The B.A. program in Psychology is committed to providing students with a broad understanding and appreciation of the field of psychology as a multifaceted discipline with both scientific and humanistic aspects. In addition to the mastery of specific course content, the program seeks to develop the student's ability to think critically about issues in the field. Moreover, the program is designed to help students: (1) integrate their knowledge of psychology with concepts and research from related disciplines, and (2) discover opportunities for application of knowledge in psychology to the solution of human problems. The grounding provided by the program serves as preparation for graduate study in psychology as well as graduate study in such areas as law, social work, and public administration.In addition, the program prepares students for entry into bachelor's level careers. In addition to lecture courses, the psychology program aims to provide "hands on" laboratory experience in experimental design and conduct. Experiential courses seek to impart first hand understanding of human relations. The curriculum teaches students to think critically about the social, political, and cultural origins of psychological knowledge. The program also aspires to provide field experience to majors in clinical and research settings to supplement and complement classroom instruction. The faculty strive to create an atmosphere that encourages research, scholarship and communication of ideas within an ethical context. Such an atmosphere is integral to high quality teaching and professional development among faculty and learning and personal development among students; Faculty also strive to serve as positive role models. The department also works to establish and maintain effective communication with college administration so as to elicit appropriate and sufficient administrative support for the fulfillment of the mission. Ancillary foci of the program include provision of service courses for students in other majors such as nursing, other health professions, management and education. In addition, the program contributes several courses of broad interest to the General Education curriculum. In the major and the service offerings, the program strives for currency in the presentation of theoretical approaches, scientific research and scholarship. Through emphasis on critical thinking and research methods, the program seeks to foster a capacity for lifelong learning. By increasing the student's awareness of the human component in various social, industrial and professional areas, the program serves to instill a responsible orientation to the application of psychological knowledge toward the betterment of the human condition. Goals To provide students with: 1. Faculty of high teaching ability and research and scholarly achievement, including replacement for the several lost from the department during recent years, and thus (a) permit needed programmatic development in clinical, neuropsychological and upper lifespan (aging) areas; (b) encourage a more active community of researchers and scholars; (c) provide more opportunities for students with a graduate school orientation to become involved in research; and (d) to enable us to develop the curriculum and field experience component, with adequate faculty supervision, to meet the high demand among psychology majors; 2. An understanding of the historical origins of contemporary psychological thought; 3. An overview of current approaches to the explanation of human behavior and mental processes; 4. A firm grounding in the essentials of research methodology in the behavioral sciences and the use of computers in its service; 5. A comprehensive introduction to theory and empirical research in five major subdisciplines of psychology; developmental, cognitive/learning, social, personality and physiological; 6. Training in effective written communication of concepts in psychology; 7. Opportunities for students to participate in faculty-sponsored research; 8. Opportunities to gain knowledge of psychological applications to (a) mental and physical health (including faculty-supervised field work); b) organizational and consumer behavior; social and political issues.
