Online BA in Community Psychology and Health Promotion Courses

This course surveys content areas of general interest in psychology. Topics include major schools of thought in psychology, development, states of awareness, learning, memory, health and stress, personality, abnormal behavior, psychotherapy, and social issues.

Course provides an orientation to topics and evaluation methods of Community Psychology as a formal multi-disciplinary profession, with primary aims of promotion of health/well-being and empowerment at individual and systemic levels, prevention programming, strengthening of social support networks, community development, cultural competency, and policy change. Course will also include overview of professions in community/health psychology and relevant career development resources/processes.

This course provides students with an introduction to the use of statistical methods in behavioral sciences research. Topics covered include descriptive statistics, t tests, analysis of variance with post-hoc tests, correlation, linear regression, and chi-square tests. Students taking this course should also enroll in the laboratory section, in which they will learn how to use statistical software for data analysis.

The required preparation is MATH 110 or three years of high school mathematics.

This course provides students with instruction on the use of statistical software to perform analysis of behavioral research data. Students will learn how to run and interpret outputs for a wide variety of common statistical procedures, including descriptive statistics, t tests, analysis of variance, correlation, and chi-square tests.

The required preparation is completion or current enrollment in PSYC 200, or familiarity with basic statistical procedures.

Causes and treatment of abnormal behavior patterns, diagnosis of such behaviors and investigation of normal and abnormal behaviors are studied.

This course is intended as an introduction to the emerging field of positive psychology. The sub-field of positive psychology is focused on the experience of happiness, subjective well-being, resilience, and human flourishing. Topics will include classical philosophical models of well-being, contemporary theories and concepts, a review of current findings, and discussion of potential applications and future directions.

This course provides an overview of major theoretical perspectives and constructs related to the field of health psychology, assuming a biopsychosocial model of health and illness. Topics include empirical foundations, role of psychological factors in health and illness, stress and coping, mindfulness, and relevant professions.

In this course, students will attend a seminar where such matters as ethical principles of psychologists, difficulties in translating theory into practice, and applied research will be discussed. Students will be required to spend 100 hours in the field.

This course may be repeated for credit once.

Note: For students majoring in Community Psychology and Health Promotion, one of the internships must be directly related to Community Psychology and include one or more of the following applied learning experiences: program evaluation; outcome/process evaluation of a mental health education workshop, health promotion initiative, or prevention program; narrative interview of or other form of qualitative research; and/or grant writing experience.

Developmental psychology is the study of the development of behavior across the entire life span from birth until old age.

The course acquaints students with the basic theories, methods of study, and research findings on children’s and adolescents behavior and cognition. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking about claims made in this area.

This course surveys the personality changes and life crises that occur from maturity to old age. Social and cultural factors and their interrelationships with psychological adjustment are stressed. Topics include marriage, childrearing, empty nest, retirement, widowhood, grief and death.

This online course builds upon skills developed in ENG 151 – including research, critical writing, information literacy, and argument/persuasion – while introducing students to the genres of writing applicable to writing in medical and health professions such as nursing, physical therapy, and related fields.

Students are advised to take this course during their sophomore or junior year. Some experience with medical terminology is recommended but not required for this course. Students with majors related to health or medicine are invited to take this course as an alternative to English 251. Prerequisite: Grade of C or better in ENG 151. The English program reserves the right to remove students from the course who do not meet the prerequisites.

This course introduces students to the field of technical communication and some of its underlying principles (audience analysis, ethics, and document design.) Students will produce and workshop a variety of practical documents, including a resume and cover letter, a summary of a scholarly article, a set of instructions, a Web site, a proposal, and a report.

This course builds upon the research, critical writing, information literacy, and persuasion skills developed in ENG 151 by examining the broad range of ethical issues and dilemmas that occur in professional life. The term professions refers to very specialized knowledge or expertise that serves the public good. Professionals have particular duties and responsibilities. Students will learn about the duties and responsibilities of their intended careers by reading articles about important issues in professional ethics, studying their fields Code of Ethics, and writing about ethical issues in professional life. Topics to be discussed include: the meaning of profession, how to be ethical, professional duties, honesty, privacy, confidentiality, integrity, loyalty, whistle-blowing, professionalism, justice, social welfare, governmental regulations, and conflicts of interest. As in the other Ethics courses in the Liberal Education Program, students will also be encouraged to think about the difference between ethical decisions and non-ethical decisions, how they make ethical decisions, and who will be affected by those ethical decisions.

This course is designed to familiarize students with prominent theories, issues, and topics in the field of health communication. This course will expose students to diverse health communication perspectives as they relate to a range of health communication topics, including illness and health, historical and contemporary issues, patient and provider experiences, cultural differences in health, public awareness/prevention/intervention campaigns, and the role of media and relationships in health communication.

This course will introduce students to the field of Community Health and Corporate Wellness. Topics will include the history of Employee Health Promotion, workplace health and wellness services, design and implementation of health promotion programming in communities, schools and business, health care policy and legal issues, evidence based decision making in the community health and corporate wellness field, program assessment and evaluation tools, and program design and implementation.

This course introduces the student to the concepts of community health and health promotion. Public health principles are applied to health promotion, risk reduction, and disease prevention needs of learners, families, and communities. Epidemiology, health promotion, health agencies/organizations, organizing the community, populations, and the School Health Program are key areas of focus.

This course examines the experience of African American women and men from slavery days until the present. We will use as an interpretative framework the concepts of resistance and institution building as a way of explaining the remarkable changes that have been the experience of black people in the United States.

This course studies the history and culture of the Indigenous peoples of Minnesota. Origin and migration stories will be examined. Their interactions with each other, Europeans, and other native groups will be focused on, as well as contemporary issues facing the indigenous peoples of the Upper Midwest.

This course deals with the impact of culture on human experience. Topics include similarities and differences in personality, emotion, cognition, development, mental health, and interpersonal behavior across cultures.

Covers concepts and ideas which enable students to recognize and identify oppression, discrimination, and racism, along with learning techniques for building community in a pluralistic society with its great variety of cultures, value systems, and life styles. Includes study of the cultural content, world view, and concepts that comprise Minnesota-based American Indian tribal government, history, language, and culture.

Causes and consequences of prejudice, discrimination, and segregation; relationships of ethnic, racial, and religious minorities to dominant categories in the United States and globally; remedial programs to reduce racial, ethnic, and religious tensions.

Examines quality-of-life dimensions and outcomes of diverse and at-risk populations important to human service professionals, including age, class, color, disability, ethnicity, family structure, gender, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex and sexual orientation; dimensions examined include education, employment, health, housing, justice administration, and welfare.

A course designed to emphasize how public relations and other media professionals gather, produce, and distribute material in a modern society. This course acquaints students with both why and how to write for a variety of contexts such as new media, social media and public relations.

This course covers the use of the criminal justice system to address what are inherently social problems. Included are over-representation of minorities and the poor in the criminal justice system, profiling, social contributions to crime, discrimination against the poor and minorities at every juncture of the justice system and special problems of the poor and minorities. Evidence based practices which reduce crime are examined as well as ways to reduce barriers to effective participation in society.

The course is aimed at developing the knowledge and skill level of students in the areas of conflict management and conflict resolution. As a result of completing this course, students will have a well-developed understanding of the various theories surrounding conflict, conflict resolution, and conflict management. Further, the class will address various techniques used in industry to resolve conflict situations.

The focus of MGMT 450 is to help students develop an awareness of, and sensitivity to, the needs and conditions of diverse groups; theoretical and conceptual knowledge about diverse groups; and specific skills in interacting with people from various diverse groups. The class will approach discussions regarding diversity from the underlying issues surrounding privilege. Students will learn how invisible privilege impacts all aspects of life; this concept will be addressed from the perspective of primary and secondary characteristics of demographic diversity.

Upon completion of the course, students will have a working understanding of:

1. The evolution of unions in the United States
2. How unions influence organizational strategic direction
3. The advantages and disadvantages of unionization for organizations
4. How the external environment influences both labor and management
5. Legal aspects relative to labor-management relations
6. The phases involved in developing a relationship between labor and management
7. How labor agreements are developed and administered

This course covers the contemporary, theoretical, and practical information necessary for developing effective leadership with a focus on diversity and special needs for recreational groups such as at-risk youth, senior citizens, and individuals with disabilities.

This course includes a brief review of the cause and effect of development of community organizations. It focuses on the components that are important in being responsive to the recreation and lifetime leisure needs of our population as well as the land, financial, and organizational responsibilities and opportunities.

Examines the initiation, development and implementation of public policy in the U.S. at all levels of government, with special emphasis on national policy-making. Includes study of the role of each branch of government in the policy process, citizen input in the process, current debates over important policies, and the significance of political parties and interest groups in the formulation of policies.

Students may choose any Psychology Course. Please consult with advisor.

This course critically analyzes contemporary social problems from historical, structural, and theoretical perspectives. Problems analyzed vary, but all analyses are premised on the sociological understanding that humans are products of their social environments. Theory and research are used to demonstrate that social problems are interrelated and that society creates and perpetuates problems.

This course will provide an overview of the sociological study of aging. To understand the experience of growing old, students will analyze common beliefs about old people, investigate the diversity of the aged, and consider how later life is shaped by institutions, such as the family, the economy, employment, retirement, social services, and health care. Emphasis will be given to the changes that are associated with aging and the resulting dynamic interactions between older people and their environment.

This course will acquaint students with issues of substance abuse and other addictive disorders. Students will examine current theories of addiction, discuss various treatment modalities, and come to understand the issues of assessment and intervention. Race, gender, and culture will be addressed throughout the course.

This is a lecture and seminar course which helps students develop skills related to finding, reading, abstracting, and synthesizing published research in psychology. It also introduces students to the psychology major and to career planning in psychology.

This course acquaints the student with the application of psychological principles and methods in a wide variety of settings. Topics include problems addressed by applied psychologists working in business and industry, clinical, community, health, legal, environmental and developmental settings.

This course covers the fundamentals of research design and methodology in a variety of settings of interest to behavioral scientists. A lab component is included which involves students in collecting data, applying statistical methods, and writing a report in APA journal format. Students use SPSS, a computer package for data analysis.

Social psychology is the study of how an individuals behavior is affected by other people. Topics covered include social perception, interpersonal attraction, prejudice, altruism, power, social influence, and group interaction.

Major theories of personality are studied.

This course provides an overview of major theoretical perspectives and constructs related to the field of health psychology, assuming a biopsychosocial model of health and illness. Topics include empirical foundations, role of psychological factors in health and illness, stress and coping, mindfulness, and relevant professions.

The use of learning principles to modify behavior in a variety of settings is studied. Educational, therapeutic, and self-control domains are explored.

A study of more advanced topics in psychology not normally provided as part of the curriculum.

Common topics addressed by the Mental Health topics (287) course, regardless of the particular mental health concern addressed in given semester (e.g., eating disorders, PTSD, borderline personality disorder) include the following; nature, prevalence, etiology, treatment outcome literature, prevention programs, and critical consideration of the self-help literature of a given mental health concern. In addition there will be opportunities to apply effective coping/intervention strategies. Mental health topics will be considered from the perspective of those experiencing symptoms of a given mental health disorder and concerned others.

This course may be taken multiple times, assuming the particular focus of a given course is different from Mental Health topics courses previously taken.
Note: Students may opt to enroll at the upper division (487) instead of (287), for which completion of a Final Research Paper assignment will be required in addition to fulfilling all other assignments at the lower division (287) level.

An independent study course designed primarily for Honors Program students. This course allows more in-depth or comprehensive study or research by certain students concurrently enrolled in at least one other psychology course.

This course provides an introduction to sport & performance psychology. Topics such as motivation, reinforcement, communication, psychological skills training, and ethics associated with the field will be covered.

This course provides a forum for the development, implementation, and presentation of original research projects. A seminar format is used to discuss research ideas, designs, problems, and the presentation and discussion of findings. It includes an on-campus presentation of individual research projects.

The course deals with the relationship between the brain, physiological systems, and behavior. Topics include neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, sensory systems, learning, mental disorders, and drug actions.

This course provides students with an overview of important principles and research methods in the area of cognitive psychology, a field of scientific study devoted to understanding the operation of the human mind. Students will examine basic findings and important theories/models related to various aspects of human cognition including perception, attention, memory, language, decision-making, and problem solving.

This course surveys factors influencing behavior in small groups. Included are topics such as leadership, social power, and group structures.

This course provides a survey of classical theories and current research in the areas of sensation and perception. Topics include vision, object recognition, attention, audition, taste, smell, and touch.

This course reviews theory and research on attitude formation, attitude change, and the relationship between attitude, beliefs, and behavior.

This course provides an introduction to counseling fundamentals, definitions of a helping relationship, counseling goals and expectations, counselor role and function, theories and approaches, techniques and skill building, ethical and legal considerations, and counseling special populations.

Industrial/organizational psychology is the study of the application of psychology to business. Primary topics are in the areas of personnel psychology, organizational behavior, and the work environment.

This course provides an in-depth study of the major ideas in psychology and their origins, as well as key people in the history of psychology. Students trace the evolution of current psychological thought.

Prerequisites: six courses in psychology.

A study of more advanced topics in psychology not normally provided as part of the curriculum.

Common topics addressed by the Mental Health topics 487 course, regardless of the particular mental health concern addressed in a given semester (e.g., eating disorders, PTSD, borderline personality disorder) include the following: nature, prevalence, etiology, treatment outcome literature, prevention programs, and critical consideration of the self-help literature of a given mental health concern. In addition there will be opportunities to apply effective coping/intervention strategies. Mental health topics will be considered from the perspective of those experiencing symptoms of a given mental health disorder and concerned others.

This course may be taken multiple times, assuming the particular focus of a given course is different from Mental Health topics courses previously taken.

Note: Students may opt to enroll at the lower division (287) instead of (487). If enrolled at the lower division (287) level, completion of a Final Research Paper assignment will not be required.

Arranged Independent Study in Psychology.

Students register for this course when their internship requires more field hours than are credited in PSYC 400, or when they wish to explore additional areas of professional practice in psychology. Students will be required to spend 50 hours in the field for each credit hour.