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Department of Social Sciences
This course is divided into two parts. The first
focuses on the process and politics of the
United Nations system, such as the Secretariat,
General Assembly, administrative and
budgetary coordination, program coordination,
Economic and Social Council, field
administration, and program decentralization
through the regional economic commissions.
The second part covers the developmental
functions, the role of the international agencies
in the political and economic development, as
well as the concepts of integration, and the
problems of collaboration with international
institutions.
Prerequisites: POL201 Introduction to Political
Science.
POL499 Senior Study [3-0, 3 cr.]
This course is an independent scholarly work
on a topic chosen by the student.
Prerequisite: Senior Standing.
PSYCHOLOGY
PSY 101 Introduction to Psychology [3 credits]
Provides students with a general overview of the
subject matter of Psychology, which is defined
as the scientific study of behavior and mental
processes. The course aims to give students a
better understanding of why people act, think,
and feel the way they do. Among others, it
covers topics on learning, personality, emotions,
psychological disorders, social interactions, and
the biological bases of behavior. Knowledge
will be drawn from the major approaches of
psychology, namely psychoanalytic, behavioral,
humanistic, cognitive, and biological.
PSY 201 Introduction to Psychology:
This course explores the scientific basis of
psychological functioning. The course will
give students a better understanding of why
people think and act the way they do, and
provides more insight into our own attitudes
and reactions.
PSY 202 Child Psychology:
The course explores theories and research
findings, on prenatal development, physical
growth, emotional, social, and intellectual
development, and cultural influences in
children prior to adolescence.
PSY 203 Psychology of Youth:
This course focuses on the physical, cognitive
and emotional changes experienced by
young people and how these changes are
affected by family, peers, dating, and the
media. It also considers the challenges faced
by adolescence, with a focus on drugs, and
deviance.
Prerequisite: PSY201 Introduction to Psychology,
or PSY202 Child Psychology.
PSY 204 Social Psychology :
Social Psychology focuses on how individual
motives, cognitions, attitudes are affected by
groups, organizations and institutes. These
influences will be explored in domains such as
interpersonal attraction, prejudice, conformity,
attitudes, aggression and motivation.
Prerequisite: PSY 201
PSY 234 Development across the Life Span:
Human Development Through the Lifespan
is devoted to the study and understanding of
constancy and change of human beings in
the physical, cognitive, social and emotional
domains interpreted through a variety
of theoretical frameworks, contexts, and
interdisciplinary research. The course will
cover the periods of childhood, adolescence,
adulthood, late adulthood and old age.
Prerequisite PSY 201for psychology majors.
PSY245 Research Methods I:
Students will develop skills which prepare
them to design, conduct and analyze research
including a thorough knowledge of the following:
literature searches, evaluation of research
literature, critiquing and deconstructing
an empirical article, developing research
questions and hypotheses, research ethics,
scientific and APA writing style. There will be
special emphasis on the need for psychological
research in the Lebanese context.
Prerequisite PSY 201.
PSY 256 Sensation and Perception:
This course explores how multisensory
mechanisms transform external stimuli into
information that our brains can understand
and reliably interpret. All senses will be
examined with an emphasis on vision.
Topics include perception of color, motion,
form, depth, perceptual illusions, perceptual
disorders such as inability to see motion or/
and identify objects or faces.
Prerequisite: PSY 201
Lebanese American University | page 200