About the Major
Psychology
focuses on an understanding of behavior and experience. The
Psychology Program at Ramapo College seeks to educate students
in both the science and profession of psychology. It teaches
psychology in a liberal arts context that makes clear the interconnections
between psychology and other disciplines, promotes critical
reasoning skills, and emphasizes the ethical issues involved
in psychological practice and research.
The program nurtures learning by immersing students in a variety
of theoretical orientations, research methodologies, therapeutic
techniques, and human diversity issues. Students also gain hands-on
experience in the practice of psychology through fieldwork in
a mental health agency or through an independent research project.
Students are trained to appropriately apply their psychological
knowledge to issues in the world and to become discriminating
readers of social and behavioral research.
To attain these goals, the program requires that students complete
two basic courses: Introduction to Psychology and Research Methods
in Psychology. The remaining requirements are structured around
a number of courses that are grouped into six categories. Students
are required to take at least one course from each of these
categories. This structure allows some flexibility and choice,
yet insures that each student will be exposed to content in
the areas of social, developmental, experimental, and personality/abnormal
psychology. Majors also take a course that presents a cultural
or historical perspective on the discipline and three elective
courses in psychology.
Students experience hands-on, applied experience in psychology
through a fieldwork course or an independent research course.
In fieldwork courses students work in a mental health or educational
agency in the community such as a school for special children;
in the independent research course they design and implement
a piece of original research. The final psychology requirement
is a 400-level seminar in the senior year: Advanced Topics in
Psychology. Examples of these include "Black Issues in
Psychology," "Neuropsychology," and "Cults."
Psychology is an appropriate major for a student seeking a career
in any one of the human-service professions and for a student
planning graduate work in psychology. Graduates may find opportunities
for employment in a variety of human-service settings such as
community mental health centers, counseling services, substance-abuse
programs, geriatric facilities, probation services, and schools
for special education. Other opportunities lie in the fields
of advertising, consulting, consumer research, criminal justice,
education, environmental policy, evaluation research, human
factors engineering, marketing, personnel, and product planning,
The psychology major is offered by the School
of Social Science and Human Services and by the School
of Theoretical and Applied Science leading to a B.A. degree.
Although the requirements for the major are identical in both
schools, the difference in focus is reflected by differences
in the school core requirements. A psychology minor is available. |
