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Psychology Home

We welcome your interest in the Department of Psychology at the University of New Mexico. Please explore our website and learn about our faculty, research interests, and both graduate and undergraduate programs. Feel free to email any of us if you don't find what you're looking for here. New Mexico is blessed with a rich and diverse culture, as well as the world's best climate (in our humble opinion), making it a wonderful place to live and work.

We have 27 regular faculty and 76 Ph.D. students. Currently, 1,787 undergraduates have declared Psychology as a major, second only in the College of Arts & Sciences to Biology. The department offers a wide variety of courses, ranging from introductory psychology to advanced courses in learning and memory, cognition, clinical/abnormal psychology, and brain function.

Psychology is widely recognized for teaching excellence, and our professors have won every award offered by the university. Last year, we were voted “Best Department” by undergraduates. Our undergraduate Honors Program is the oldest and best in the University, with a two year rigorous program of studies culminating in an independent research project. Upon graduating our majors pursue diverse opportunities:

• psychology graduate school programs
• medical school
• law school
• mental health positions
• research
• and many more.

Our internationally recognized research programs span such fields as addictions and drug abuse, animal learning, mate preference and mate choice, spirituality, assessment of knowledge structures, psychotherapy outcomes, cognitive neuroimaging, health psychology, and traumatic brain injury. Last year the Psychology Department’s external research grants exceeded $8 million in funding. Faculty and graduate students conduct research in collaboration with many superb organizations, including (see individual faculty interest pages):

• CASAA
• The MIND Research Network
• Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories
• The Veterans Administration.

Our research projects and collaborations are constantly evolving, so check back again and find out what’s new. Thanks for your interest in our program, and let us know if you need more information.

Jane Ellen Smith, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair