Honours Programs

The Psychology Department offers honours study leading to a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree, a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree, and a Certificate of Honours Standing (Honours Equivalency)—academic regulation 26.

The honours program is intended for students of above average ability who wish to proceed to graduate work in psychology or related fields or who intend to pursue careers in psychology. For admission to honours in psychology, students at the time of application must have:

a minimum CGPA of 3.00;
completed at least eighteen (18) credit hours in PSYC courses;
a minimum GPA of 3.70 in PSYC courses;
a minimum grade of B in each of PSYC 2010 (formerly 2340) and PSYC 2020 (formerly 2350)

These requirements are minimum standards only.

Because the Department has limited resources for offering the honours program, some students who meet the minimum standards may have to be denied admission.

The deadline for submission is April 30, 2024.

To begin the application process, applicants should submit the following form in electronic format to Dr. David Bourgeois, Psychology Undergraduate Program Coordinator at honours.psychology@smu.ca:

Honours Application Form

Supervisor	Area of Study	Available this year? 2025-2026
Dr. David Bourgeois	Social Psychology Political Psychology Cross-Cultural Psychology Youth Engagement	No
Dr. Margherita Cameranesi	Resilience research Mental health in marginalized, equity-seeking populations Violence and trauma Participatory qualitative and mixed methods research approaches and methodologies Program development and evaluation	Yes
Jocelyn Brown	Experiences of diverse workers (specific focus on disclosure, discrimination, and accommodations) Psychosocial risks at work Workplace Interventions (Policy, organizational, individual, etc.) Perceptions that employees, managers, and other stakeholders have about work and relationships Other I/O Psychology topics	Yes
Dr. James Cameron	Social identity and intergroup relations Social psychology of collective action Stereotyping and discrimination Psychology of globalization	Yes
Dr. Patrick Carolan	Attention, mind wandering, emotion, and other topics in cognitive neuroscience Psychopathic personality traits Electroencephalography (EEG) and Event-related Potentials (ERP)	No
Dr. Steven Carroll	Psychophysics Cognitive Psychology Computer models of psychological processes	No
Dr. Sarah Carver	Workplace Mistreatment (Un)Ethical Behaviour at Work Leader Character and Development	Yes
Dr. Leanna Closson	Developmental Psychology topics relevant to adolescence and emerging adulthood, including: Social competence Peer relationships Risk and resilience Psychosocial adjustment	Yes
Dr. Nicole Conrad	Cognitive/Developmental Psychology topic related to learning to read including: how memory encodes, stores, and uses information about words when reading and spelling reciprocal relations between reading and spelling statistical learning and orthographic processing literacy learning and mental health outcomes I will be accepting 2-3 honours students for 2025-2026	No
Dr. Ryan Cook	Psychometrics and testing Space psychology + other Isolated and Confined Environments (ICEs) “Legal” forms of bias in hiring (e.g., tattoos, height, working in stigmatized industries) Workplace psychopathy Social media use in hiring	Yes
Dr. Arla Day	I/O Psychology & Occupational Health Psychology topics: Psychologically healthy workplaces Work-life balance Job stress Worker health and well-being Emotional intelligence Leadership & health	Yes
Dr. Derek Fisher	Cognitive neuroscience Brain-based investigations of psychosis Neuropsychopharmacology	Yes
Dr. Maryanne Fisher	Diverse topics in evolutionary perspectives of psychology including: aggression, competition, and rivalry sex similarities and differences mate preferences personality applications to pop culture, social media, and literature	No
Dr. Mark Fleming	Industrial/Organizational Psychology	No
Dr. Debra Gilin	Organizational conflict, mediation, and negotiation Individual differences in the workplace Organizational culture and intervention Workplace stress and burnout	Yes
Dr. Camilla Holmvall	Workplace mistreatment broadly defined (including incivility, aggression, bullying) Fairness issues in organizations Workplace stress Organizational citizenship behaviours Leader well-being	No
Dr. Jason Ivanoff	Topics: attention, executive control, inhibition, working memory, emotion, and mental fatigue. Tools: resting-state electroencephalography (rEEG), event-related potentials (ERPs), mental chronometry, and psychophysics.	Yes
Dr. Kevin Kelloway	Diverse topics in I/O psychology including: The role of personality (Big 5 and Dark Tetrad) in predicting organizational behaviour Occupational health and safety Leadership processes and development in the workplace Dignity in the workplace Workplace violence Occupational stress Mental health at work Union-member relationships	No
Dr. Lucie Kocum	Workplace inclusion: feeling and being safe, respected, valued, supported to succeed, and influential Defining, measuring, and tracking change in organizations, especially EDIA Centring First Voice constituents (e.g., workers, students) in research and practice Understanding the social determinants of health: from employment system to individual worker Knowledge mobilization Research-driven advocacy	Yes
Dr. Robert Konopasky	Psychology of civil litigation: Decision making, applying the civil standard of proof in cases in which there is statistical evidence. Technology in the classroom: Use of technology that enhances flipping the classroom and invites student participation.	Yes- if student really has an interest in this work
Dr. Eden-Raye Lukacik	Selection (e.g., interviews, video interviews, interview anxiety) Recruitment (e.g., job search, organizational reputation) Impression management Deception and faking Personality	Yes
Prof. Megan Manels-Murphy	Incivility Women in leadership / Leader gender / EDI in leadership Dominance and the dominance penalty Organizational stability Job insecurity Social media as a selection tool	No
Dr. Tammy Mahar	Peak performance Work passion and optimal functioning Motivation, goal-setting, and self-efficacy Transformational leadership Organizational culture, diversity, and inclusion Dynamic workplaces (e.g., remote, online, performing artists, athletes, etc.)	No
Dr. Marc Patry	Psychology and law Police interrogations and confessions Eyewitness memory Correctional psychology Law and public policy	Yes
Dr. Nicolas Roulin	Personnel recruitment and selection New technologies in selection (e.g., social media, video interviews, AI) Impression management, faking, and deception Employment discrimination and biases Workplace psychopathy	Yes
Prof. Eli Rizzi	Personnel recruitment and selection Asynchronous video interviews Leadership assessment	Yes
Dr. Steven Smith	Social, Health, and Forensic Psychology. Specific projects include: Factors affecting student success The effectiveness of health promotion campaigns Race and personnel selection Diversity & Inclusion Eyewitness identification False confession	Yes
Dr. Veronica Stinson	Role of crime victims in courts Victim impact statements Public views on courts Clare’s Law	Yes
Dr. Skye Stephens	Paraphilias Sexual offending Sexual violence prevention programs and barriers to the development of these programs Mandatory reporting and clinician decision making Please Note: Although I am a clinical psychologist, my research is focused on clinical forensic psychology. I am unable to provide honours thesis supervision to students interested in non-forensic clinical psychology topics (e.g., depression, anxiety, adolescent mental health). I will be accepting 1-2 honours students for 2025-2026 please reach out by December 15th 2024*	Yes
Dr. Meg Ternes	Lie detection Eyewitness memory Correctional psychology Violent offenders Substance Abuse and Addiction Investigative interviewing Role of victims	Yes

Contact us

Department of Psychology

psychology@smu.ca

902-420-5846

902-496-8287

Mailing address:

McNally Building South Wing (MS 323)

923 Robie Street, Halifax, NS

B3H 3C3

Social media

@smupsychologydepartment/

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