The courses in this area move toward developing skills essential to the helping professions through participation in personal and interpersonal learning experiences. The psychology department encourages students preparing for careers in psychology-related professions to consider study of an advanced degree in a graduate school. The following courses are recommended for students interested in preparing for graduate work in psychology regardless of their area of concentration. This introductory course examines critically the assumptions and methods in psychology. Such topics as anxiety, defenses, body image, self, aggression, and mental illness are studied.
Some emphasis is placed upon career uses of psychology.
This course is designed to help the student develop the full range of basic skills necessary for conducting and reporting research in psychology. There will also be a unit on the role of graduate studies in the development and training of research skills. This course is a study of the developmental characteristics of the human life-cycle from birth to old age and an introduction to the major psychological theories of development. This investigation of the dynamics of personal functioning and change includes an examination of the relationship between attitudes, emotions, and behaviors. Major approaches to personal growth are studied.