology
- PS 476, Advanced Seminar in Biopsychology
- PS 477, Advanced Seminar in Social Psychology
- PS 478, Advanced Seminar in Developmental Psychology
- PS 479, Advanced Seminar in Applied Psychology

SW 250, Psychological Inquiry
PS 202, Learning
PS 210, Research Methods/Statistics I
PS 211, Research Methods/Statistics II
PS 235, Biological Bases of Behavior
PS 310, Advanced Statistics in Psychology
PS 320, Life Span Developmental Psychology
PS 350, Social Psychology
PS 440, Psychology of Personality
PS elective – 3 hours of any 300 or 400 -level PS class not listed above (may include directed research, independent study, internship, seminar, or thesis)

SW 200-SO Understanding Society
SO 205 Contemporary Social Issues
SO381 Social Work and Social Policy
SO 383 Social Work Methods
SO 385 Practice Skills in Social Work
SO 391 Social Theory Seminar
SO 393 Research Methods Seminar
SO 486 Senior Research Seminar or SO499 Honors Thesis

Select two courses from the following:

SO 301 The Family and Gender Roles
SO 323 Racial and Ethnic Relations
SO 326 Gender, Race & Crime
SO329 Sociology of Racism
SO335 Latin American Societies (SL; also fulfills the major’s Community Engagement Requirement)
SO341 Self and Society
SO 345 Deviance and Social Control
SO347 Urban Community (SL; also fulfills the major’s Community Engagement Requirement)
SO352 Mental Illness and the Criminal Justice System
SO353 Juvenile Justice and Delinquency (SL; also fulfills the major’s Community Engagement Requirement)
SO354 Aging and the Live Course (SL; also fulfills the major’s Community Engagement Requirement)
SO 370 Select Topics in Social Work
SO380 Select Topics in Sociology (with permission of Department Chair)

Community Engagement (three hours to be applied toward major)

Students must complete and intership (SO 484, SO 485) or a service learning course (SL).

internal resources

Psychology Combined Majors

Psychology (27 hours)

Anthropology (27 hours)

Program elective (3 hours)

Psychology (30 hours)

Criminology (30 hours; 33 hours if completing a for-credit internship)

Psychology (27 hours)

Philosophy (21 hours)

Psychology (27 hours)

Political Science (27 hours)

Program elective (3 hours)

Psychology (30 hours)

Sociology (30 hours; 33 hours if completing a for-credit internship)