Social Sciences

UMA’s Social Science program provides students with a curriculum and supports to increase their knowledge and skills in the social sciences. The program offers courses supporting UMA’s General Education requirements and in depth training for social science majors. The program is committed to supporting institution wide research literacy and engaging in applied social science research projects. The program delivers its curriculum using a range of hybrid designs, to students on campuses and at a distance.        

Degree Offered: B.A.


Social Sciences

Psychology Concentration of the UMA Social Science Program

 

What is Psychology?

Psychology is the study of the mind and its function in the context of individual and social behavior. Psychologists are interested in thoughts, emotions and their relation to one another, to identity, the emergence of the self and interactions with others. Drawing from historical roots in philosophy and biology, the discipline of psychology acts as a bridge between contemporary disciplines of medicine, natural science, economics and sociology.

Why Study Psychology?

Perhaps because its object of study is so central to the humanities and social science, psychology is a field that includes a dizzying array of subjects and applications and can be fit to nearly any personal or professional orientation. For the intellectually curious student there is plenty of soil to till. What do psychologists study? The following list of links to information listed by the American Psychological Association reveals the diversity of topic matters, with the most frequently accessed information listed largest:

 

Abortion Addictions ADHD Aging Alzheimer's Anger Anxiety Autism Bipolar Disorder Bullying Children Death & Dying Depression Disability Eating Disorders Education Emotional Health Environment Ethics Hate Crimes Health Disparities HIV & AIDS Human Rights Hypnosis Immigration Intelligence Kids & the Media Law & Psychology Learning & Memory Marriage & Divorce Military Money Natural Disasters Obesity Parenting Personality Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Race Safety & Design Schizophrenia Sexual Abuse Sexuality Shyness Sleep Socioeconomic Status Sport and Exercise Stress Suicide Teens Testing Issues Therapy Trauma Violence Women & Men Workplace Issues

 

An undergraduate concentration in psychology, embedded in the broader social science degree, is an flexible choice that can be applied to future academic or professional studies in any field related to human behavior. Psychology students not only earn Masters and Doctoral degrees in psychology itself, but also frequently move on to professional schools in business, education, law and medicine.

Careers in Psychology

Some of the fields available to psychology graduates include:

  • Business consulting
  • Case work
  • Career counseling
  • Educational consulting
  • Marketing
  • Mediation
  • Mental health rehabilitation
  • Program administration and evaluation
  • Victim advocacy

 

Students who continue their study of psychology in graduate school can look forward to careers as clinicians, consultants, counselors, professors and nonprofit administrators.  Visit the APA's PsycCareers center for more examples of available careers in psychology.

UMA Courses in Psychology

The psychology concentration can be obtained by social science majors who take the following classes:

Both of the following:

  • PSY 400 Abnormal Psychology
  • PSY 394 Independent Study in Psychology 

Two of the following:

  • PSY 302 Psychology of Childhood
  • PSY 304 Psychology of Adolescence
  • PSY 309 Psychology of Adulthood
  • PSY 310 Psychology of Personality
  • PSY 364 The Psychology of Men and Boys

Two of the following:

  • PSY 306 Behavior Modification
  • PSY 312 Psychology of Adjustment
  • PSY 315 Transpersonal Psychology
  • PSY 356 Somatic Psychology
  • PSY 360 Social Psychology
  • PSY 361 Applied Social Psychology
  • PSY 401 Educational Psychology
  • PSY 415 Cross Cultural Psychology

 

Psychology Research News