Courses
PSYC-100C P3 Intro to Psychology (3)
This course provides the student with an integrated approach to psychology. Students are introduced to both the empirical and theoretical views of behavior within a discipline noted for its breadth and diversity of interests.
Typically offered:
Attributes: P3 YLIB
Fall & SpringSOCI-101D P3 Intro to Sociology (3)
This course provides students with a general introduction to the field of Sociology and the major concepts employed for studying the interrelations between the individual, groups, and society.
Formerly titled: P3 Sociology in the 21st Century
Typically offered:
Attributes: P3 YLIB
Fall & SpringPHIL-124C P2 Introductory Ethics (3)
Problems faced by contemporary human beings and in contemporary society are examined through the lens of various ethical theories with a view to discovering whether there are any fundamental principles whereby all people may and ought to direct their lives.
Typically offered:
Attributes: P2 YLIB
Fall, Spring & SummerSOCI-150 Intro to Human Services (3)
This course presents the breadth of professions within human services, explores the ethics of helping, discusses the responsibilities of the helping relationship, introduces students to the practice skills of an effective human service worker, and helps students explore their interest in pursuing a human services career.
Attributes: YLIBPSYC-195 Professional Development I (1)
This one-credit seminar course is designed to introduce first-and-second year students to the skills and values that are important for academic and professional growth in the field of psychology. The course helps psychology majors to understand their role as students, formulate preliminary academic and career goals, identify developmental opportunities in the major, and explore the tools and resources available to facilitate success within and beyond the psychology major.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
Fall & SpringSOCI-201 SQ Prin of Epidemiology (3)
This is an introductory level course that is especially suitable for those interested in careers across the health sciences, such as nursing, pharmacy, or pre-med students. This course introduces students to basic techniques and methods for exploring the emergence of health and diseases, morbidity, mortality, injuries, and disability across different populations. A primary objective for epidemiologists is to contain the spread of diseases and other threats to public health. Students therefore explore a variety of methods, study designs, and forms of quantitative analysis with this essential goal in mind. In addition, given the range of social, biological, and genetic variables with which epidemiologists work, students encounter an intriguing diversity of tools, hypotheses, and dynamic conceptual models.
Typically offered:
Attributes: SQ YLIB
FallPUBH-205 Nutrition & Comm Health (3)
This course introduces students to the field of nutrition as an essential component of public and community health. Students consider the importance of nutrition as a contributor to current and local public health challenges. Theories of health behavior are applied to address healthy eating and equity issues. Students develop their skills in the areas of program planning, development, and assessment. Students are also exposed to ecological and systems frameworks for health and nutrition promotion within specific community contexts. Examples of nutrition and community health programs, such as school settings or elder care settings, are reviewed and analyzed.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
VariablePSYC-211 P3 Intro Psychopathology (3)
The purpose of this course is to explore, using a multidimensional approach, abnormal behavior and specific diagnostic categories included in the current classification system (i.e., DSM-IV-TR). The course will highlight the science of abnormal behavior and psychopathology, and will thus situate empirical research at the center of our explorations. The course will additionally emphasize application of principles to “real” people living in the “real” world. Controversial issues in abnormal psychology will be afforded special attention, and students should be prepared to engage with this content by completing assigned readings and regularly contributing to discussion/debate.
Note: Formerly titled P3 Society and Mental Illness.
Students currently enrolled in or who have prior credit for PSYC 401 – Abnormal Psychology may NOT take this course.Typically offered:
Attributes: P3 YLIB
Fall & Spring
Pre-requisites: -SOCI-217D Latino Health Care Issues (3)
As the Latino population continues to grow in the U.S., an increasing number of community-based professionals (educators, social workers, health care providers) find themselves working in a variety of Latino community settings. Beyond Spanish language skills, developing cultural literacy represents a critical tool for effective interaction and communication. This course is designed to help students develop an appreciation for the dominant cultural traditions shaping the beliefs, values, and practices/customs of the many Latino communities and how different Latino communities vary from one another.
Must have a minimum of one semester of Spanish to register.
Typically offered:
Attributes: HHHD YLIB
SpringSOCI-221 CC Helpng Professns Action (3)
This course helps students understand clients and caregivers in health care and human service organizations. Over the years clinics, hospitals, social work nonprofits, and government agencies have grown to serve more people. Longer periods of training and practice are required for the professionals, who utilize increasingly sophisticated technologies and techniques. A professional culture can develop that is very different from the lives of patients and clients. Organizations with religious roots have had to change as they have accepted government contracts to deliver services to people of different faiths, or no faith. Students will explore all the ways that communities have changed, and what this means for the organization and provision of health care and human services.
Attributes: CC YLIBECON-224 Economics of Health Care (3)
This course is an introduction to the American health care system with emphasis placed on using economics to analyze various problems. Topics covered include the demand for medical services; medical insurance (Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance); the markets for hospital, physician, and nursing services; current developments; and the future of this sector of the economy. The course includes a consideration of proposals for health care reform and comparisons with the health care systems of other countries.
Typically offered:
Attributes: HHCF YLIB
Spring – Odd Years
Pre-requisites: -PSYC-227C P3 Child & Adolescent Dev (3)
This course acquaints students with development from infancy through adolescence. Special emphasis is given to early determinants of behavior; the development of social, cognitive, and behavioral processes; and several of the theoretical formulations proposed to explain development.
Typically offered:
Attributes: P3 YLIB
Fall & Spring
Pre-requisites: PSYC-100C D-SOCI-233 Populat, Programs, & Hlth (3)
Targeted initiatives and programs that address specific health topics across a diversity of populations are an essential tool for public health professionals. Different communities and populations may require different approaches for purposes of health promotion and education. This course allows students to consider various population-level characteristics (such as language, gender norms, or family structure) that must be taken into account when designing interventions and programs. Students develop programs to reach and educate community members from specific populations about certain health conditions such as diabetes, alcoholism, or HIV/AIDS. Cultural sensitivity, empathy, and personal self-awareness are stressed as essential for this type of work.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
SpringSOCI-235 Agencies and Careers (3)
This course examines the nature of human service agencies and their basic structures of operation. This includes the study of supervision and management, for example, within the human service field. In addition, students explore the wide variety of career options across human service agencies.
Attributes: YLIB
Pre-requisites: SOCI-101D D- OR SOCI-101T D-PSYC-235C P3 Social Psychology (3)
This course explores the way situational factors affect how we think, feel, and behave toward others in social situations. Topics include: altruism, aggression, persuasion, conformity, stereotyping and prejudice, and attraction to others.
Typically offered:
Attributes: P3 YLIB
Fall & Spring
Pre-requisites: PSYC-100C D-PSYC-255 P3 Health Psych&Behav Med (3)
This course provides a broad overview of the related fields of health psychology and behavioral medicine. The course applies various theoretical perspectives to understanding how biological, psychological, and social factors interact with and affect: people’s efforts to achieve good health and prevent illness; factors underlying health habits and lifestyles; stress and coping and their role in illness; factors relating to seeking and receiving treatment for medical problems; pain and its treatment; and the recovery, rehabilitation, and psychosocial adjustments of people with serious health problems and chronic illnesses such as cancer and heart disease.
Typically offered:
Attributes: HHCF P3 YLIB
Spring
Pre-requisites: -PSYC-267 The Psych of Diversity (3)
This course will focus on the psychological aspects of social human difference, such as why people are prejudiced and the consequences of that prejudice for members of stigmatized groups. Theory and research related to the psychology of diversity will be emphasized and applications to social issues will be highlighted throughout. Topics will include stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination in general, as well as for specific characteristics of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, weight, and age, among others. Perspectives from both the perceivers of human difference and those with stigmatized identities will be considered.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
FallPSYC-270C P3 Drugs & Behavior (3)
An overview of psychoactive drugs and their effects on the nervous
system and on behavior. Emphasis is on the physiological and behavioral effects of drugs of abuse (such as alcohol, cocaine, and hallucinogens) and psychotherapeutic drugs (such as antidepressants and antipsychotics). Theories of drug abuse and issues regarding prevention and treatment of drug abuse are also discussed.Typically offered:
Attributes: P3 YLIB
Fall & Spring
Pre-requisites: -SOCI-281 Understanding Families (3)
This course explores varying types of families in contemporary US society. Students will consider a range of studies of families that incorporate qualitative and quantitative methods, along with different study designs. Explorations of how researchers frame their understanding of families, develop research questions, and conceptualize families will shape this course. The ethical implications pertaining to studies of families—and human subject research more generally—will also be considered.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
SpringSOCI-285 Soc Research Design & Meth (3)
This course is designed for majors and minors in Criminology, Criminal Justice, and Sociology. It provides the methodological foundation for much of the course content in those programs. Completing this course will, therefore, prepare students to better understand the content of those courses and to further develop their own critical-analytical skills. There is an emphasis in this course on experimental and quasi-experimental research designs. These are the principle tools for establishing causal relationships for explaining specific outcomes, such as the impact of community policing on violent crime, the effectiveness of child protective services with immigrant families, or the impact of bail reform. The central goal in this course is for students to walk away with a general sense of how criminologists, criminal justice professionals, and sociologists test their beliefs and knowledge about general social phenomena, such as crime, criminal behavior, the criminal justice system.
Attributes: YLIB ZRESPUBH-320 Public Health Policy (3)
This course provides an overview of local, national, and global health policy and the various ways in which governments play a role in health policy and in the provision of health care. Health policies can have a profound effect on quality of life. There are a host of public policy issues tied to public health, including the accessibility, cost, quality of health care; the safety of food, water, and the environment; the right to make decisions about our health. This course introduces a framework for understanding the social, political, and economic dimensions of health policy. It introduces the policy making and legal-regulatory environment in the United States and offers comparisons with health policies in other countries.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
FallSOCI-344 Soc Determ Hlth & Healthcr (3)
A basic premise of this course is that health needs and health outcomes at the individual, community, and population levels depend significantly on the social, economic, and environmental conditions under which people live and work. Students examine the critical connections between health outcomes and a range of factors such as poverty, illiteracy, health literacy, malnutrition, inadequate housing, and low-paid, unstable employment. A basic aim of this course is to consider such factors in relation to the incidence of infectious and chronic diseases with the goal of developing effective prevention strategies to promote healthy individuals and communities. Students in this course thus consider (a) how social, economic, and environmental conditions contribute to the spread of disease, (b) how societies contribute to the perpetuation of these conditions, and (c) what strategies and policies have proven effective in alleviating morbidity and mortality for populations living under these conditions.
Typically offered:
Attributes: YLIB
VariablePUBH-420 Capstone in Human Services (3)
The capstone in Human Services serves as the culminating experience for students completing the Bachelor of Science in Human Services program. This course is designed to provide students with the opportunity to analyze and apply the interdisciplinary knowledge and skills they have acquired throughout their undergraduate studies. The course emphasizes the integration of cultural, social, and systemic perspectives in the development of solutions to real-world challenges faced by individuals, families, and communities. Through case studies, research projects, and community-based service learning, students will evaluate ethical issues, apply critical thinking, and demonstrate their ability to create comprehensive service plans that address the needs of diverse populations. The capstone culminates in a final project where students present their findings and recommendations to faculty, peers, and community stakeholders.
Attributes: YLIBSOCI-2111 Aging and Life Courses (3)
In Citizenship and Civic Engagement courses, students will gain the knowledge, skills, and perspectives they need to become contributing citizens in a diverse and complex society. These experiences help ensure a commitment to collaboratively working across and within community contexts and structures to achieve civic aims in a democracy.
Aging is not simply a physical and biological phenomenon, it is also shaped by social processes at both the individual and societal level. This course is designed to provide students with an overview of some of the major concepts, theories, issues and research findings relating to aging and the life course, especially as viewed by sociologists. Additionally, the students will also learn about issues of aging by meeting regularly with elders in the surrounding community as part of the CEL component of the course.
Among the different topics examined in the course are: social and cultural dimensions of aging, stereotyping and ageism, important social policy issues relating to the elderly; and specific topics such as: demographic factors; aging and the family; aging, health and healthcare issues; diversity in the aging experience; intergenerational equity issues, and policy and politics of aging.
Attributes: CCE YLIBSOCI-2424 Death and Dying (3)
This course examines how individuals and societies respond to death, dying, and bereavement. Particular attention is given to the experience of people who have reached an advanced age, but the course more generally studies individuals whose functional abilities have severely declined and who are approaching death. Students analyze issues and controversies pertaining to old age, death, and dying within a framework for ethical decision-making that encompasses four ethical standards of reasoning. These are (1) a utilitarian approach, (2) a duties approach, (3) a rights approach, and (4) a justice/fairness approach. Among the topics and controversies addressed in this course are suicide, euthanasia, and end-of-life ethical debates along with how different institutions and professionals manage death and dying across different cultural settings.
Typically offered:
Attributes: ER YLIB
Fall