So, that's it. I've taught my last PSYCO course--ever. I taught my first in 1994, and I just finished my last one, 28 years later. I've taught a bunch of them: PSYCO 104, PSYCO 105, PSYCO 258, PSYCO 233, PSYCO 267, PSYCO 282, PSYCO 323, PSYCO 354, PSYCO 365, PSYCO 403, and PSYCO 494. But, no more.
Wait--do you think I'm retiring? Nope, not me. Instead, the UAlberta Department of Psychology has "retired" the PSYCO designation for psychology courses. From now on, they're all going to be PSYCH. Psych!
It was felt that calling our courses PSYCO was too much like calling them psycho. This is not a good look for a department of psychology. None of us ever actually pronounced it like "psycho"; we all said "psych" anyway. So in Department Council meeting on February 12, 2021, we voted to change the designation (96% in favour with one abstention). Usually, change to things in the UAlberta Calendar take a loooong time to change, so having it take effect in Fall, 2022 is pretty fast in terms of University-level speed.
Etymology moment: in Greek mythology, Psyche was a mortal woman who became the wife of Eros (the Greek god of love and sex) and the goddess of the soul. The word psyche means "the human soul, mind, or spirit." None of this is what psychology is about.
Trivia moment: some psychology departments around the world have changed their names to "Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences", or some variant thereof. But "psychology" is still #1 by a wide margin.
Be careful not to confuse PSYCH with PSYCI (Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry psychiatry) or PSYCE (Faculté Saint-Jean psychologie) courses.
I hope you're as psyched for the change as I am!
Why aren't you studying?
“It was felt that calling our courses PSYCO was too much like calling them psycho.”
…that’s why I liked it.