Applied Psychology

In this course, students will explore broad, foundational knowledge in psychology, including its history, major theorists and a survey of psychology subfields such as developmental, cognitive and social psychology. Students will also describe and assess the role of ethics and social responsibility in the study and application of psychological theory and practices.

How did we get here? How do infants develop into teenagers then into adults, and how do those adults change as they age and mature? Students will examine the strengths and weaknesses of the major theories and thinkers of human development from psychological, physiological, and sociocultural perspectives. Throughout the class, students will consider theories to ask practical questions about education, mental health, and public policy.

Human beings are social creatures, and social psychology is the study of how humans form (and dissolve) groups. Students will use multiple frameworks, including cognitive, behavioral, sociocultural, and psychodynamic, for thinking about relationships, prejudice, and intra- and inter-group conflicts. Then students will apply those frameworks to interpret real-world problems and situations.

Problem-solving, memory, learning, and patterns of thinking are central to the study of cognitive psychology. Students will read about and conduct experiments that show how it is that human beings have adapted to live in a complex environment. These ideas will be applied to practical questions like how do individuals and groups make decisions? How do we practice good informational hygiene? How can we best learn and adapt to a changing world, and help others do the same?

What does it mean to be normal? That challenging question is at the center of this course about how we think about what patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are considered disordered. Students will explore the ways we currently think about psychological disorders, with a particular focus on understanding how different cultures address different behaviors. Students will explore the causes of psychopathology, including biological, developmental, learned, and social, with a particular emphasis on the places where our understanding is uncertain.

In this course, students will question the premise that personality is fixed and trait-like. They will explore personality theories including through a critical cultural lens and ask how much our personalities change over our lives--with time and depending on context (including cultural context). How can we understand challenging personality traits, whether our own or someone else's? Students will synthesize those theories to interpret research that questions the ways in which culture influences professional and personal growth, as well as psychological treatment.

What is the relationship between physical and mental well-being? How do mind and body interact to create our sense of self? Students will delve deeply into the role that psychology can play in addressing acute and chronic disease states, stress, and well-being. Examples and case studies will include healthcare environments such as hospitals and clinics, large and small business contexts, and personal development.

Students will learn about how social science research is conducted, including the research methods (quantitative and qualitative) typically used in the social sciences. Students will assess the alignment of various research methods and the research goal and ultimately practice planning, conducting, analyzing and interpreting research. Additionally, students will critically analyze existing research through the lens of ethics and social justice.

Students will learn how to create conditions for successful conflict engagement, a necessary skill for any professional. The course focuses on the foundational capacities to remain calm and connected with oneself and others. In this state students can access helpful ideas and responses and be their best selves regardless of environment. Improving facility for conflict creates stronger relationships and reduces fear. By the end of the course, students will understand that disagreement and difference can become a source of personal and interpersonal growth.

This course explores the intersections among race, class, gender and categories of difference. Students will explore theories of difference in their relation to topics such as education, work, poverty, and the criminal justice system. They will recognize how those intersections and structural inequalities show up in their chosen career fields and their civic and personal lives. Students will critically analyze inequality as a system rather than as an aggregation of individual identities.

Ethics refers to accepted standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do in various contexts, typically in relation to rights, obligations/duties, benefits to society, fairness, consequences, and virtues. In this course, students will explore both theoretical and practical dimensions of ethics in order to 1) define ethics and identify ethical positions and principles, 2) critically reflect on how ethics impacts individual and collective responsibility, decision-making, and action, and 3) apply ethics to the personal, civic, and professional contexts.

Students in Social Sciences programs will synthesize their program-specific knowledge and apply that perspective to a real-world problem or opportunity within the scope of their academic program. Students will create an experiential project of their own design that responds to the need of either a specific organization or the field of professional study. The project may be designed based on indirect or direct evidence, supporting a project idea that addresses a real-world problem or opportunity.

How do we understand the causes and consequences of criminal behavior? After developing a thorough understanding of the multiple roles that psychology can play in predicting, understanding, and responding to criminal, dangerous, or problematic behavior, students will use case studies and applied examples to critically analyze the theory, evidence, and practical methods of forensic psychology in multiple contexts, including law enforcement, the courts, the educational system, and individual and family treatment. Students should be aware that this course includes discussion of real criminal behavior.

Organizational psychology is the study of human behavior in a workplace setting, with the goal of improving the functioning, well-being and performance of an organization and its employees. From a psychology-informed perspective, students will analyze what makes an effective workplace and impactful group leaders and group members, and will explore group/team dynamics, organizational structures, workplace culture, and leadership. Students will investigate these concepts in the context of real-world case studies and examples.

Students in this advanced seminar will engage in a comprehensive exploration of the foundations and applications of counseling psychology and social work. Students will explore, compare, and contrast the multiple roles, workplaces, and circumstances within which counselors and social workers provide care, with the goal of preparing to enter one or more of those fields. Students will apply research skills and findings to real-world circumstances through the use of case studies and roleplay.

This course introduces students to the foundational concepts needed to communicate effectively in writing for academic study and professional development. Students will also learn to read critically to evaluate an author's message. Students will be introduced to rhetorical modes and their role in the development of written communication. Students will also learn how to use revision strategies to create written communication that meets its intended purpose for its intended audience

This course builds on students' proficiency in the writing process and rhetorical modes to introduce the use of sources in written communication. Students will practice information literacy as they learn to determine information needs from sources, develop effective search strategies, and incorporate sources in written communication, legally and ethically.

Starting with a frame of human communication as a dynamic system of interactions in which people make choices that impact their relationships, other people, and themselves, students will define theory-informed communication concepts and processes, and critically examine how they apply to everyday life across a variety of contexts. Students will reflect on how the theory, concepts and processes apply to their own lives in becoming competent communicators who are knowledgeable, skilled, and versatile.

This course draws on fundamental concepts of contemporary group communication research to help students identify and develop strategies to communicate effectively in small groups and teams for the cooperative purpose of advancing common goals. Students will draw on listening and responding strategies learned in COMM-130 Interpersonal Communication and apply them to communicating as a leader or member of a small group. They will also learn how to recognize and manage the types of conflicts that can arise in small groups. Prerequisite: COMM-130 Interpersonal Communication

Students will learn and apply critical inquiry skills to analyze persuasive communication created by others and to develop persuasive communication/arguments of their own to solve problems in professional, civic, social, and personal contexts. Specifically, students will learn to recognize fallacies in logic; apply inductive and deductive reasoning strategies to the interpretation and development of persuasive communication; evaluate the validity of sources; and develop logically sound persuasive communication. Students will explore the roles of self-awareness, empathy, and ethics in the context of critical inquiry and the development of arguments.

This course is an historical overview, and examination of the evolution of digital, film, and print media, and their functions. Students will identify and analyze contemporary problems of the media such as the legal, social, economic and psychological implications of their relationships with society. They also will examine the ways in which marketing and PR professionals utilize the mass media channels to reach their intended target audiences.

This course explores the complex and evolving relationship between human beings and technology. Through a multi-disciplinary approach that draws on fields such as sociology, psychology, philosophy, and history, students will examine the ways in which technology has shaped human culture, identity, and values, as well as how humans have influenced and continue to influence the development, adoption and use of technology.

This course introduces students to basic statistics for data literacy. With a focus on exploring real-world data, students will interpret numerical information and utilize the tools necessary to complete the entire statistical process: designing a study; gathering, organizing, and analyzing sample data; and making inferences about a population. Students will demonstrate data-driven decision-making and effective communication of numerical data.

Introduces students to the biochemistry and physiology of nutrition and exercise. Emphasis will be placed on human body systems such as musculoskeletal, digestive, respiratory and circulatory, and their relationship to nutrition and fitness. Students will also study the biochemistry of energy conversion as it relates to exercise physiology. Laboratory sessions are designed to reinforce, by a hands-on approach, the principles discussed in lecture. Course includes two laboratory hours per week.

Students learn the biology, genetics, chemistry, and physics involved in the forensic investigation of crimes. A wide range of topics are studied including DNA, entomology, fingerprinting, trace evidence, serology (blood, saliva, and semen), blood spatter, and chemical analysis of drugs, alcohol, and other compounds. Students apply their new knowledge of forensic science through the use of case studies and laboratories. This course includes two laboratory hours per week.

Students will develop the ability to apply scientific methods to understand the natural world, to identify scientific aspects of daily life, and to evaluate the quality of scientific information based on its source and the methods used for its generation.

In this course, students will gain an introduction to classical mechanics and learn about motion, force, energy, and momentum. The course covers vectors, scalars, and coordinate systems, as well as kinematics in one and two dimensions, Newton's Laws of Motion, circular motion, and kinetic energy and work. Students also learn about potential energy and energy conservation, collision theory, rotational motion, moment of inertia, torque, rotational dynamics, and angular momentum.

This course will introduce students to major streams of social justice thought, including historical social justice movements, theoretical problems having to do with social equality, personal freedom, marginalization, and stigmatization, and the ways in which civic and professional communities respond to these issues.

With pressure and release, a window opens and closes, recording light on a sensor. The simple action captures the instinct, judgement, and skill of the person behind the lens. This class will begin a study of the art and craft of photography. Students will develop their vision and their understanding of how to achieve it. Solid skills will be learned and many doors will be opened.

A survey of the continuing change experienced in art since the 15th century. Students will examine how an image is achieved as well as the significance of the subject represented. Individual inquiry concerning the nature of art is encouraged.

Students learn to appreciate films through the critical analysis of various elements of mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound. The course introduces the conventions of classical Hollywood cinema, considers the work of one major director (auteur), and surveys selected international and independent films. Students view and discuss films each week.

Students in the course will explore the cultural history of the music genre broadly referred to as rock. Students will explore the social, economic and political contexts that are influenced by and that influenced each style in the United States. By listening, watching, reflecting upon, discussing and writing, students will explore how music takes on meaning, personally, and culturally. Topics and themes include the relationships between and among gospel, country, funk, folk, disco, rap and hip hop; the role of business and technology in those relationships, and political or transgressive elements of rock music.

Students will apply communication theory and research to address the particular challenges to communicating effectively in organizations. Students will learn how to identify organizational communication problems, analyze those problems, and generate effective solutions. Students will examine the relationship between organizational structure and specific communicative practices, and how communication practices by organizational members establish, maintain, or change organizational culture. They will also learn how to anticipate communication deficiencies in organizations, and use communication as a means to facilitate organizational development and innovation.

Specific application of common tools for writing in the working world. Students will be instructed in rhetorical strategies of professional writing including style, report formats, editing, document design, and integration of visual aids. Students will complete a semester-long writing project; oral and written reports associated with the process of problem-solving within the project will be included.

Students will learn how to create conditions for successful conflict engagement, a necessary skill for any professional. The course focuses on the foundational capacities to remain calm and connected with oneself and others. In this state students can access helpful ideas and responses and be their best selves regardless of environment. Improving facility for conflict creates stronger relationships and reduces fear. By the end of the course, students will understand that disagreement and difference can become a source of personal and interpersonal growth.

Ethics refers to accepted standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do in various contexts, typically in relation to rights, obligations/duties, benefits to society, fairness, consequences, and virtues. In this course, students will explore both theoretical and practical dimensions of ethics in order to 1) define ethics and identify ethical positions and principles, 2) critically reflect on how ethics impacts individual and collective responsibility, decision-making, and action, and 3) apply ethics to the personal, civic, and professional contexts.

This course introduces students to the fundamental elements of technical writing (clear, concise, and targeted)that are common among seven forms of technical communication: email correspondence, editing,employment communication, proposals, long, formal reports,oral communication, and inventions. Through peer reviews and writing workshops, students develop the ability to write and edit text that precisely targets its audience. This course emphasizes deepening and broadening students' writing, speaking, and thinking abilities in a non-lecture-based, hands-on, discussion-centered classroom.

This course provides students with a comprehensive overview of the American criminal justice system as comprising three essential components: law enforcement, the court system and corrections. Students will recognize that the field of criminal justice is interdisciplinary and they will outline and discuss the historical foundation of the criminal justice system. They will also explore social and ethical dimensions as they review real-world case studies.

In this class, students will explore how social relationships, groups, societies and culture develop and change over time. From a sociological theory foundation and employing the sociological imagination, students will examine the impact of social structures, institutions, and systems on individual lives. Students will apply sociological research methods to investigate sociological phenomena in their own lives.