Congratulations to doctoral student Darla Bonagura and Associate Professor of Psychology Sarah Lamer, who shared their recent research collaboration in a featured article for the Society for Personality and Social… Read more: Survivor Support: Getting Language Right

Stay connected with updates from the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. Faculty News Distinguished Teaching Professor Elizabeth Cooper received a 2025-2026 Athletics Professor of Excellence Award. Each year only six… Read more: Students, Faculty, and Alumni Making an Impact

Professor Deborah Welsh excelled as an innovative educator, mentor, researcher, and leader before her retirement. A scholarship honoring her will support graduate students.  After a remarkable 32 years at the… Read more: Welsh’s Legacy Honored with New Scholarship

Assistant Professor Rui Cao’s neuroscience research not only is helping explain how the brain works but could lead to advances in artificial intelligence. Assistant Professor Rui Cao joined UT this… Read more: Cao’s Cognitive Science Contributes to AI Initiative

Assistant Professor Sophie Wohltjen analyzes conversations to predict when people feel social connection, research aimed at strengthening relationships in an era of loneliness. With loneliness and social isolation recognized as… Read more: In Sync and Out

Associate Director Alexis Rhames Keith is strengthening the clinic, expanding access, and developing a new course focused on neuroaffirming care. Clinical Assistant Professor Alexis Rhames Keith joined the department this… Read more: Keith Brings Autism Expertise to UT Clinic

Teaching Assistant Professor John P. Connell discovered his passion for teaching as a graduate student in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. After earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology from… Read more: Connell Dedicated to Student-centered Learning

Tim Hulsey, University of Tennessee A few semesters into my teaching career as a psychology professor, I uncovered a cheating ring. I determined who the ringleader was and called him… Read more: Making good choices when life gets messy – practical wisdom relies on human judgment, not rules

Professor Emeritus Gordon Burghardt received the 2024 Biosemiotics Achievement Award for his contribution to a special issue of Biosemiotics, titled “Jakob von Uexküll, heterophenomenology, and behavior systems I: Core ethology and Merleau-Ponty.”

Photo by Erik Campos Fall 2025 Virtual Information Sessions The Counseling Psychology PhD at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville invites prospective graduate students to join us for two virtual information… Read more: Fall 2025 Virtual Information Sessions for the Counseling Psychology PhD Program

With an expansion of its name, the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is showcasing wide opportunities for studying systems that control behavior in humans and other animals.

Servers told researchers that they were instructed to make their male customers feel special. Brian Brainerd/The Denver Post via Getty Images Dawn Szymanski, University of Tennessee In 1983, six businessmen… Read more: The Conversation: ‘With Hooters on the verge of bankruptcy, a psychologist reflects on her time spent studying the servers who work there’

Cass Bennett has been with the Psychology Advising Center since October 2022. They have been working as a professional counselor since 2012 and started their own practice specializing in ADHD,… Read more: Staff News and Updates