A double course. Open to senior majors in Psychology who have received departmental approval.
Fall semester. The Department.
How to handle overenrollment: null
Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Writing-intensive, attention to research, and attention to writing.
This course is open to qualified students who desire to engage in independent reading on selected topics or conduct research projects. Preference will be given to those students who have done good work in one or more departmental courses beyond the introductory level. A full course.
Open to juniors and seniors with consent of the instructor. Fall and spring semesters. The Department.
How to handle overenrollment: null
This course will be an in-depth examination of major theoretical models of psychotherapy. The course will focus on theoretical models and empirical support for the second wave (e.g., Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and third wave (e.g., Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) psychotherapies. Students will examine how different psychotherapeutic approaches conceptualize mental illness and approach the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Issues related to ethics and the empirical evaluation of treatment outcomes will also be discussed.
(Offered as PSYC 361 and NEUR 361) Although curiosity about the nature of consciousness has animated the work of philosophers, artists and others, this course will approach the topic from a scientific perspective. How do electrochemical signals in our brain produce our experience of colors, sounds, tastes and our awareness of ourselves? We will read and discuss primary source scientific journal articles drawn from both psychology and neuroscience with a focus on questions including: What kinds of brain activity distinguish conscious from unconscious states?
An introduction to the study of close relationships using social-psychological theory and research. Topics will include interpersonal attraction, love and romance, sexuality, relationship development, communication, jealousy, conflict and dissolution, selfishness and altruism, loneliness, and therapeutic interventions. This is an upper-level seminar for the major requirement that requires intensive participation in class discussion and many written assignments.
This course will explore the roles of risk and resilience in early development. Using existing empirical research, we will examine: 1) how risks are manifested prenatally, in infancy, and in childhood, 2) how to support resilience in childhood, and 3) how to develop interventions to address risks and promote resilience. Over the course of the semester, students will complete four independent projects exploring teratogens, contaminated food, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and intervention development.
This course will expose students to many of the psychological disorders of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, such as mood, anxiety, schizophrenia spectrum, trauma-related, dissociative, eating, disruptive, and addictive disorders. Based on a review of contemporary research findings, lectures and discussion will focus on the most relevant approaches for understanding, diagnosing, and treating psychological disorders. The biopsychosocial model will serve as a basis for explaining the etiology of psychological disorders.
This highly interactive course brings together students to examine the roles race and other intersecting identities play in their lives.
This course examines how psychologists understand the patterns of experiencing and behaving that constitute an individual’s personality. Personality psychologists are concerned with the ways in which a person is like all other people in these patterns (common psychological processes), like some others (individual differences), and like no one else (uniqueness). In examining these questions, we study the “grand theories” of Freud, Skinner, and Rogers, as well as the contemporary models of traits and scripts.
The individual’s behavior as it is influenced by other people and by the social environment. The major aim of this course is to provide an overview of the wide-ranging concerns characterizing social psychology from both a substantive and a methodological perspective. Topics include person perception, attitude change, interpersonal attraction, conformity, altruism, group dynamics, and prejudice. In addition to substantive issues, the course is designed to introduce students to the appropriate research data analysis procedures.
