By Anthony Marengo
CCC Journalism Program
BLACKWOOD – At 8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 26, Camden County College’s Psi Beta Honor Society hosted Movie Night in the Civic Hall auditorium. With the purpose of getting more people interested in psychology, Movie Night has been a monthly event at CCC for about a year now.
Psi Beta President Dr. Michael Colbert stands next to a Psi Beta poster in his office. By Anthony Marengo, CCC Journalism Program
Ever since the end of the 2010 spring semester, Psi Beta has shown psychology-related films on the projector in the Civic Hall lecture theater. The first time this event was held, three people showed up to watch the movie; on April 26, there were 21 people in attendance.
Dr. Michael Colbert, 39, became the president of the Psi Beta Blackwood Chapter in fall of 2010, but Psi Beta has been at CCC-Blackwood since 1991. Upon becoming president, he believed a monthly movie night was a great concept and had Psi Beta continue to host the event. “I felt it was a good way to get people more connected with psych,” said Colbert. “Most people do not realize how prevalent psychology is in movies, whether they are new releases or older films.”
The first movie night showcased the thriller “Shutter Island,” but Tuesday’s was a screening of the lighter, more comedic “What About Bob?”. The 1991 film starring Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss is about a successful psychiatrist who loses his mind after one of his most dependent patients, a highly manipulative obsessive-compulsive, tracks him down during his family vacation.
Carolyn Schmidt of Berlin Borough, 20, was in attendance on April 26 but had a different motivation for being there than a simple love of psychology. “(Attending Psi Beta’s Movie Night) gives me extra credit for my psych class,” Schmidt said. “And it counts as an extracurricular activity for my honor program requirements.”
As of now, the only professor giving extra credit for attending Psi Beta’s Movie Night is Colbert, but he hopes that will change. “Hopefully the turnout here tonight will encourage the other psychology teachers to follow my lead and give credit for attending (Movie Night),” Colbert said. “My goal is to fill every seat in this auditorium every single month.”
The Psi Beta Honor Society hosts Movie Night the last Tuesday of every month. Everyone is welcome to attend, and there are always refreshments served. The movie is followed by a short discussion of the film’s connections to psychology.