American Sign Language and Psychology, BS (Boston)

American Sign Language is estimated to be the third most used language in the United States and its visibility in society is on the rise in recent years. An estimated 1 to 2 million Deaf, DeafBlind, or hard of hearing people in the United States use ASL as their primary language, and a large number of non-Deaf signers use or learn ASL as a second language.  There is a broad societal misunderstanding of Deaf, signing people’s minority language and culture—their lived experience—which creates barriers to society in many domains.  As a result of being viewed from the medical model of disability, rather than the social model as a cultural-linguistic minority group, Deaf people experience socioeconomic disadvantage and language deprivation at the hands of those who profess to "help." 

Meanwhile, there is much to be learned and appreciated about the psychology of the Deaf lived experience. We can learn about resilience as well as about language, behavior, and cognition that comes from experiencing the world through a visual language. It is also important to understand the detrimental effects that social isolation and language deprivation can have on Deaf people.  

While state and federal legislation enables bilingual education and interventions─as well as improved civic engagement by Deaf, hard of hearing, and DeafBlind individuals─there is a continued need to elevate quality of life, equity, and the rich contributions of the diverse members of the American Deaf communities.

The program offers a wide array of courses as well as volunteer, co-op, and research opportunities to learn from Deaf people's lived experiences through community and industry connections.  

This combined major is designed to assist students in acquiring competence in ASL, develop an understanding of the values of diverse American Deaf communities and Deaf culture, as well as gain insights into various features of spoken language. Students experience firsthand the principles underlying the spatial organization of discourse required by signed languages. The curriculum integrates Deaf culture with cognitive psychology, psycholinguistics, and the structures of human languages in general and ASL in particular. This major provides a foundation for graduate studies of ASL, psychology and Deaf people, or interpreting in mental health contexts.

Complete all courses listed below unless otherwise indicated. Also complete any corequisite labs, recitations, clinicals, or tools courses where specified and complete any additional courses needed beyond specific college and major requirements to satisfy graduation credit requirements.

Universitywide Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the Universitywide Requirements.

NUpath Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the NUpath Requirements.

American Sign Language Requirements

Students wishing to do a co-op are required to demonstrate intermediate language proficiency by completing the first four AMSL courses before undertaking co-op.

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
American Sign Language
AMSL 1101	Elementary ASL 1	4
AMSL 1102	Elementary ASL 2	4
AMSL 2101	Intermediate ASL 1	4
AMSL 2102	Intermediate ASL 2	4
AMSL 3101	Advanced ASL 1	4
AMSL 3102	Advanced ASL 2	4
Social and Cultural World
DEAF 1500	Deaf People in Society	4
DEAF 2500	Deaf History and Culture	4
Linguistics
DEAF 2700	ASL Linguistics	4
LING 1150	Introduction to Linguistics	4
Interpreting
INTP 3500	The Interpreting Profession	2
INTP 3510	Interpreting Inquiry Texts	4

Psychology Requirements 

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Psychology Core Courses
PSYC 1101	Foundations of Psychology	4
PSYC 2320	Statistics in Psychological Research 1	4
PSYC 3466	Cognition	4
Complete two of the following personal/social bases of behavior (Area A) courses:		8
PSYC 3400	Personality
PSYC 3402	Social Psychology
PSYC 3404	Developmental Psychology
PSYC 3406	Clinical Psychology and Mental Health
Psychology Lab or Directed Study
Complete one of the following (this requirement may not be fulfilled via transfer credit):		4
One PSYC laboratory course numbered 4600-4649
PSYC 4991	Directed Study Research
Psychology Electives
Complete two PSYC courses, not counted elsewhere, numbered 2350-2399 or 3000+.		8

¹

Students who receive transfer credit for the Advanced Placement Statistics exam may complete the 1-semester-hour  PSYC 2315 course (requires department permission).

Integrative Requirement

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Integrative Requirements
INTP 3970	Research Methods	4
INTP 4940	Interpreting Research Capstone	4
PSYC 3464	Psychology of Language	4

Supporting Courses

Course List

Code	Title	Hours
Introduction to College
INTP 1000	American Sign Language at Northeastern	1
or INSC 1000	Science at Northeastern
Experiential Learning Introduction
EESH 2000	Professional Development for Co-op	1
or EESC 2000	Professional Development for Co-op
Mathematics Requirement
Complete one of the following		4
CS 1800	Discrete Structures
MATH 1213	Interactive Mathematics
MATH 1215	Mathematical Thinking
MATH 1231	Calculus for Business and Economics
MATH 1241	Calculus 1
MATH 1242	Calculus 2
MATH 1340	Intensive Calculus for Engineers
MATH 1341	Calculus 1 for Science and Engineering
MATH 1342	Calculus 2 for Science and Engineering
Writing Requirements
ENGW 1111	First-Year Writing	4
or ENGW 1102	First-Year Writing for Multilingual Writers
ENGW 3307	Advanced Writing in the Sciences	4
or ENGW 3315	Interdisciplinary Advanced Writing in the Disciplines

Combined Major GPA Requirement

Minimum 2.750 GPA required in all AMSL, INTP,  and DEAF courses
Minimum 2.000 required in all PSYC courses                                                                                                                                                Minimum 2.500 overall GPA required

NUpath Requirements 

The following NUpath requirements are met by the major:

• Analyzing and Using Data (AD)
• Demonstrating Thought and Action in a Capstone (CE)
• Engaging Differences and Diversity (DD)
• Engaging with the Natural and Designed World (ND)
• Interpreting Culture (IC)
• Understanding Societies and Institutions (SI)
• Writing-Intensive (WI)

Other NUpath requirements may be fulfilled by electives in the program.

Combined Major Credit Requirement

Complete 90 semester hours in the major.

Program Requirement

128 total semester hours required