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Lasell University
Lasell University

Psychology

Major

What You'll Learn
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Are you interested in human behavior, analyzing mental processes, and helping others navigate life's challenges?

A psychology degree from Lasell will equip you with the knowledge and skills to make a difference. 

The Psychology degree focuses on how individuals think, feel, and act in personal, social, cultural, and societal settings. You'll learn the intervention techniques and counseling skills needed to help individuals. You'll also study how behavior patterns develop, and about the connection between an individuals' neurobiological, interpersonal, cultural, community, and societal processes. Through research and statistics courses, you will become familiar with basic concepts in experimental design and analysis.

The Psychology major will prepares you for a career in a wide variety of social service or therapeutic settings in administration, education, child welfare, research, and human service agencies in positions such as a counselor, personnel interviewer, case manager, market researcher, test administrator, research assistant, or rehabilitation worker.

Psychology degree students also pursue graduate programs in areas such as clinical or counseling psychology, school psychology, organizational psychology, social work, hospital administration, public health, and criminal justice.

Program Features

  • In the Case Management and Counseling course, first-year students learn first-hand how to assess, interview, and communicate with clients.
  • First-year students participate in at least one service-learning or social justice project. During their first one-semester internship, students work in a community agency that provides services or a therapeutic environment for its clients.
  • A two-semester, senior year capstone experience provides an in-depth internship placement accompanied by concurrent related seminars.

What You'll Learn

From your first day, you’ll take courses in your major and advance towards graduation with a yearly plan. Not sure what classes to take? We’ll help you create the perfect plan. 

Courses and Sample 4-Year Plan

This example four-year plan is provided as a broad framework that you can follow in order to complete your degree within four years. Be sure to always consult your academic advisor before registering for classes.

WRT101
Writing I

In this course, students gain understanding of and confidence in strategies for effective writing by composing and reading in a variety of genres. The course emphasizes writing as a process and focuses on the rhetorical choices writers make. Students engage critically with sources by examining how genre, context, purpose, credibility, and bias work together to create meaning and impact audiences. Students who choose to take Writing I Workshop are provided with time during class to work on their writing while the instructor and a writing tutor are present to provide assistance. Students must earn a “C” or higher in order to pass this course

In this course, students learn to think like psychologists as they study classic and contemporary topics in human behavior, feeling, and thought. Students learn to apply psychological perspectives of thought, including biological, cognitive, sociocultural, humanistic, psychodynamic, and behaviorist, to better understand the human experience. Students will learn to use these perspectives to explore how individual behavior is influenced by and influences one’s biology, family, community and society. Topics may include human development, personality, psychopathology, human relationships, language, memory, perceptual processes, and intelligence, among others.

This course is the foundational course for mathematical and quantitative reasoning at Lasell College. Mathematical reasoning is the critical skill that enables a student to solve real-world problems involving quantitative analysis by making use of particular mathematical skills. Through the development of their mathematical reasoning skills, students will recognize the power of mathematics in its own right as well as its relevance in the real world. Students will develop and enhance their mathematical reasoning skills through a project/application-based curriculum supported by readily available current technological tools and topics that will include, but not be limited to, the following: solving systems of equations, linear programming, statistical, and graphical data analysis.

The First Year Seminar (FYS) is part of the Core Curriculum and a requirement for all incoming first year students and transfer students with fewer than 15 credits. The First Year Seminar is a theme-based inquiry course that engages students in a specific area of interest while providing support for a smooth transition into the Lasell University community and the Connected Learning philosophy. Through studying an academic topic, students develop and apply core intellectual skills and receive an introduction to the core knowledge perspectives. At the same time, students connect to the experiences and people that make up the Lasell University Community. Course outcomes are accomplished through engaging activities including reading, writing, class discussions, presentations, team projects, field trips, and exploration of campus resources. Civic engagement and service-learning activities are often part of this course as is participation in the Connected Learning Symposium. Through the seminar, students develop close ties with faculty and peer mentors who serve as advocates for first year students' academic success. Past course titles have included: The Immigrant Experience, Fashion & Film of the 20th Century, The Social History of Rock & Roll, Exploring Cultures & Languages, The Spark of Creativity, Women and Sports, and Latin America: Food And Traditions. This requirement may be fulfilled by taking either FYS103 or HON101 (for students enrolled in the Honors Program).

This course introduces students to the elements of Spanish through the multiple skills of understanding, speaking, listening, reading, writing, and cultural awareness. It is open to students who are beginning their postsecondary Spanish language study and have not had more than two years of secondary school Spanish.

This course is a continuation of Writing I and focuses on research and public writing. Theme-based courses provide students with lenses to explore issues of interest and develop their reading, research, and writing skills. Students work with a topic of their choice, broadly based on the course theme. Assignments build upon each other, lead up to a researched position paper, and culminate in a public piece. Students who choose to take Writing II Workshop are provided with time during class to work on their writing while the instructor and a writing tutor are present to provide assistance. Students must earn a grade of “C” or higher in order to pass this course. Prerequisite: WRT 101

This course is a continuation of SPAN 111, with continued focus on understanding, speaking, listening, reading, writing, and cultural awareness. Prerequisite: SPAN 101 or 111 (with C or better), demonstrated competency through placement, or permission of instructor.

This course encourages an examination of one’s own value system, motivations and interests in relation to the wish to pursue a career working with people. Students are introduced to the history and development of the field: the concept of the social welfare system; resources and services offered by a range of community agencies; a model to understand social and psychological problems; and interventions to address social needs interventions range from individual case management and counseling to community organizing and planning. The course highlights a social justice basis for human service work. A 10-hour service learning requirement enables students to examine their interests and apply the concepts learned in class.

This Knowledge Perspective course will provide students with the opportunity to interpret and analyze the complex interrelationships and inequities in human societies in a global historical context. Emphasizing the interrelatedness and mutuality of influence between East and West, we examine questions of exclusiveness, intolerance, and cooperation. Prerequisite: ENG101 with a C or better

Equity & Intersectionality(KP)

000
Elective or Minor Course

Choose an Elective or Minor course

KP (Knowledge Perspective) Course

Choose an Elective or Minor course

KP (Knowledge Perspective) Course

Choose an Elective or Minor course

This course introduces students to interviewing skills used by counselors and case managers and to the types of counselor responses that can be effective in human services work. Students learn to assess clients and interventions at the micro, meso and macro levels and explore issues of professional ethics and values. Students also examine cultural contexts as they impact the client, counselor, and client-counselor relationship. Some of the contexts may include race, class, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, and immigration status. The course relies heavily on in-class exercises. Prerequisites: PSYC 101, HS 101 with a C or better.

Choose an Elective or Minor course

This is an introductory course in descriptive and inferential statistics focused on applications in business. Topics include: data analysis, and graphical methods of describing data, measures of central tendency and variability, time-series analysis, trend and seasonality analysis, simple and multiple correlation and regression analysis, sales and cost forecasting, probability, expected monetary value, and the Normal distribution. Prerequisites: MATH 106 with a grade of C or better or demonstrated competency through placement testing and ENG 102. With permission of the instructor only.

In this project-based course, students explore a social or intellectual problem using at least two knowledge perspectives. Faculty and students follow a collaborative process of exploration, discussion, and problem solving that integrates knowledge perspectives and core intellectual skills.

Choose an Elective or Minor course

PSYC220
Social Psychology

This is an introduction to the study of social interactions from a psychological perspective. Research reviewed focuses on topics such as: social perception, group interaction, attitude formation, attitudinal change, aggression, conflict, and pro-social behavior. Prerequisite: PSYC 101.

This course will address the interaction between the lives we lead and the application of traditional (and some nontraditional) ethical theories and principles to important decision points in our lives. Students will take on real-life ethical problems and dilemmas for each class; each student will be responsible for presenting a number of issues, as well as for guiding the discussion of those issues in class. The problems we address will largely span a lifetime of experiences and concerns. Students will also write several papers that evaluate formal arguments, using standard tools of critical thinking and philosophy. The course is discussion based, so a willingness to read carefully, to think critically, and to engage in classroom presentations and discussions is essential. Prerequisite: Junior standing, MDSC203 & ENG102.

PSYC331?–?Experimental Design in Psychology? This laboratory course covers concepts of the scientific method in psychology including the logic of experimental and correlational designs, issues of control, sampling, measurement of variables, ethical issues in research, use of online professional search procedures, and writing in APA style. As part of the lab,?students learn to use statistical software to create a database and perform statistical analyses. Prerequisites: MATH208 and either PSYC101 or SOC101 or approval of Program Chair.

This internship provides human service students the opportunity to experience field work. Training in the skills by which students can offer direct and indirect assistance to the client population is provided. Prerequisites: HS 210 with a grade of C or better; and permission of Internship Coordinator. Corequisite: HS 217.

This seminar is taken concurrently with the Foundation Internship (HS 215). The seminar provides a forum for discussing common human service experiences, including pathways to professional careers and practice-related issues, and includes an introduction to ethical issues such as confidentiality and privacy in the context of an examination of ethical dilemmas. It also gives students an opportunity to build skills necessary to offer direct and indirect assistance to clients at internship sites. Students review professional and research literature in relation to a topic connected to the internship experience. This is a writing intensive course. Prerequisite: HS210 with a grade of C or better; and permission of the Internship Coordinator required. Co-requisite: HS 215.

This course introduces students to a variety of the most important theories of personality: i.e., Freud, Jung, Adler, Rogers, and others. Case studies are examined with the intent of making theories more practical and useful. Prerequisite: Any 200 level psychology course.

This course examines common psychological disorders that affect children and adolescents. Students review factors that contribute to emotional, behavioral, cognitive and social problems in children and adolescents, as well as specific diagnostic criteria of psychological disorders. In addition, treatment of childhood disorders is discussed. Prerequisite: PSYC 221.

This course examines the wide range of personality and behavioral disorders. Both traditional and contemporary theories of psychopathology are reviewed. Emphasis is also placed on the tools, techniques, and process of both the diagnosis and the treatment of various disorders. Prerequisite: PSYC 202 or PSYC 220.

In this course we explore our awareness of the relationship between our experience and broader society. How are our lives shaped by our social positions in society – our social class, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, and more? How do the members of different groups view each other and interact with each other? Why do inequalities exist and how do these affect us? How does culture shape our behavior, and why do religions, schools, families, and other institutions remain stable but also change over time?

Choose an Elective or Minor course

Choose an Elective or Minor course

HS415
Advanced Internship I

Seniors who have met program requirements spend 125 hours in an approved supervised internship. Prerequisites: HS 215, HS 217, with a grade of C or better; and permission of the Internship Coordinator; Co-requisite: HS 417.

This seminar is taken concurrently with Advanced Internship I (HS 415). Students integrate theory learned throughout their college career with their fieldwork experience. The seminar further develops professional behaviors such as record keeping, creating and maintaining supervisory relationships, conflict resolution, and job effectiveness. Students are also offered an opportunity to analyze cases and tasks assigned to them in their field placements, providing a theoretical framework for understanding them. There is an intensive examination of the ethical considerations involved in working with clients. Students identify and develop a research topic and conduct an extensive review of current literature on a topic related to their internship. This is a writing intensive course. Prerequisites: HS 215, HS 217 with a grade of C or better, and permission of the Internship Coordinator; Co-requisite: HS 415.

Choose an Elective or Minor course

Choose an Elective or Minor course

Choose an Elective or Minor course

This seminar is a continuation of HS 415. Students spend 125 hours working in an approved supervised field site. Prerequisite: HS 415 with a grade of C or better; Co-requisite: HS 427.

This capstone seminar is a continuation of Field Intervention Strategies (HS417) and is taken concurrently with Advanced Internship II (HS425). Building on knowledge and skills gained throughout the Social Sciences program, students continue to integrate theory with practice through seminar discussion and internship-related experiences. There is an increased focus on the delivery of services, examination of ethical dilemmas, and analysis of the broader systems in which services are delivered and policies are formulated. Students also have an opportunity to explore career development issues through examination of the graduate school and employment processes. This course has been designated as a writing intensive course and also has a strong public speaking component. Prerequisites: HS 415, HS 417 with a grade of C or better; and either PSYC 331 or SOC 331. Corequisite: HS 425.

Choose an Elective or Minor course

Choose an Elective or Minor course

This example four-year plan is provided as a broad framework that you can follow in order to complete your degree within four years. Be sure to always consult your academic advisor before registering for classes.

4-Year Plan
Student and Alumni Perspective

"The Psychology program allows me to combine my passions with my academics."

Johanna Snyder '24

Psychology

Read More about Johanna

Learning Outcomes

  • Use psychological theories to explain human behavior on individual, small groups, and societal levels, and demonstrate knowledge of professional codes of ethics.
  • Professional and effectively interact with clients in social service settings.
    Engage in action to raise awareness and advocate for change particularly in the areas of social justice that influence social and economic disparities.
  • Demonstrate aptitude with scientific reasoning, research methodology, statistics, and developing a substantiated argument.
  • Communicate in professional psychological writing style and be able to write a preliminary grant and deliver a professional presentation.

Career Success

Our students have interned with:

  • American Red Cross
  • Bournewood Psychiatric Hospital
  • Brandon Residential Treatment Center
  • Brookline Infant-Toddler Center
  • Charles River Center
  • Chetwynde Health and Rehabilitation Center
  • Germaine Lawrence School
  • Homes for Families
  • John Barry Boys & Girls Club
  • Lasell Village
  • March of Dimes
  • Massachusetts Department of Children & Families
  • Mass Department of Health & Human Services - Early Intervention Division
  • May InstituteMiddlesex Juvenile Court
  • Newton Public Schools
  • Riverside Community Care
  • The Second Step
  • US Autism & Asperger Association
  • Walker School

Our alumni work for:

  • Boys and Girls Club
  • Harvard University
  • The Red Cross
  • New England Center for Children
  • VA Hospital
Beyond the Classroom
Research and Internships

Lasell's Connected Learning complements traditional approaches with active learning experiences by doing internships, service learning, and challenging projects in and out of the classroom.

Psychology Professor Receives Research Grants

Professor of Psychology, Zane Zheng has been honored with two recent grants, reflecting his ongoing commitment to advancing both psychological research and educational practices. 

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