The Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) offers programs leading to the BA and MA in psychology, as well as undergraduate minors in psychology and in cognitive science. 
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Contacts:

Arne Dietrich, Chairperson of SBS Department arne.dietrich@aub.edu.lb

Maria Baramakian, Secretary mb44@aub.edu.lb

>> Psychology at AUB and Beyond

Psychology is the scientific study of mental and behavioral processes, and the application of the scientific knowledge to understanding, explaining and predicting human behavior, alleviating human suffering, and improving people's quality of life. Psychology addresses a vast array of issues ranging from intra-individual processes, to interpersonal interactions and group dynamics.

The scope of the present-day discipline of psychology includes many areas of specialization. Some of these are developmental, social, personality, clinical, educational, industrial/organizational, physiological, forensic, health, community, and political psychology. Psychology prides itself in pioneering high standards of research, practice and ethics in its application.

Numerous successful applications of psychology are found in the fields of research, university and college education, private practice,  education for children with special needs, organisations (corporations, hospitals, government and non-governmental organisations), law,  consultancy, mental health institutions, community mental health centers,  advertising, and various other areas.

The first psychology course at AUB was offered in 1887. A department of psychology that offered BA and MA degrees was established in 1951, the first such department in the region. During the 1960’s both a physiological psychology laboratory and a Center for Behavioral Research (CBR; 1964) were established. In 1976 the psychology program along with the communication, anthropology and sociology programs were merged to form the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS).

The undergraduate psychology program in the SBS department is generalist in nature, giving students a foundation that is necessary for advanced work in various areas of specialization. The program, in addition to its existing generalist orientation (BA and MA), is developing a specialist orientation program in the form of a MA and PhD degrees in clinical psychology.