# Departmental Advanced Courses ## expand\_more 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](https://courses.my.harvard.edu/psp/courses/EMPLOYEE/EMPL/h/?tab=HU_CLASS_SEARCH&SearchReqJSON=%7B%22PageNumber%22:1,%22PageSize%22:%22%22,%22SortOrder%22:%5B%22IS_SCL_SUBJ_CAT%22%5D,%22Facets%22:%5B%5D,%22Category%22:%22HU_SCL_SCHEDULED_BRACKETED_COURSES%22,%22SearchPropertiesInResults%22:true,%22FacetsInResults%22:true,%22SaveRecent%22:true,%22TopN%22:%22%22,%22SearchText%22:%22(ACAD_ORG:%5C%22PSYC%5C%22)%22%7D) (including extra Foundational Courses) 2. [Courses Taught or Co-Taught in Other Departments](/departmental-advanced-courses#otherdepartments) (by departmental faculty, or Psychology courses from other schools) 3. [Certain Harvard Summer School Courses](/departmental-advanced-courses#SummerSchool) 4. [Certain Study out of Residence Courses](/departmental-advanced-courses#OOR) 5. [Certain Cross-Registered Courses at other Harvard and Local Schools](/departmental-advanced-courses#CrossRegistered) ## 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](http://courses.my.harvard.edu) 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](mailto:psychology@wjh.harvard.edu)! ***\[BRACKETED COURSES\] 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](http://www.summer.harvard.edu/) 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](https://registrar.fas.harvard.edu/summer-courses): - 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](https://registrar.fas.harvard.edu/summer-courses#harvard-college-credits) 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](/sites/g/files/omnuum9616/files/2025-08/2021-2022%20Harvard%20College%20Student%20Handbook%20and%20Fields%20of%20Concentration%20-%20Addendum.pdf "2022 Collage 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](/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 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](/life-sciences) 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: - They are on the ["previously approved courses" list](/study-out-residence-previously-approval-courses). - They are approved by [petition](https://undergrad.psychology.fas.harvard.edu/non-departmental-advanced-courses#petitionedcourses) in advance. SOR courses in psychology must meet the same guidelines as non-departmental petitioned courses. Please see [Study Out of Residence](/study-out-residence) for additional information. Courses taken out of residence have their own set of deadlines. [\[Jump to Top\]](/departmental-advanced-courses#top) ## 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](https://undergrad.psychology.fas.harvard.edu/non-departmental-advanced-courses#petitionedcourses) in advance. Students may refer to [this list](/study-out-residence-previously-approval-courses#cross-reg) 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. [\[Jump to Top\]](/departmental-advanced-courses#top)