Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences

The behavioral and social sciences round out your healthcare or science education—helping you grasp how people from different backgrounds think and interact. Our department features undergraduate and graduate programs in a range of disciplines, from psychology and medical anthropology to communications and sociology. Here, expert faculty help you apply practical skills, engaging you on their clinical and research projects. Whatever your career path, you’ll graduate understanding communication, human behavior, and the secrets of social interaction.

The behavioral and social sciences focus on human behavior at the individual and collective level. You will understand yourself, your family, your friends, your community, and our increasingly connected world by studying the behavioral and social sciences.

Psychology

BS, Minor

Dive deep into why we think, act, and react the way we do, and get an inside look into the human mind.

Communications

Minor

Invest in your career with some of the most sought after professional skills, including how to articulate ideas clearly and succinctly.

Social Sciences

Minor

Explore how anthropology, psychology, sociology, and communication connect to interpret culture.

Health Policy

MS, PhD

Graduate-level immersion in one of the most complex and important policy issues of our time.

Health Psychology

MS

Understand how physical health and mental wellness intersect—and how behavioral factors contribute to heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes.

Health Education and Communication

Certificate

15-credit graduate certificate program to address key competencies in health education and communication.

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Psychology, Neuroscience Professor Awarded Grant for Autism Research
January 10, 2019
Ashely de Marchena, PhD, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience, was awarded a $10,000 New Investigators Research Grant from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation during the recent 2018 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Convention, held November 15-17 in Boston, Massachusetts.
USciences Student Studies Perceived Gender Gap in Science
January 08, 2019
To examine the gender gap in science, Alexis Schirling BMS'19 sought to take a deeper look at the question and why we have a perception that women prefer softer fields, even in STEM.
USciences Physics Students Win National Recognition
January 07, 2019
The USciences chapter of the Society of Physics Students (SPS) has won an Outstanding Chapter Award from the SPS National Office for the 2017-18 academic year.
Weber Scientific, USciences Enter into License Agreement
December 11, 2018
Weber Scientific and USciences announced that they have entered into a license agreement to provide Weber with a license to Farber Pham Diastaticus Medium (FPDM), discovered by Matthew J. Farber, PhD, Director of the University's Brewing Science Certificate Program.
Dr. Pilar Ortega Speaks on the Importance of Language, Culture, and Communication in Medicine
December 05, 2018
USciences Department of Humanities hosted Pilar Ortega, MD, an emergency physician and clinical assistant instructor at University of Illinois at Chicago on November 29, 2018, for the annual Bernard J. Malis Memorial Lectureship in Humanities.