Course List

This course provides a solid grounding in classic and current Social & Personality Psychology, extending on the material presented in the Introduction to Psychology Course in Level 1. It highlights the social aspects of psychology including social development and relationships, theory of mind, social cognition, persuasion, attraction, conformity and obedience.  Social & Personality Psychology is one of the core pillars of general content in the discipline of psychology. The core pillars include Biological, Cognitive, Developmental, Social & Personality Psychology, and Mental & Physical Health.

This course provides a solid grounding in Mental & Physical Health, extending on the material presented in the Introduction to Psychology Course in Level 1. It highlights abnormal psychology and psychiatric disorders including the behavioural disorders in children, autism, mood and anxiety disorders, dissociative disorders, personality disorders, psychopathy, the schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and various therapeutic orientations. It concludes by introducing some controversies in psychiatry and highlights the important role clinical psychology will need to play in treating mental disorders in the future.  Mental & Physical Health is one of the core pillars of general content in the discipline of psychology. The core pillars include Biological, Cognitive, Developmental, Social & Personality Psychology, and Mental & Physical Health.

There will be two distinct parts of the course. In Part I, Community Psychology will be highlighted. Under this theme the principles of community work will provide the framework for discussing quality of life issues and social problems arising out of the relationship between the individual and his or her community and the society.  In part II the focus will shift to Environmental Psychology.  A review of psychological concepts and principles will provide the background for discussing the transaction between the individual and the natural and built environment.

This course provides an introduction to the field of industrial/organisational psychology. It involves the application of psychological principles, theories, research methods and findings and intervention strategies to the study of people within the workplace context. It will draw from various fields of psychology as well as other 147 theoretical fields including management, human resource development and sociology. A variety of topic areas will be explored. The course should appeal a wide range of students with varying academic interests but it is specifically designed for students who intend to pursue careers in the broad area of Organisational Development.

This course will examine ideas of influential philosophers and schools of thought, and highlight the foundations on which the broad discipline of contemporary psychology is based. To expose students to the history of psychology and its relationship to psychiatry, providing an important foundation on which to understand contemporary psychology.

Students will be introduced to an eclectic mix of topics including ‘the upside of being down’ and ‘the psychology of eating animals’. The course highlights the integrative nature of contemporary psychology and introduces students to different ways in which psychological theory can be applied in the real world. This course also adopts a more ‘hands-on’, student-centred approach to teaching psychology by focusing group-based activities around recently published research in the Current Directions in Psychological Science journal.

This course provides an overview of the history of positive psychology and the contributions that positive psychology has made to several traditional research areas in psychology. The course will define and unpack the complex concept of happiness, and examine the mechanisms that cause and maintain it. Topics will be connected to their implications for increasing well-being throughout the course. Training in psychology typically focuses on ‘weakness’, rather than on ‘strengths’. This course addresses a need for programmes in psychology to build on personal strengths, something that can immediately affect students’ lives.

Psychological literacy is the major outcome of a major in psychology. It involves acquisition of specialized knowledge, grounding in scientific thinking, capacity to think critically, acting ethically, competency in using and evaluating information, effective communication, respect for diversity and being reflective about one’s own and others’ behaviour. The psychologically literate citizen is able to draw upon this knowledge of psychology and apply it to a broad range of situations. The time for the psychologically literate citizen is overdue. As indicated by U.S. President Barack Obama at Arizona State University in May 2009.

This course gives the student the opportunity to grow academically, through participation in a service-learning experience. Students will meet real needs in the community by applying knowledge from the course. This course will examine elements of disaster response, volunteerism, civic engagement, service learning, social innovation, healing proposals and service projects and will expose students to the four basic principles of service learning namely, engagement, reflection, reciprocity and public dissemination. Students will complete 30 hours of service over a five week period (Weeks 7 to 11), which may include participating in community enhancement activities or other community projects that are related to disaster risk reduction/management. During the 5 weeks of community service, students will be expected to reflect on their experiences and document their reflections in their online journal while completing other tasks online. Students will work with selected NGO’s, CBO’s or other established community groups and partners in their respective territories, in post-disaster response or disaster preparedness/risk management service areas that positively impact the community.