May 18, 2024  
2020-21 Graduate Catalog 
    
2020-21 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Descriptions


 

Psychology

  
  • PY 587 Practicum (non-credit)


    Practicum is an applied experience in a counseling setting selected to meet individual career goals. This experience is designed to introduce students to clinical observation, interviewing, assessment, and counseling. The course requires a minimum of 100 hours of documented supervised counseling experience in an approved setting, as well as online group supervision provided by an Arcadia faculty member.

    Prerequisite: Matriculated students only. PY570, PY572, and PY586.
  
  • PY 589 Independent Research


    3 credits
    In this course, a faculty member advises a student in completing a small-scale research project or an extensive literature review culminating in a paper prepared in APA publication style and suitable for publication.  

    Prerequisite: Grade of B or better in PY 521  and agreement from a faculty member to advise the project. Matriculated students only.
  
  • PY 598 Advanced Seminar


    3 credits
    This seminar is an opportunity for a small number of qualified students to explore a targeted area of psychological interest in collaboration with the faculty instructor. The topic is announced prior to registration.

    Prerequisite: Matriculated students only. Permission of the Director.

     

  
  • PY 605 Addictive Behaviors: Substance Abuse and Eating Disorder Counseling


    3 credits
    The course surveys the history, etiology, prevalence, and treatment modalities relevant to substance abuse and eating disorders. Special attention is given to short-term and long-term intervention strategies addressing both individual, cultural, and familial factors.  

    Prerequisite: Matriculated students only. PY572 and PY586.
  
  • PY 610 Group Counseling


    3 credits
    This course covers major theories, concepts, and techniques of group counseling. It also includes a process group in which students experience and practice various group counseling techniques.  

    Prerequisite: PY 572  and PY 586 .
  
  • PY 611 Couples and Family Therapy


    This overview of the major theoretical approaches to family and marriage counseling emphasizes practical skills and the ability to plan interventions in a clinical setting. It includes a laboratory in which specific techniques are taught by role-play, discussion and other activities.

    Prerequisite: PY 572  and PY 586 .
  
  • PY 612 Practical Applications for School Counselors


    This course provides an in-depth exploration of current trends in the school counseling field. Students review the practical tools counselors need to design and implement appropriate school counseling programs based on the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) National Model. Students explore and critically analyze each of the four components of this model while engaging in hands-on and performance-based activities.

  
  • PY 613 Family Counseling


    3 credits
    This course introduces students to the history, theory, and evidence-based approaches in family/systems therapy. Students practice family interviewing and assessment, creating conceptualizations and treatment plans, applying evidence-based techniques, and recognizing the influence of multicultural factors on family therapy.  

     

    Prerequisite: Prerequisites: Matriculated students only. PY572 and PY586.

     

  
  • PY 614 Couples Counseling


    3 credits
    This course introduces students to the history, theory, and evidence-based approaches in couples counseling.

    Students practice interviewing and assessment skills with couples, conceptualizing couples’ issues, creating treatment plans, applying evidence-based techniques, and exploring the influence of multicultural factors on couples’ counseling.  

    Prerequisite: Prerequisites: Matriculated students only. PY572 and PY586.

  
  • PY 615 Child and Adolescent Counseling: Clinical and School Applications


    This course examines theories of child development and pathology with an emphasis on clinical work with youth presenting with mental health issues in community and school settings. Major types of intervention techniques are explored, including individual, play therapy, cognitive behavioral methods, family and group therapy. Particular emphasis is on childhood mental health and illness and their relationship to school and family functioning.

    Prerequisite: PY 516 , PY 572  and PY 586 .
  
  • PY 618 Evidenced-Based Treatments of Trauma


    3 credits
    This course provides an overview of evidence-based treatments for victims of a variety of trauma-related events. Through demonstrations, role-plays, discussions, experiential activities, and readings, the students will gain foundational skills in trauma assessment and treatment with an emphasis on cultural competence.

    Prerequisite: PY 572  and PY 586 .
  
  • PY 620 Advanced Counseling Techniques


    3 credits
    This course focuses on the advanced skills and techniques of counseling, with a specific focus on evidence-based and multicultural practices. This course includes repeated practice/role-plays of specific techniques.

    Prerequisite: PY 572  and PY 586 . Matriculated students only.
  
  • PY 621 Advanced Child and Adolescent Counseling


    This course offers advanced cognitive-behavioral skills-based training in assessment and treatment of children and adolescents presenting with a broad range of mental health and illness issues. This course includes a weekly lab designed to provide students with hands on experience in the treatment of youth, while being observed by faculty who are experts in the field.

    Prerequisite: PY 516 , PY 572 , PY 586  and PY 615 .
  
  • PY 622 Trauma, Advocacy, and Social Justice


    3 credits
    This course uses ecological and emancipatory frameworks to guide understanding the prevalence of trauma and the development, conceptualization, and treatment of trauma-related symptoms. It addresses topics such as disaster counseling, intimate partner and community violence, historical trauma, and refugee mental health. Students learn skills in both treatment and prevention.  

    Prerequisite: PY 572  and PY 586 .
  
  • PY 623 Strategies for Treating Grief and Bereavement


    3 credits
    This is an introductory course in grief counseling, designed to provide students with basic terminology, theory and concepts about grief and loss, as well as theoretical and practical techniques and interventions relevant to specific types of losses.

    Prerequisite: PY 572  and PY 586 .
  
  • PY 625 Psychological Testing


    3 credits
    This study of major concepts in psychological testing and measurement surveys major tests
    used in each of the traditional areas of psychological assessment: intelligence, aptitude, achievement, interests, personality and behavioral assessment. Emphasis is on correct interpretation of test data. It requires communication of results in written and verbal formats and provides opportunities for the informal administration of psychological tests. Prerequisite: PY521 and 572. Matriculated students only.

    Lecture

  
  • PY 626 Assessment in Counseling


    3 credits
    This course covers major concepts in psychological testing, such as terminology, test administration, critical evaluation of testing tools, interpretation and communication of test results, and multicultural considerations in psychological assessment.

    Prerequisite: PY 521  and PY 572 . Matriculated students only.
  
  • PY 630 Internship in Counseling


    6 credits, Fall
    Practical experience in a school or counseling setting is selected to meet individual career goals. The internship requires a minimum of 300 hours over the academic year except for some students in the Mental Health Counseling certification programs. It includes a weekly seminar for an entire academic year. This course includes case-based discussions of professional and ethical issues relevant to either mental health or school counseling, with special emphasis on the ASCA national model for the latter. It requires written and oral presentations. Mental Health Counseling students are asked to present a formal case study, while School Counseling students are asked to develop a portfolio. The internship is done during the final year of study. Successful completion of this course is required before the degree or certificate is conferred.

    Prerequisite: Prerequisites: PY 521, PY 572, PY575, PY 586, PY 587, PY 626 and PY 610. PY 620 may be taken concurrently. Matriculated students only.
  
  • PY 630 A,B,C,D Internship in Counseling


    Option A = Mental Health Counseling, 150 hours; Option B = Mental Health Counseling, 300 hours; Option C = School, 210 hours, Option D = School, 420 hours.

    (First part of a yearlong internship)

    Practical experience in a school or counseling setting is selected to meet individual career goals. The internship requires a minimum of 300 hours over the academic year except for some students in the Mental Health Counseling certification programs. It includes a weekly seminar for an entire academic year. This course includes case-based discussions of professional and ethical issues relevant to either mental health or school counseling, with special emphasis on the ASCA national model for the latter. It requires written and oral presentations. Mental Health Counseling students are asked to present a formal case study. The internship is done during the final year of study. Successful completion of this course is required before the degree or certificate is conferred.

    Prerequisite: PY 521 , PY 572 , PY 574 , PY 586 , PY 587 , PY 626  and PY 610 . PY 620  may be taken concurrently. Matriculated students only.

  
  • PY 630A Internship: Mental Health Counseling 150 hrs.


    3 credits
    (First part of a yearlong Practicum)
    Practical experience in a counseling setting selected to meet individual career goals. Requires minimum of 300 hours over the academic year except for some students in the certification programs. Includes a weekly seminar for an entire academic year. This course includes case-based discussions of professional and ethical issues. Requires written and oral presentations including a formal case study. Practicum is done during final year of study. Successful completion of this course is required before the degree is conferred.

     

    Prerequisite: Completion of a pre-practicum experience consisting of at least 100 hours of documented supervised counseling experience in agencies. (For students in the School Counseling Program, this pre-practicum must be in schools or youth agencies.) In addition, the student must have completed PY 492, PY 493, PY 521, PY 625, PY 572,
    PY 586. PY 610 and PY 620 may be taken concurrently. Students in the School Counseling Program also must have completed PY 501 and PY 502. Matriculated students only.

  
  • PY 630B Internship: Mental Health Counseling 300 hrs.


    6 credits
    Practical experience in a counseling setting is selected to meet individual career goals. The internship requires a minimum of 600 hours over the academic year. It includes a weekly seminar for an entire academic year. This course includes case-based discussions of professional and ethical issues relevant to mental health. It requires written and oral presentations (e.g., a formal case study). The internship is done during the final year of study. Successful completion of this course is required before the degree or certificate is conferred.

    Prerequisite: PY 521, PY 572, PY575, PY 586, PY 587, PY 626 and PY 610. PY 620 may be taken concurrently. Matriculated students only.
  
  • PY 630L Multicultural Lab: Knowledge I


    non-credit
    This multicultural lab aims at expanding students’ knowledge of working with various populations. These labs complement the material presented in PY 688 . Topics will include three of the following: disability, gender and intersectionality, Muslim Americans, Native Americans populations, Middle Eastern/Arab populations, religion and spirituality, socioeconomic status.

    Prerequisite: Matriculated students only.
  
  • PY 631 Internship in Counseling


    6 credits, Spring
    (Second part of a year-long practicum)
    .
    Practical experience in a school or counseling setting is selected to meet individual career goals. The internship requires a minimum of 300 hours over the academic year except for some students in the Mental Health Counseling certification programs. It includes a weekly seminar for an entire academic year. This course includes case-based discussions of professional and ethical issues relevant to either mental health or school counseling, with special emphasis on the ASCA national model for the latter. It requires written and oral presentations. Mental Health Counseling students are asked to present a formal case study, while School Counseling students are asked to develop a portfolio. The internship is done during the final year of study. Successful completion of this course is required before the degree or certificate is conferred.

    Prerequisites: PY 521, PY 572, PY575, PY 586, PY 587, PY 626 and PY 610. PY 620 may be taken concurrently. Matriculated students only.

  
  • PY 631 A,B,C,D Internship in Counseling


    Option A = Mental Health Counseling, 150 hours; Option B = Mental Health Counseling, 300 hours; Option C = School, 210 hours, Option D = School, 420 hours.

    (Second part of a yearlong internship)

    See description and prerequisites for PY 630 A,B,C,D  .

  
  • PY 631A Internship: Mental Health Counseling 150 hrs.


    3 credits
    (Second part of a yearlong Practicum)
    Practical experience in a counseling setting selected to meet individual career goals. Requires a minimum of 300 hours over the academic year except for some students in the certification programs. Includes a weekly seminar for an entire academic year. This course includes case-based discussions of professional and ethical issues. Requires written and oral presentations including a formal case study. Practicum is done during final year of study. Successful completion of this course is required before the degree is conferred.

     

    Prerequisite: Completion of a pre-practicum.  Experience consisting of at least 100 hours of documented supervised counseling experience in agencies. (For students in the School Counseling Program, this pre-practicum must be in schools or youth agencies.) In addition, the student must have completed PY 492, PY 493, PY 521, PY 625, PY 572 and PY 586. PY 610, PY 630A or B and PY 620 may be taken concurrently. Students in the School Counseling Program must also have completed PY 501 and PY 502. Matriculated students only.

  
  • PY 631B Internship: Mental Health Counseling 300 hrs.


    6 credits
    (Second part of a yearlong Practicum)
    Practical experience in a counseling setting selected to meet individual career goals. Requires a minimum of 300 hours over the academic year except for some students in the certification programs. Includes a weekly seminar for an entire academic year. This course includes case-based discussions of professional and ethical issues. Requires written and oral presentations including a formal case study. Practicum is done during final year of study. Successful completion of this course is required before the degree is conferred.

     

    Prerequisite: Completion of a pre-practicum.  Experience consisting of at least 100 hours of documented supervised counseling experience in agencies. (For students in the School Counseling Program, this pre-practicum must be in schools or youth agencies.) In addition, the student must have completed PY 492, PY 493, PY 521, PY 625, PY 572 and PY 586. PY 610, PY 630A or B and PY 620 may be taken concurrently. Students in the School Counseling Program must also have completed PY 501 and PY 502. Matriculated students only.

  
  • PY 631L Multicultural Lab: Knowledge II


    non-credit
    This multicultural lab aims at expanding students’ knowledge of working with various populations. These labs complement the material presented in PY 688 . Topics will include three of the following: disability, gender and intersectionality, Muslim Americans, Native Americans populations, Middle Eastern/Arab populations, religion and spirituality, socioeconomic status.

    Prerequisite: Matriculated students only.
  
  • PY 640 Treatment of Childhood Internalizing Disorders


    3 credits
    This course provides students with exposure to current empirically supported psychotherapies for childhood internalizing disorders and related conditions. Topics include the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of pediatric anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depressive disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder. This course combines lecture, discussion, and small-group learning activities. Students complete assignments designed to help them practice child/caregiver interviewing, case conceptualization, treatment planning, and applying therapeutic interventions from treatment manuals. Students read from a variety of treatment manuals and practice skills repeatedly via role-play.

  
  • PY 650 Treatment of Childhood Externalizing Disorders


    3 credits
    The course provides students with exposure to current empirically supported psychotherapies for childhood externalizing disorders and related conditions. Topics include the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of common childhood disruptive behaviors (e.g., tantrums and hitting), ADHD, oppositional-defiant disorder, and conduct disorder. This course combines lecture, discussion, and small-group learning activities. Students complete assignments designed to help them practice child/caregiver interviewing, case conceptualization, treatment planning, and applying therapeutic interventions from treatment manuals. Students read from a variety of treatment manuals and practice skills repeatedly via role-play.

     

  
  • PY 686 Special Project


    3 credits
    This is an opportunity for students to complete a project (e.g., research, outreach, literature review) or to assist a faculty member with a project relevant to their area of interest. The project, carried out under the supervision of a psychology department faculty member, should be of a substantial nature and yield a manuscript, professional presentation, or other tangible outcome.

    Prerequisite: Agreement of the supervising faculty member. Matriculated students only.
  
  • PY 688 Cultural Bases of Counseling


    3 credits
    This course focuses on theories, research, and cultural issues related to counseling American racial/ethnic and sexual minorities. Students learn about general principles of cultural sensitivity, ethical issues related to counseling those who are different from themselves, how cultural heritage and social experience contribute to development, and how the culture and experience of the counselor may impact on the counseling relationship.

  
  • PY 688L Multicultural Lab: Self-Awareness II


    non-credit
    This series of multicultural labs aims to foster the introspection and self-awareness needed to allow students to excel in their roles as counselors, by expanding their ability to reflect on cross-cultural dynamics as they pertain to their professional roles. Students will be asked to reflect on different aspects of their socio-political identities, including religion, gender, race, ability, class, and sexuality. This lab focuses on learning and managing triggers, gaining awareness of our impact on others and of our self-images, and taking action.
    Prerequisite: Matriculated students only.

     

  
  • PY 697 Master’s Thesis in Counseling


    (3-credit option)
    This is the first part of a 6-credit course. Students are advised by two faculty members to develop, propose, and execute a comprehensive project (e.g., a research study, a program development project, a community service project, or a social advocacy project) that includes the collection and evaluation of quantitative or qualitative data. To complete this experience, students are expected to prepare a manuscript in APA publication style that is suitable for publication and present their project at an open forum to faculty and students or at a professional conference. The thesis is designed for students who wish to pursue advanced study beyond the Master’s level or who plan to make program development and evaluation part of their careers in counseling.

  
  • PY 698 Master’s Thesis in Counseling


    (3-credit option)
    This is the second part of a 6-credit course. See description and prerequisites for PY697

  
  • PY 699 Master’s Thesis in Counseling


    (6 credits)
    For this 6-credit course, students complete their Master’s Thesis project in one semester. See description and prerequisites for PY697.

    Prerequisite: At least 12 credits, including PY 521 ; grade of A- or better in PY 521 ; overall GPA of at least 3.5; no grade below a B; agreement of the supervising faculty member. Matriculated students only.

Religion

  
  • RE 417 Religion and Its Expression in Literature


    Through the readings of this course, the student will become acquainted with writers who have religious and spiritual ideas, concerns, questions and doubts. Some of the topics explored are: religious imagery, religion as an institution, historical and cultural influences, identity and community, authority and justice, atonement and redemption, meditation and harmony with nature. Selected authors are: James Baldwin, Berthold Brecht, Albert Camus, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Laotzu, Peter Matthiessen, Ian McEwan, Arthur Miller, and John Patrick Shanley.

  
  • RE 420 Archeology and Religion


    The class explores the use of archeology as a method of studying physical structures, scriptures, practices, and ideas that are associated with religion. The class addresses way in which archeology discovers artifacts and produces new descriptions of ancient ways of life. The course analyzes the way that archeology serves as a method of verifying or challenging the historical claims of many religions. Topics include the biblical archeology of the Holy Lands, the Exodus and the monarchy, the archeology of ancient Egypt, the underwater explorations off the west coast of India and the city of Alexandra, and the Mayan civilization and the practice of time-keeping, astronomy, and construction of temples and cities based upon the cosmos. The course includes a trip to the Penn Museum of Archeology, and guest speakers on related topics.

  
  • RE 422 Religion and Personality: Psychology of Religion


    Is religion beneficial or harmful to mental health? Does religion balance and heal the self or it is a wish fulfillment, an illusion and neurosis? The conflict between Freud and Jung over the nature of religion is examined. The course explores Fowler and faith and the stages of religious development, James and altered states of consciousness, Maslow and peak experiences, cognitive psychology and Buddhism, and the role of the brain in religious experiences. The potential therapeutic effects of religious experience are assessed.

  
  • RE 425 How Climate Change, Geography, and Technology Shape Religion


    The course explores of impact of climate change, geography, and technology on religion during the period of 11,000 BCE to 200 BCE. Utilizing scientific methodologies such as climatology, ethnobotany, biological anthropology, archeology, evolutionary psychology, and cultural ecology, the course uncovers the material forces that shape religion after the end of the ice age. Among the issues to be considered are the global warming that accompanies the end of the ice age, the development of agriculture and the subsequent population explosion, aggrandizers and the emergence of religious elites, the use of megaliths and stone monuments to honor the dead and urban life. The course continues with an examination of the crisis of meaning that occurs in the age of empires and the emergence of the concept of individual salvation during the Axial Age. Finally, the course speculates, as we enter into the age of information and the potential of a new period of global warming, as to the impact of climate change, social media, and new technologies on the character of religion.

  
  • RE 426 Dawn of Humanity and the Origins of Religion


    The course examines evidence for the earliest forms of religious experience that mark the appearance of Homo sapiens in the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods. This evidence is explored from a multidisciplinary approach including cognitive and evolutionary psychology, biological anthropology, neuroscience, archeology, archeoastronomy and art history. A key consideration is the cognitive evolution of the brain and the power of brain to harness its own spiritual energy and power. Among the themes of the earliest manifestations of religious experience to be studied are archaic burial rites, Venus figurine, cave paintings, shamanism and burial mounds and henges. The link between these early forms of religions experience and later forms of religion will be outlined.

  
  • RE 428 The Future in Science and Religion


    The class explores the influence of science on religion and culture in the modern and postmodern worlds. The course focuses on four themes of creation: the universe, life, human consciousness, and ecology of the earth. First, the class examines the sacred cosmology of Western Culture that is based upon the creation narratives of Genesis. Then, the class examines the scientific. challenge of astronomy, biological evolution, the neuroscience and human consciousness, and the ecology movement. Issues such as Galileo and the Inquisition, the Theory of the Big band, evolution and intelligent design, human consciousness and religious experience, and ecology and global warming are examined. Graduate Humanities students as well as undergraduate majors in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Psychology, Anthropology and Sociology are encouraged to enroll.

  
  • RE 430 Jerusalem: City of Peace or Armageddon


    The class outlines the history of Jerusalem from its origins as a small hilltop village in Canaan about 4,000 years ago to its role as the epicenter of political conflict in the world today. The course explores the three religious traditions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which regard Jerusalem as a sacred center. It focuses on the sacred geography of the city, the military invasions and occupations that shaped its landscape and the rulers and empires that dominated its history. Students engage in dialoque on the contemporary situation in Jerusalem including settlements in the West Bank, refugee camps, a Palestinian State, and economics conditions. Students learn about and participate in peacemaking exercises.

  
  • RE 456 Topics in Biblical Studies


  
  • RE 485 Special Topics: Religion



Theater Arts

  
  • TH 444 Acting Shakespeare


    (Also listed as EN 450 )

    The course begins with helping the student to feel the very heartbeat of the work, the students/actors have to know how to decipher and understand a text that may feel strange on the tongue, and they have to discover the text’s tone and tempo, mine its inner richness, and learn how to speak the text with ease. Lectures cover background with studio work and seminars built around improvised scenes along with scenes and monologues that are to be rehearsed outside the class for performance and critique during class.

    Prerequisite: Permission of the program Coordinator.
  
  • TH 450 Playwriting


    Using the creative approach, the course examines several forms of scriptwriting (e.g., playscript, the screenplay and scripts for audio/visual media), introduces tools of critical analysis through critique of student’s original work, and presents practical aspects of marketing the stage of screenplay.

    Prerequisite: Permission of the program Coordinator.
  
  • TH 461 Seminar: Modern Drama


    (Also listed as EN 461 )

    Founded on the premise that drama is a reflection of the values of the culture that created it, this course introduces students to the main movements in European and American theatre and drama of the past 120 years. After identifying the origins of these movements in continental Europe, students discover how these same movements found expression in contemporary theatre. The course also examines the changes in theatre practice during the period of time that it covers.

    Prerequisite: Permission of the program Coordinator.
  
  • TH 465 Children’s Theatre


    This study of theory and practice in play production for child audiences explores production techniques, the interrelationship with creative dramatics and children’s literature, and the role of children’s theatre in modern education. This is a course in the multiple aspects and practices of children’s theatre in America. The course examines the theatrical conventions and structures of this distinct area of theatre. The course explores the multiple areas of children’s theatre from performance to puppetry. The course includes writing a paper on a children’s theatre or practitioner in America. The art of children’s theatre is a loss of our present inhibition and a willingness to rediscover the child within. Students discuss and explore all areas of performing for children.

    Prerequisite: Permission of the program Coordinator.
  
  • TH 470 Career Internship


  
  • TH 490 Advanced Workshop in Theatre


    Individual or small-group projects in acting styles, directing full-length plays, scene and lighting design, theatre management, or other theatre areas. May involve directing or designing of a major college production, a formal advanced class, or other approved topics. Prerequisite: individualized projects require the approval of the instructor or Director of Theatre.

 

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