Imagine Your Future
Imagine graduating with an in-depth understanding of human behavior. Imagine meaningful internship and service learning experiences that may include working with children, working with individuals with disabilities, or working with the elderly in a non-profit organization, a school, or a clinical setting. Imagine completing your degree with a digital resume showcasing your academic achievements and hands-on experience that you can show to potential employers or graduate schools. Realize your brightest future with a Marymount College Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology.
Marymount College alumni have reached success in a wide range of behavioral science fields including sports psychology, rehabilitation services, speech-language pathology and child health. Former students are researchers, drug and alcohol counselors, social workers and psychotherapists, and work for organizations such as Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Department of Social Services, the Callier Center for Communication Disorders, and the Institute of Applied Behavior Analysis.
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
The Marymount College Psychology Degree will provide you with a solid foundation of knowledge and experience. Your classes will be small in size, which will allow you to fully participate in learning opportunities such as case study presentations, discussion and reflection on what you’ve learned. You will receive individual faculty mentoring and focused advising from your professors.
Preparing For a Bright Future
Whether you are planning to pursue graduate study or to work in the field of psychology, the Psychology BA at Marymount College will prepare you for what lies ahead. The curriculum has been designed to align with the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major. This means that you will be taking courses and developing skills that the APA feels are critical to the study of psychology. These guidelines were developed to reflect best practices in the field of psychology and represent the recommendations of psychologists from across the country.
Apply What You Learn
You will learn to write and speak clearly and effectively; to use technology to locate information and communicate; to evaluate the quality and objectivity of research findings; to collaborate with others; and to think critically and ethically. You will learn theories and concepts to explain human behavior from a variety of perspectives, including biological, cognitive, and sociocultural viewpoints, and be able to apply what you learn in the classroom to yourself and to others. You will have an understanding of how factors like race, gender, and cultural background impact one’s experience and values. And, most importantly, you will identify and develop skills and experiences relevant to achieving your career and life goals.
A Well-Rounded Education
In your first two years, you will build a well-rounded educational foundation in psychology and the liberal arts that will prepare you for your upper division learning. In your junior and senior years, you will take courses that delve into the major subfields of psychology, including developmental psychology, cognition, learning, and social psychology.
The psychology program is a rigorous curriculum that includes a sequence of core courses in Statistics, Research Methods, and Scientific Writing. These courses are designed to underscore the nature of psychology as a science, as well as to give students the necessary skills for graduate study in the mental health fields.
Courses available in the program include:
- Child and Adolescent Development
- Personality Theory
- Forensic Psychology
- Psychology of Creativity
- Adult Development & Aging
- Intercultural Psychology
- Drug Use & Abuse
- Psychology’s Perspective on Film
- Sports Psychology.
The Capstone Project
Your senior year will include your Capstone Project: a year-long research-oriented experience that a student prepares with the aid of a faculty mentor. Projects may include working with children, community agencies, schools or mental health organizations. The Capstone culminates with a formal presentation and the completion of an e-Portfolio.
Expect Academic and Real-World Learning
During your time at Marymount, not only will you pursue your academic responsibilities, but you will also focus on year-to-year objectives that will help to clarify your career goals. With assistance from the Office of Career Services & Internships, faculty and staff you will learn to take a proactive role in your professional pursuits by applying tools, resources and strategies to encourage informed decisions.
An essential component to successful career management is the ability to track progress towards self-discovery. Your e-Portfolio, which you will build throughout your time at Marymount, will be an effective way to organize and display evidence of your skills to graduate schools, prospective employers and internships. The College’s proximity to Los Angeles provides exposure to countless opportunities to apply what you’ve learned and to make valuable connections with an array of accomplished professionals.
For more details, see Dr. Lynn DellaPietra, professor of Psychology and Psychology Division Chair ldellapietra@marymountpv.edu
