The psychology department encourages students to get involved in research in psychology. Here are some suggestions. Students who are interested in graduate work and/or a career in psychology or social work should go to the psychology career page.
Take courses in our curriculum
There are a number of opportunities to participate in research and get course credit. Students are required to take statistical analysis in psychology, PSYC 200, and two upper-level methods courses (e.g., research methods in developmental psychology, research methods in cognitive psychology). In these courses, students will learn about conducting psychological research. In some of these courses you will do your own research projects, supervised by the faculty member.
Students who want to get more involved in research can pursue independent study in psychology under the guidance of a faculty member. If you are interested in pursuing independent study, please see the professor who you would like to sponsor your project. Students who meet the appropriate criteria might want to propose to do research under the framework of the psychology department's honors program. Please see the description of our honors program for more information about this option. See info about honors program.
Volunteer as a research assistant with a member of the department
Another way of getting involved in research is to ask to help a faculty member with their research. There is a limited amount of money available to pay students to do some research work such as coding data. See the faculty descriptions to find out more about their area of research, and/or approach them if you are interested in finding out more. See faculty descriptions
Participate in the Kenyon Summer Science program
Students who are interested in pursuing collaborative research with a faculty member during the summer, can propose to do so under the Kenyon Summer Science Program. Students receive a stipend to stay for about ten weeks during the summer to complete their research. The applications for this competitive program are usually due early in February. This program is most appropriate for juniors, but others can apply as long as they have completed some research courses in the department. Here's a recent feature on the program written by Public Relations.
Find an internship/assistantship outside of Kenyon
There are some internships and "externships" available to do research in psychology. The Career Development Center has some information relevant to these opportunities. A number of our graduated students have obtained research jobs after graduating from Kenyon, and before applying to graduate school in psychology. We hope to develop a list of such programs for your benefit.
Try to get your research published
Once you've completed a research project, you should look into the possibility of getting it published (That's why we do research -- to share it with an interested audience!). Occasionally undergraduate projects are suitable for publication in mainstream scientific journals (your research supervisor can give you an honest opinion on whether your work is at this high level and can guide you through negotiating the manuscipt submission process). More typically, student projects don't quite reach this level but may still be suitable for publication in one of several research journals that publish undergraduate work.