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Looking for Uni courses, "psychology and philosophy joint honours"??

i'd really like some help, university courses are a whole new world to me lol. so i'm taking my final AS's now, with Psychology, Philosophy, Biology and Maths. psychology and philosophy i LOVE, and i love the idea of a joint course between the two, and have found joint honours for the two. what is a joint honours? what would a psychology and philosophy joint honours involve (i have my eyes on the course at Nottingham).
and also, although i know i love them both, i'm really don't know what i want to do after uni, these courses don't lead to a job in particular...i'm also thinking of taking a Gap year after A2 to go travelling and work to find my head in the real world abit...
any advice would help me so much, thank you! :smile:

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Original post by EmmaNatasha
i'd really like some help, university courses are a whole new world to me lol. so i'm taking my final AS's now, with Psychology, Philosophy, Biology and Maths. psychology and philosophy i LOVE, and i love the idea of a joint course between the two, and have found joint honours for the two. what is a joint honours? what would a psychology and philosophy joint honours involve (i have my eyes on the course at Nottingham).
and also, although i know i love them both, i'm really don't know what i want to do after uni, these courses don't lead to a job in particular...i'm also thinking of taking a Gap year after A2 to go travelling and work to find my head in the real world abit...
any advice would help me so much, thank you! :smile:


You are exactly like me!! I want to do Psych & Phil after a gap year too but I don't do the same AS's :-p

I just found other unis that do the degree like Oxford, Bristol, Reading, Glasgow, Edinburgh Dundee, Stirling, Oxford Brookes, Aberdeen, Keele, Essex, Hertfordshire etc.
Those are the only ones that I can remember at present but there are others! You should check out the UCAS course finder :smile:

Bristol don't accept deferred entry and they've only 7 places :frown:
Oxford have 10 or 15 places... I can't remember exactly though.
Not too sure about the others :-p


Hope I helped!

+ St Andrews + Exeter!
Original post by EmmaNatasha
i'd really like some help, university courses are a whole new world to me lol. so i'm taking my final AS's now, with Psychology, Philosophy, Biology and Maths. psychology and philosophy i LOVE, and i love the idea of a joint course between the two, and have found joint honours for the two. what is a joint honours? what would a psychology and philosophy joint honours involve (i have my eyes on the course at Nottingham).
and also, although i know i love them both, i'm really don't know what i want to do after uni, these courses don't lead to a job in particular...i'm also thinking of taking a Gap year after A2 to go travelling and work to find my head in the real world abit...
any advice would help me so much, thank you! :smile:


Let me help you both out as I do Psychology and Philosophy at Keele right now.

Joint hons - or Dual hons as it is sometimes called- means you will do a 50/50 split between the two subjects. At Keele that meant studying 4 modules of Psychology and 4 modules of Philosophy per year. For example, the year just gone was the second year of my degree and I did: Research methods in cognitive Psychology, Research methods 2, Social and Developmental Psychology 2, Cognitive and Biological Psychology, Epistemology and Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind, Moral Philosophy and Philosophy of Religion.

Generally by third year you get the option to keep it as a joint hons or major in one particular subject.

That's about it really. Hope I helped.
Original post by Lightman123
Let me help you both out as I do Psychology and Philosophy at Keele right now.

Joint hons - or Dual hons as it is sometimes called- means you will do a 50/50 split between the two subjects. At Keele that meant studying 4 modules of Psychology and 4 modules of Philosophy per year. For example, the year just gone was the second year of my degree and I did: Research methods in cognitive Psychology, Research methods 2, Social and Developmental Psychology 2, Cognitive and Biological Psychology, Epistemology and Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind, Moral Philosophy and Philosophy of Religion.

Generally by third year you get the option to keep it as a joint hons or major in one particular subject.

That's about it really. Hope I helped.


Thanks you really did :smile: - is the course BPS accredited? & what were your entry requirements, I can't seem to find them on the website :-p
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by _OliviaTheOwl
Thanks you really did :smile: - is the course BPS accredited? & what were your entry requirements, I can't seem to find them on the website :-p


Yeah it is BPS accredited :smile: I think when I applied my offer was ABB but the requirements on the site are BBB.

Here's a table of the requirements:

http://www.keele.ac.uk/studyatkeele/undergraduatestudy/entryrequirements/entryrequirementstable-2013entry/
Original post by Lightman123
Yeah it is BPS accredited :smile: I think when I applied my offer was ABB but the requirements on the site are BBB.

Here's a table of the requirements:

http://www.keele.ac.uk/studyatkeele/undergraduatestudy/entryrequirements/entryrequirementstable-2013entry/


whooop, thanks ever so! :biggrin:
Original post by Lightman123
Let me help you both out as I do Psychology and Philosophy at Keele right now.

Joint hons - or Dual hons as it is sometimes called- means you will do a 50/50 split between the two subjects. At Keele that meant studying 4 modules of Psychology and 4 modules of Philosophy per year. For example, the year just gone was the second year of my degree and I did: Research methods in cognitive Psychology, Research methods 2, Social and Developmental Psychology 2, Cognitive and Biological Psychology, Epistemology and Metaphysics, Philosophy of Mind, Moral Philosophy and Philosophy of Religion.

Generally by third year you get the option to keep it as a joint hons or major in one particular subject.

That's about it really. Hope I helped.


Sorry to 'intrude' in your conversation but I was wondering, do you have lectures in Psychology and Philosophy with people who're doing single honours in either subject? Or do you have lectures with dual honour students?
Original post by YorkshireLad.
Sorry to 'intrude' in your conversation but I was wondering, do you have lectures in Psychology and Philosophy with people who're doing single honours in either subject? Or do you have lectures with dual honour students?


No problem! It's odd at Keele, because most people there do dual honors. There are some single hons students around though and they have lectures with us.

There are core modules and optional modules (which maybe you know!) so everybody that does Psychology is in the Psychology core modules -dual hons, majors, minors. Then in the optionals you just get a hatch patch of who ever chooses them!
Original post by Lightman123
No problem! It's odd at Keele, because most people there do dual honors. There are some single hons students around though and they have lectures with us.

There are core modules and optional modules (which maybe you know!) so everybody that does Psychology is in the Psychology core modules -dual hons, majors, minors. Then in the optionals you just get a hatch patch of who ever chooses them!


Ah right thank you, are there a lot of optional mouldes? Do you know what they are (what are you taking?)?


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Original post by YorkshireLad.
Ah right thank you, are there a lot of optional mouldes? Do you know what they are (what are you taking?)?


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Annoyingly, in Psychology there aren't any optional modules for 1st or second year. It's because you have to cover certain things to get BPS accreditation and because its dual hons it limits the content. You'll do (and I did)

YEAR 1:

Developmental and Social Psychology

Research methods

Cognitive and Biological Psychology

Biological Research Methods




YEAR 2:

Research methods 2

Developmental and Social Psychology 2

Cognitive NeuroPsychology

Research methods in Cognitive NeuroPsychology.



In third year there are all sorts of optionals in Psychology from clinical psych, eyewitness testimony, thinking about the mind, all sorts.

In Philosophy on the other hand there are a couple of options each year on top of some core stuff. The cores are

YEAR 1:

Ten Problems in Philosophy,

Logic

year 1 options are: Moral Philosophy and Political Philosophy and I took both.



YEAR 2:

Epistemology and MetaPhysics 1

Pursuit of the Good,

optionals were Philosophy of Religion, Political Philsophy and Philosophy of Mind; I did mind and religion.




Year 3 it looks like again there's going to be quite a wide range from meta physics to Richard Rorty, to Philosophy of Art and a few more.

Then there's dissertations which you can choose to take in 1 of, or both subjects of course!

Hope this is helpful. Just ask if you need anything else :smile:
Original post by Lightman123
Annoyingly, in Psychology there aren't any optional modules for 1st or second year. It's because you have to cover certain things to get BPS accreditation and because its dual hons it limits the content. You'll do (and I did)

YEAR 1:

Developmental and Social Psychology

Research methods

Cognitive and Biological Psychology

Biological Research Methods




YEAR 2:

Research methods 2

Developmental and Social Psychology 2

Cognitive NeuroPsychology

Research methods in Cognitive NeuroPsychology.



In third year there are all sorts of optionals in Psychology from clinical psych, eyewitness testimony, thinking about the mind, all sorts.

In Philosophy on the other hand there are a couple of options each year on top of some core stuff. The cores are

YEAR 1:

Ten Problems in Philosophy,

Logic

year 1 options are: Moral Philosophy and Political Philosophy and I took both.



YEAR 2:

Epistemology and MetaPhysics 1

Pursuit of the Good,

optionals were Philosophy of Religion, Political Philsophy and Philosophy of Mind; I did mind and religion.




Year 3 it looks like again there's going to be quite a wide range from meta physics to Richard Rorty, to Philosophy of Art and a few more.

Then there's dissertations which you can choose to take in 1 of, or both subjects of course!

Hope this is helpful. Just ask if you need anything else :smile:


This is very helpful - thank you! :smile: How are you enjoying Philosophy? I'm doing Philosophy and Ethics at A-Level (Philosophy of Religion/Religious Ethics) and I enjoy the Philosophy part - is Philosophy at Uni much different to A-Level?


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Original post by YorkshireLad.
This is very helpful - thank you! :smile: How are you enjoying Philosophy? I'm doing Philosophy and Ethics at A-Level (Philosophy of Religion/Religious Ethics) and I enjoy the Philosophy part - is Philosophy at Uni much different to A-Level?


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No problem. I'm enjoying it so much that I'm planning on carrying it on to post grad! Ah right ok. Well, I didn't actually do the A level so I'm not that certain, but a few of my friends DID do the A level and they tend to say that they covered some of it at A level, but not in as much depth, and some things were completely new to them.

If your A level was on Philosophy of Religion you'll have covered the main arguments for the existence of God I imagine, and you'll study those again at degree level (if you take the module) in greater depth. I'm actually doing my dissertation in Philosophy of Religion next year!

In terms of ethics we didn't cover much at all on religious ethics. There have been 3 modules on ethics (all which are optional); applied ethics, ethical theory, and meta ethics. They're all great topics.

I'll mention a few things which you might not have covered, but if you have, just ignore me haha:

Philosophy of mind involves what the mind is. Is it just the brain? Or is it something different. Is it immaterial? Could it even be immaterial? This is something that hasn't been resolved at all yet.

Logic is very mathsy and kinda like algebra, but it isn't so tough. Just the basics about deductive and inductive arguments.

Metaphysics is about the structure of everything. This stuff gets weird..fast, but it is all interesting and gives you a very different outlook on the world. Metaphysics of time is the most interesting I think.

Epistemology is theory of knowledge. How we know things, what we can know, ect.


You'l do the important oldies; Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Kant, Berkeley, ect
and also the important new philosophers; Plantinga, Craig, Dennet, Tye, Rorty, Putnam ect.

You won't find it too different to A level I don't think. The idea is the same, looking at arguments for positions; seeing if they are any good. The key thing about Philosophy is thinking about tough questions. It's just applied to different topics.

If there's anything you want to know more on just ask, but there are some topics I don't know as much about as others!
(edited 10 years ago)
Original post by Lightman123
No problem. I'm enjoying it so much that I'm planning on carrying it on to post grad! Ah right ok. Well, I didn't actually do the A level so I'm not that certain, but a few of my friends DID do the A level and they tend to say that they covered some of it at A level, but not in as much depth, and some things were completely new to them.

If your A level was on Philosophy of Religion you'll have covered the main arguments for the existence of God I imagine, and you'll study those again at degree level (if you take the module) in greater depth. I'm actually doing my dissertation in Philosophy of Religion next year!

In terms of ethics we didn't cover much at all on religious ethics. There have been 3 modules on ethics (all which are optional); applied ethics, ethical theory, and meta ethics. They're all great topics.

I'll mention a few things which you might not have covered, but if you have, just ignore me haha:

Philosophy of mind involves what the mind is. Is it just the brain? Or is it something different. Is it immaterial? Could it even be immaterial? This is something that hasn't been resolved at all yet.

Logic is very mathsy and kinda like algebra, but it isn't so tough. Just the basics about deductive and inductive arguments.

Metaphysics is about the structure of everything. This stuff gets weird..fast, but it is all interesting and gives you a very different outlook on the world. Metaphysics of time is the most interesting I think.

Epistemology is theory of knowledge. How we know things, what we can know, ect.


You'l do the important oldies; Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Kant, Berkeley, ect
and also the important new philosophers; Plantinga, Craig, Dennet, Tye, Rorty, Putnam ect.

You won't find it too different to A level I don't think. The idea is the same, looking at arguments for positions; seeing if they are any good. The key thing about Philosophy is thinking about tough questions. It's just applied to different topics.

If there's anything you want to know more on just ask, but there are some topics I don't know as much about as others!


I can't thank you enough! :smile: ah since you didn't do it at A-Level - was it easy enough to grasp at degree?

Also - is it worth it doing a dual honours in Psych and Philo? I'm unsure on this or a degree on just psychology


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Original post by YorkshireLad.
I can't thank you enough! :smile: ah since you didn't do it at A-Level - was it easy enough to grasp at degree?

Also - is it worth it doing a dual honours in Psych and Philo? I'm unsure on this or a degree on just psychology


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It was a little tough at first for me. I just couldn't understand exactly what was being discussed, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly I think. I got myself Nagel's "what does it all mean?" introduction book and after that things just sorta clicked for me.

Doing a single hons will give you more breadth in the subject, but dualing means you aren't completely screwed if you decide you hate one of them, or that you don't want a career in one of them. You could just use the other half of the degree, and major in it.

I wonder if I'm the right person for you to ask on this. I actually wish I'd just done Philosophy and not Psychology! If you did A-level Psych be wary. Almost everything in the degree is a more technical, in-depth look at those studies and theories you learnt at A-level. Some of my friends have even said to me that the first year and a half they did literally nothing new at all!


BUT, I might be being a little biased. I quickly began to dislike Psychology and love Philosophy so you might want more opinions than just mine on this one!
Reply 14
very sorry for not responding, thank you so much!! you've helped a lot, and it's also nice to know someone else is considering psych and phil like me, i don't know anyone else!!
i've been talking to people who have done psychology at uni, i love understanding people, which is why i want to learn more about people and how we think etc, how we work. but i'm actually finding philosophy way more interesting at the moment. but i'm worried that if i don't study it i will miss out on something that i love.

could you please tell me how interesting you find psychology, anything in particular you've learnt, and what other people think of it. also how you feel that studying psychology and philosophy has helped you, and what kind of job you are looking towards.

very sorry for all of the questions, thank you!! :smile:
Im thinking about doing a joints honour but im In year 11 can I still get a job as a psychotherapist or clinical psychologist if I do say psychology with criminology or something. Thanks
Original post by Aneesah_May
Im thinking about doing a joints honour but im In year 11 can I still get a job as a psychotherapist or clinical psychologist if I do say psychology with criminology or something. Thanks


Yes, as it doesn't really matter - I think you need a masters and (I think) a Doctorate to be a clinical psychologist anyway. But don't quote me on it


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Original post by EmmaNatasha
i'd really like some help, university courses are a whole new world to me lol. so i'm taking my final AS's now, with Psychology, Philosophy, Biology and Maths. psychology and philosophy i LOVE, and i love the idea of a joint course between the two, and have found joint honours for the two. what is a joint honours? what would a psychology and philosophy joint honours involve (i have my eyes on the course at Nottingham).
and also, although i know i love them both, i'm really don't know what i want to do after uni, these courses don't lead to a job in particular...i'm also thinking of taking a Gap year after A2 to go travelling and work to find my head in the real world abit...
any advice would help me so much, thank you! :smile:

I'm doing a BSc psychology and philosophy course at Bristol at the moment. It is BPS accredited so you can eventually become a clinical psychologist. There are plenty of jobs that this combination can lead to. Let me know if you have specific questions about the course :smile:
Original post by punctuation
I'm doing a BSc psychology and philosophy course at Bristol at the moment. It is BPS accredited so you can eventually become a clinical psychologist. There are plenty of jobs that this combination can lead to. Let me know if you have specific questions about the course :smile:


Hey I came today and loved it!
- on the uni website psych & phil are no longer up for 2014 entry - could you possibly check if it's still on offer or point me in the right direction? thanks :smile:
Original post by aishamarie
Hey I came today and loved it!
- on the uni website psych & phil are no longer up for 2014 entry - could you possibly check if it's still on offer or point me in the right direction? thanks :smile:

Nice! Sorry I didn't get to meet you at the open day. :smile:

Unfortunately I think that might be the case, it's a decision made by the department. :/ You'll have to double-check by emailing them though, it doesn't seem to be on the website anymore I'm afraid.

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