The Moral Psychology Minor

A minor in moral psychology draws students from a variety of majors and provides them with guidance in creating a stimulating academic plan of moral psychology coursework from across disciplines, including philosophy, law, psychology, economics, sociology, along with experiential learning opportunities with community partners to bring the coursework to life. Students will finish the minor prepared to lead the future development of scientifically informed solutions for today's ethical challenges. The minor is available throughout the university to all undergraduate students.

Basic Requirements for the Minor:

1. Register, ideally, by the beginning of the second semester of junior year.
2. Successfully complete five courses (minimum of 15 credits) from the Approved Course List. Although only five courses are required to complete the minor, we assume students interested in moral psychology will often end up taking more.
3. It is suggested, but not required, that students attend at least two Moral Psychology events within each academic year. (This is separate and apart from individual course requirements.)
4. Submit the Certification for Graduation form. Students are expected to keep track of the courses they have taken toward the minor. When the minimum of 15 credits has been achieved, the Certification for Graduation form must be submitted to the program manager for verification. This form is required in order to have the minor designation added to your final transcript.

"Moral Psychology in Action" is an applied psychology course taught each spring for students who want to make a difference in the world through ethical leadership and positive contributions in organizations, and who are drawn to scholarly work on psychology, ethics, and morality.

The course is experiential and takes place mostly outside the classroom through community engagement. Students will work with an industry or organization partner specializing in areas including stewardship and sustainability, human rights, well-being and healthy living, and reforming criminal justice, to name a few.

Students will gain practice in applied science that will be beneficial to future work in many occupational settings, including for-profit businesses, nonprofits, and with policymakers and government organizations.

Classroom work and course assignments will be individualized to encourage independent development of connections between relevant theory and practice.

Our Partners

Art to Open Doors - This innovative program enhances both visual and verbal communication for English language learners at the Open Doors English language school on North Cayuga Street through a hands-on art class. It provides language-learners with diverse opportunities for self-expression, human connection, and language acquisition as they explore various art materials and improve their English proficiency. Moral psychology students acquire cultural competency and skills that aid communication and comprehension for those with limited English proficiency, as well as enhancing cross-cultural visual and verbal language communication.

Cornell's Botanic Gardens - A student team will participate in outdoor fieldwork at the Horticulture Center on Caldwell Road, the Arboretum, and the main gardens at the Nevin Welcome Center. Students who are physically fit, able to lift, bend, and squat, and comfortable working in cold or wet weather conditions with appropriate clothing and footwear will have the opportunity to learn about land stewardship, horticulture, and botanic garden management within a broader framework of moral, ethical, and sustainability issues.

Court Street Place - Students will work remotely on community education initiatives in Haiti. Additionally, students will engage with the men’s transitional house, assist in Court Street Place’s efforts to obtain nonprofit status, and participate in fundraising activities, including grant writing. Together, students will collaborate with the founder of Court Street Place to secure financial support and food supplies for residents, as the local emergency shelter and food pantry have been closed.

Inviolate Initiative - Inviolate’s mission is to expand access to psychological evaluations within immigration cases, particularly for immigrant survivors of domestic abuse and human trafficking. Inviolate funds and facilitates immigration evaluation reports, which provide essential forensic evidence in cases before immigration courts and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Students will gather psychological research, including dissertations and journal articles, published in the last two years concerning immigration psychological evaluations, as the research findings will be included in Inviolate’s 2025 fundraising educational efforts webinar.

Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI) - IPEI supports innovative ideas and activities for students in the twelve schools of the Ithaca City School District. Each school year, IPEI backs school clubs like Ithaca High School’s Code Red Robotics team and the Moroccan Student Exchange, while also providing funding to teachers and students for learning projects in collaboration with local organizations. Students will contribute to IPEI initiatives in several ways, such as evaluating program effectiveness through surveys and interviews.

National Alliance on Mental Illness, Finger Lakes, NY - NAMI FL offers free support services through peer-led volunteers and life-experienced staff. The demand for mental health support has risen, but the current system struggles to meet it. This project seeks to connect NAMI Finger Lakes with primary care physicians to deliver essential resources for caregiver mental health support and education in their offices, which are often the first point of contact for families and caregivers seeking holistic health support. Students will have the opportunity to collaborate with an intern team on outreach, publicity, and the creation of communication materials for print and web, as well as designing social media campaigns and exploring other forms of engagement based on their interests while they become familiar with the organization.

Prisoner Express @ Durland Alternatives Library - PE provides educational programs for incarcerated individuals. Students will have the chance to develop original programming for prisoners; for instance, one former student created a packet on Rhythms and Drumming, while another designed a lesson on Meditation and Recovery. Both programs reached hundreds of incarcerated men and women. Students can also opt to take a leadership role in one of the ongoing creative writing, art, or educational programs. Students start by reading incoming mail from prisoners, which provides a clear understanding of how our programs can benefit the incarcerated population served.

National Women's Defense League - NWDL is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to shining a light on the problem of sexual harassment, promoting solutions through research to help understand the breadth of the problem, education for the public and decision-makers, and policies and best practices that prevent sexual harassment and protect survivors. Students will assist the NWDL team in monitoring sexual harassment accusations across the country, responding to survivors and allies when needed, and advancing efforts for policy change. Projects will align with students’ interests and backgrounds to ensure they derive the most benefit from their involvement.

Second Wind Cottages - Second Wind is a supportive community for unhoused people that values human connection. Staff members and volunteers work alongside the folks that live in the Second Wind community throughout their housing recovery. Together, they develop honest and authentic relationships and seek to encourage and engage whenever possible. Specific projects will be developed in collaboration with the students.

Thrive Ithaca, Ecovillage Education Center - Thrive is launching new programs focused on climate resilience in 2025. MOPSY students will have opportunities to learn about both international and local efforts to prepare for a 2.5 degree warming scenario within intentional communities, in partnership with the Global Ecovillage Network. Students will have the chance to engage in curriculum development: planning service-learning days with local universities and creating experiential learning programs for K-12 and higher education audiences; content production: generating material for external audiences, particularly graphic design and social media; program support: organizing and facilitating book clubs, film screenings, community conversations, and climate resilience assessment workshops, as well as liaising with relevant groups and individuals at Cornell, Ithaca College, TC3, and other regional institutions to attract new audiences to Thrive programs.

Questions?

For more information contact:
Julie Simmons-Lynch, Program Manager
278A Uris Hall
E-mail: jes257@cornell.edu
Phone: 607-255-6431
Web: Moral Psychology

• Vanessa Bohns (ILR)
• Anthony Burrow (Dept. of Psychology)
• John Doris (Dyson School & Dept. of Philosophy)
• Tom Gilovich (Dept. of Psychology)
• Rachana Kamtekar (Depts. of Philosophy and Classics)
• Shaun Nichols (Dept. of Philosophy)
• Laura Niemi (Dept. of Psychology)
• Derk Pereboom (Dept. of Philosophy)
• David Pizarro (Dept. of Psychology)
• Valerie Reyna (Dept. of Psychology)
• David Shoemaker (Dept. of Philosophy)
• Joe Thomas (emeritus, SC Johnson)

• Angus Hildreth (SC Johnson)
• Ravi Kanbur (Dyson School)
• Kevin Kniffen (Dyson School)
• Kate Manne (Dept. of Philosophy)
• Julia Markovits (Dept. of Philosophy)
• Tony Simons (Hotel School)
• Simone Tang (Hotel School)