Community Psychology

Course Description:

Note: This is a two- term Capstone (winter and spring terms),and has either a three or four credits per term option.

This course focuses on the development of consultation skills applicable for use with a broad range of organizations and utilizes a Community Psychology perspective. Students will join one of several available consultation teams, each working collaboratively with a particular community partner on a project to address a critical organizational need. Community partners organizations are typically working in the fields of child/social welfare, social justice, health/mental health, violence prevention, education, criminal justice or community development. The capstone strives to foster the development of practical  skills related to organizational consultation and collaboration, program evaluation and development, effective teamwork, technical communication, as well as ethics, inclusion, and social responsibility. Previous capstones have assisted community partners with a broad range of projects. For example, evaluations to assess program effectiveness, creating the foundation for new programs, enhancing prevention and safety efforts, and supporting/assisting with the development of a major community training event.     

Goals of Community Psychology:

• Inquiry and Critical Thinking - Students will learn various modes of inquiry through interdisciplinary curricula—problem-posing, investigating, conceptualizing—in order to become active, self-motivated, and empowered learners.
• Communication - Students will enhance their capacity to communicate in various ways—writing, graphics, numeracy, and other visual and oral means—to collaborate effectively with others in group work, and to be competent in appropriate communication technologies.
• Diversity, Equity and Social Justice - Students will explore and analyze identity, power relationships, and social justice in historical contexts and contemporary settings from multiple perspectives.
• Ethics, Agency, and Community - Students will examine values, theories and practices that inform their actions, and reflect on how personal choices and group decisions impact local and global communities.

Project Description: 

For the Winter and Spring 2020 capstone, we will be working with several partners including those involved in addressing intimate partner violence in our local communities.