Ph.D. in Human Development

Overview

The Department of Psychology formally established a Ph.D. program in Human Development in 1965. Areas of study range the full spectrum of the human life span. This program has produced nearly 75 Ph.D. graduates, most of whom are now active researchers in university or government laboratory settings. Graduates can be found at colleges such as Lafayette or Smith and at universities such as Rutgers or Kansas State. Many are at government laboratories such as the National Institute of Mental Health, and others do policy studies for private sector firms.

In 1974, the program became affiliated with CUA’s Life Cycle Institute (LCI), an interdisciplinary research center. This affiliation allows the program to offer students broader training in the substance and training methods of sociology, anthropology and other social sciences. The Life Cycle Institute provides students with ample study space and easy access to up-to-date computing equipment for research and writing.

The Human Development program is designed to prepare students for careers as researchers and teachers. Specific requirements include the following: (1) Everyone must do an empirical MA thesis, even students who come with MAs from other programs or schools. (2) After the first semester, students must enroll every semester in a research apprenticeship with one of the Human Development faculty or with another faculty member whose supervision has been approved by the Human Development area head. (3) Students must take at least one seminar from each of the Human Development professors, plus those recommended outside the program. This is to insure a substantive background in the field. (4) Students must take the suggested sequence of courses in statistics-methods that usually covers their first four semesters. The current requirement typically includes Statistics I and II in the first year and Multivariate and Log Linear Analysis in the second year. This provides students with basic competence to deal with data intelligently. (5) The faculty will determine when students are ready to take the Ph.D. comprehensive. One criterion is their performance on the MA oral defense and another is their progress as researchers, as gauged via the apprenticeship. (6) All other University and Departmental requirements apply as well.

*Applications for the Ph.D. in Human Development are not currently being accepted.  Students may study for a Masters in Human Development by applying through the General MA program.*

 

Areas of Concentration....