| Conferences and Upcoming Events
National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR)
- Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis,
- April 15-17, 2004
- November 28, 2003 -- Deadline for NCUR®2004 abstracts and presentation proposal for student presenter and faculty/administrator presenters. Abstracts and proposals must be in NCUR ® 2004 office by Nov.28, 2003.
Minnesota Undergraduate Psychological Conference (MUPC)
- The College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, MN
- 39th Minnesota Undergraduate Psychology Conference
- Saturday, April 24, 2004
Keynote Speaker: Megan Gunnar, Ph.D., Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota, Stress and Early Development
- Visit the departmental website at www: http://minerva.stkate.edu/psychology.nsf.
- A call for papers notice will be distributed in February, 2004
|
Attention Psych Majors.....Mark Your Calendars!!!
The Psychology Department hosts Psych Alum Presentation ...
Wednesday, November 19 at 7:00 p.m.
Heritage Room in the Dining Service Building
Refreshments
Dr. Vohs is currently the Canada Research Chair in Marketing Science ad Consumer Psychology at the Sauder School of Business, Marketing Division, at the University of British Columbia. After graduating from Gustavus in 1996 she went on to earn her Ph.D. at Dartmouth College, Psychological and Brain Sciences, 2000. She has recently completed a 3 Yr NIMH Post Doctoral Fellowship -- Interpersonal Functioning and Self-Regulation at Case Western Reserve University and the University of Utah.
|
|
|
Psych majors may want to check out these courses.....
PSY-260 Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience
The nervous system integrates information about the world and the state of the individual to ensure appropriate behavioral responses. This course combines both biological and psychological approaches to pose the question of how animal brains perceive, process and display the necessary information. We will use comparative behavioral models that are suitable to introduce fundamental mechanisms of neural and hormonal signaling in both lecture and laboratory. This course is intended for students with an interest in continuing studies in neuroscience . More information on PSY-260
PSY-344 Psych of Music
In this course, students will explore questions asked by psychologists and musicians about music and behavior. What is music? Have we evolved to be musical? What is the connection between music and language? Why are some people more musical? How do we develop musical tastes and preferences? Can we improve musical pedagogy or musical performance by better understanding the behavior of experts? What impact does music have on moods, consumer behavior, and the behavior of clients in therapy? How is music perceived and remembered? The course is a seminar. Consequently, students will be expected to develop material for presentation in class, write a substantial research paper, and participate in laboratory exercises that illustrate research strategies in this field. This course is intended for upper level students. Students who wish to take this course for the Psychology major must have completed PSY-225. Music students with a background in Music Theory who have taken PSY-100 are welcome.
|
|
Career Interests
Guardian ad Litem
by Marie Woog, Psychology Major
One of the really nice things about being a Psych major is the wide variety of things you can do after graduation. I am, for instance, planning on becoming what is called a Guardian ad Litem. This is a person who testifies on behalf of children in court cases. The cases include custody battles, child protection, and can be in family court or juvenile court. The responsibilities according to the Minnesota Supreme Court are:
- advocate the best interests of the child
- to exercise independent judgement, gather information, participate in negotiations, and monitor the case. All of these activities would also include reviewing relevant documents; meeting and observing the child in the home and keeping the child’s wishes in consideration, also interview caregivers, parents and anybody else who has knowledge important to the case.
- to make written and spoken reports (testify) to the court in the best interest of the child including conclusions and recommendations based on the facts.
- to be knowledgeable about community resources involving placement, treatment, etc.
- to be knowledgeable about child’s background
- to be organized and responsible with records and reports
Most people who go into this field are lawyers or social workers, but it is now becoming a more specialized field. Recently, the Guardian ad Litem position has become state regulated instead of county regulated, this provides standards for everybody in the position and allows everybody to get paid (some counties use to only have volunteers). To become a Guardian ad Litem there is a required 40 hours of training, a period of internship with either family or juvenile court, and then 8 hours of continuing education every year after that. It may be a ton of work, but it sounds cool, and this is what I want to do with my psych major.
|
|
Career Search Anxiety
by Nicole Fuerstenberg, Psychology Major
After spending many countless hours preparing for numerous exams, many students develop an idea or two about what they want to do after their time at Gustavus. On the other hand, a lot of students do not have a solidified idea of what they would like to pursue as a career. In all honesty, being the latter of the two categories, I became quite apprehensive when Lee asked me to write an article for this edition of Emil’s Epilogue. To relieve some of my discomforting emotions, I decided that Internet surfing was the most logical place to start my exploration. I did not exactly come across a specific career opportunity that caught my eye, as my interests in psychology are still pretty broad. In addition to relieving my “career search anxiety,” I did find a few admirable sites that revealed answers to questions about graduate school and careers in psychology.
The first beneficial web-site has an emphasis on social psychology, but the information can be applied to any discipline within psychology. The majority of the answers in the “Frequently Asked Career Questions” article contain advice regarding graduate school. In addition, the authors of the article provide insight into what people with social psychology degrees do, the level of difficulty to obtain a position as a social psychologist, and links that guide individuals to sites about locating job openings in psychology. So, where can one find this advantageous site? Here is the link: http://www.socialpsychology.org/facq.htm
In addition, this article was embedded in list of over thirty sites that provide career tips for psychology students. Check this web page out at: http://www.socialpsychology.org/career.htm
Another stellar web-site containing information about graduate school and careers in psychology gives a deeper description of different options that a student can dive into. From advise on writing letters of recommendations and personal statements to excellent depictions of the differences in counseling, Ph.D., and Psy.D. programs, this site is worth checking out. You can find it at: http://www.rider.edu/~suler/gradschl.html
|
A little bit of humor...
Two elderly couples were enjoying friendly conversation when one of the men asked the other,
"Fred, how was the memory clinic you went to last month?"
"Outstanding," Fred replied. "They taught us all the latest psychological techniques -visualization, association - it made a huge difference for me."
"That's great! What was the name of the clinic?" Fred went blank He thought and thought, but couldn't remember. Then a smile broke across his face and he asked, "What do you call that flower with the long stem and thorns?"
"You mean a rose?"
"Yes, that's it!"
He turned to his wife. . ."Rose, what was the name of that clinic?"
|
|
