Departmental Advanced Courses

Departmental courses that count toward the Advanced Course requirement in Psychology can be broken down into the following categories:

  1. Courses listed as "PSY" in the Course Catalog (including extra Foundational Courses)
  2. Courses Taught or Co-Taught in Other Departments (by departmental faculty, or Psychology courses from other schools)
  3. Certain Harvard Summer School Courses
  4. Certain Study out of Residence Courses
  5. Certain Cross-Registered Courses at other Harvard and Local Schools 

Courses Listed as "PSY" in the Course Catalog

Any Psychology course (courses listed as "PSY" [for example, "PSY 1024" or "PSY 980AA" or "PSY 1660R"]) will count as a Departmental Advanced Course, with the exception of specific courses that fulfill other requirements within the concentration (e.g., PSY 1, 971/975, 1900, 1901). 

Foundational Courses (PSY 11, 14, 15, 16, and 18) will count as Departmental Advanced Courses if the Foundational Course requirement has already been fulfilled.

Courses Taught or Co-Taught in Other Departments

Courses not listed in the Psychology section of the catalog, but taught or co-taught by departmental faculty count as departmental courses. The same applies to certain Psychology courses from other schools. Please check the Course Catalog to find when these courses are offered.

You do NOT need to file a formal petition for these courses to count for your Psychology concentration -except in the case of First-Year Seminars, which are graded SAT/UNSAT and will not automatically count for Advanced Course credit. If you'd like to count a Freshman Seminar as an Advanced Course, please e-mail the UGO!

[BRACKETED COURSES] are not being offered in the 2026-2027 academic year.

  • EDU (Graduate School of Education) H611 01 and 02, Becoming a Good Person and Leading a Good Life (formerly H611A/B, Moral Adults: Moral Children)
  • FYSEMR 23S, The Seven Sins of Memory
  • FYSEMR 49N, Measurements of the Mind
  • FYSEMR 74F, Human Learning in the Age of AI
  • GENED 1046 (formerly ETHRSON 46), Evolving Morality: From Primordial Soup to Superintelligent Machines
  • GENED 1201, Foundations of NeuroAI: Synergies Between the Sciences of Natural and Artificial Intelligence
  • MBB 980GG, Neuroendocrine Pathways: Brain, Sex, and Hormones
  • MBB 980H, What Disease Teaches about Cognition
  • MBB 980II, Grief, Loss, and Death: Integrating Clinical and Population Health Perspectives
  • MBB 980JJ, From Signals to Selves: Tools for Understanding Brain, Mind, and Behavior
  • MBB 980K, Fighting Cancer with the Mind
  • MBB 980M, Functional Neuroimaging of Psychiatric Disorders: Insights into the Human Brain-Mind
  • MBB 980P, The Role of Music in Health and Education
  • MBB 980S, Cognitive Neuroscience of Meditation
  • MBB 980T, Sleep and Mental Health
  • MBB 980V, Neuroimaging and Big Data in Connectomics: Advances in Understanding the Wiring of the Brain (formerly Connectomics: The Functional and Structural Wiring of the Human Brain/The Functional and Structural Human Brain Connectome)]
  • MBB 980X, Translational Neuroscience: Limits of Adaptation from Extreme Environments to Clinical Practice
  • NEURO 80 (formerly MCB 80), Neurobiology of Behavior
  • [EDU (Graduate School of Education) H112, Cognitive Neuroscience and Education]
  • [EDU (Graduate School of Education) H126, Typical and Atypical Neurodevelopment]
  • [FRSEMR 71F, The Origins of the Human Mind]
  • [FRSEMR 71U, The Psychological Roots of Oppression]
  • [FYSEMR 72M, Implicit Bias: Science and Society]
  • [FYSEMR 72R, Mindfulness: A Path to Success, Happiness, and Health]
  • [GENED 1066, Rationality]
  • [GENED 1154, The Science of Happiness]
  • [GENED 1162 (formerly PSY 1809), Science of Stress]
  • [HEB 1373, Explaining Beauty: The Hidden Functions Behind Aesthetics]
  • [HEB 1392, What Game Theory Reveals about Social Behavior]
  • [LING 132, Psychosemantics]
  • [LING 160, Psychology of Language]   
  • [MBB 980A (formerly MBB 93), Conscious States: Waking, Sleeping, and Dreaming]
  • [MBB 980AA, Drug Use in Nature]
  • [MBB 980B, Exploring Addiction]
  • [MBB 980BB, Your Brain on Poetry]
  • [MBB 980CC, The Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis: How Gut Microbes Modulate Human Cognition and Mental Health]
  • [MBB 980DD, Computational Psychiatry]
  • [MBB 980EE, Cognitive Neuroscience of Music: Clinical Applications across the Lifespan]
  • [MBB 980F, Creativity Research: Eccentrics, Geniuses, and Harvard Students (formerly MBB 99Z, Madmen, Geniuses, and Harvard Students)]
  • [MBB 980FF, The Cortisol Chronicles: A Deep Dive into the Science of Stress]
  • [MBB 980G, The Origins and Evolution of Cognition: A Comparative Study of Human and Nonhuman Abilities]
  • [MBB 980L, Dopamine]
  • [MBB 980N, Neuroaesthetics]
  • [MBB 980O, The Self: What Philosophy, Psychology, and Neuroscience Tell Us]
  • [MBB 980R, Psychopaths and Psychopathy: Psychological, Neuroscientific, Legal, and Policy Issues]
  • [MBB 980U, The Biological and Social Embedding of Early Life Stress]
  • [MBB 980Z, The Insanity Defense: Psychological, Neuroscientific, Legal, Philosophical, and Policy Issues]
  • [MCB 81, Fundamentals of Neurocience]
  • [WOMGEN 1217, Psychology of the Gendered Body]

... and MIT courses from the Brain and Cognitive Science department (Course 9) for which you have permission of instructor and permission of our department.

Certain Harvard Summer School Courses

CERTAIN Psychology courses offered by the Harvard Summer School will automatically count for concentration or secondary field credit if you have not already taken the equivalent course during the academic year. No other Summer School courses can count for departmental course credit except those listed here.

Please note these Harvard College Summer Course Policies:

  • Harvard College students enrolled in an “Online (live or on demand) web conference” course must attend live to receive credit towards their degree. Please see the Registrar's Office website for more information about live-attendance requirements.
  • Beginning Summer 2022, students may receive College credit for no more than 8 credits (generally two courses) taught in remote formats in Harvard Summer School. No more than one remote course may be used for General Education credit. Visit the Harvard College Student Handbook Addendum. Courses taken remotely prior to Summer 2022 will not count towards the 8-credit limit. The 8-credit limit policy on remote courses is only effective beginning Summer 2022. 

PSYC S-1, Introduction to Psychology, may count for Introductory Course credit ONLY.

The following Summer School courses may count for Advanced Course credit ONLY.

[BRACKETED COURSES] are not being offered in Summer 2026.

  • PSYC S-1240, Psychopathology (formerly Abnormal Psychology) (Shelley Carson) (This can count ONLY as an Advanced Course, not as a Foundational Course, and will not count for concentration credit if you have already taken PSY 18)
  • PSYC S-1410, Introduction to Psychopharmacology (Steven Raymond Boomhower) (Cannot be counted if you have already taken PSY 1201 at Harvard College)
  • PSYC S-1470, Psychology of Eating (Adam Wenzel)
  • PSYC S-1503, The Psychology of Close Relationships (Holly Parker) (Cannot be counted if you have already taken PSY 1503 at Harvard College)
  • PSYC S-1609, Neuroscience of Learning: An Introduction to Mind, Brain, Health, and Education (Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa)
  • PSYC S-1812, Explaining Beauty: The Hidden Functions behind Aesthetics (Bethany Burum) (Cannot be counted if you have already taken HEB 1373 at Harvard College)
  • PSYC S-1872, Power & Privilege in the Criminal Justice System (Lindsey Davis) (Conditionally approved if students complete one of the final project options for graduate students. To request credit, e-mail psychology@wjh.harvard.edu and include a copy of your final project)
  • [PSYC S-980V, Summer Seminar: The Insanity Defense (Ellsworth Lapham Fersch) (Cannot be counted if you have already taken MBB 980Z at Harvard College)]
  • [PSYC S-1022, The Psychology of Happiness (Matthew Kimble) (Cannot be counted if you have already taken PSY 1060 at Harvard College)]
  • [PSYC S-1053, Sex, Gender, and Evolution (Max Krasnow) (Cannot be counted if you have already taken PSY 1315 at Harvard College)]
  • [PSYC S-1072, The Psychology of Emotional, Behavioral, and Motivational Self-Regulation (Richard McNally)]
  • [PSYC S-1132, First Impressions (Gregory Davis) (Cannot be counted if you have already taken PSY 1522 at Harvard College)]
  • [PSYC S-1155, How Students Learn: Psychological Science in the Classroom (Jessica Schwab) (Cannot be counted if you have already taken PSY 1014 at Harvard College)]
  • [PSYC S-1509, The Power of Others: Social Influence and Persuasion (Emily Hangen) (Cannot be counted if you have already taken PSY 1591 at Harvard College)]
  • [PSYC S-1601, Children of the Twenty-First Century: Emerging Perspectives for Developmental Science (Samudragupta Bora)]
  • [PSYC S-1810, Gender and Mental Health (Kelsey Quigley) (Cannot be counted if you have already taken PSY 1811 at Harvard College)]
  • [PSYC S-1870, Law and Psychology (Ellsworth Lapham Fersch)]
  • [PSYC S-1877, The Psychology of Cults (Bethany Burum) (Cannot be counted if you have already taken PSY 980AC at Harvard College)]
  • [MBB S-93, Study Abroad in Trento, Italy: Neuroeconomics (Giorgio Coricelli)]
  • [MBB S-101, Study Abroad in Trento, Italy: Windows into the Structure of the Mind and Brain (Alfonso Caramazza and John Assad)]
  • [MBB S-105, Study Abroad in Trento, Italy: The Cognitive Neuroscience of Film (Jeffrey Zacks)]

Last updated on January 24, 2025. 

Please note that summer school courses can only be used to meet the Introductory or Advanced Course requirements for the concentration and secondary field. Therefore, PSYC S-1240, Psychopathology CANNOT meet the Foundational Course requirement. Similarly, when offered, PSYC S-1900, STAT S-100, and STAT S-102 CANNOT meet the Statistics requirements.

Life Science/CNEP Track students CANNOT complete Related Life Science courses in the summer school.

When registering for a summer school course, you should indicate that you are a Harvard College student. This way, the courses will appear on your student record.

Certain Study Out of Residence Courses 

Psychology courses taken through an approved Study Out of Residence (SOR) program may count as departmental Advanced Courses toward the concentration, but not toward the secondary field, if:

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Certain Cross-Registered Courses at other Harvard and Local Schools

Psychology courses taken via cross-registration at other Harvard and local schools may count as either departmental or non-departmental Advanced Courses toward the concentration, but not toward the secondary field, if:

  • A student counts no more than two total Study out of Residence and/or Cross-Registered courses, combined, towards the concentration. There is no limit on cross-registered courses counting towards your Harvard College credits.
  • These courses are approved by petition in advance. Students may refer to this list of previous-approved courses for a sense of what might be approved, but will need to submit a full petition for each course they want to count.

The Department will determine on a case-by-case basis whether a cross-registered course will count as a departmental or non-departmental Advanced Course.

Cross-registered courses will adhere to the regular grading basis of the course as offered. If a letter grade is not offered, the course will not factor into the student's concentration GPA.

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