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ANTH/PSY/SOC/CA 542 - Graduate Writing, Thinking and Learning
This six-credit course is designed to introduce students into graduate education at the American University of Central Asia. The goal of the course is to facilitate the transition to graduate school by introducing the new students to the values, expectations, and resources of an inclusive AUCA community that will be their home for the duration of their Master’s degree program. It engages students in writing, reading, studying and thinking at a graduate level and supports them develop skills in research, composition and arguments they need to succeed in their respective graduate programs. The course is designed and intended for all graduate students within the Social Sciences Division because learning to write in academic contexts and with the conventions and requirements of students’ respective disciplines requires exposure, analysis and practice applying those conventions and receiving feedback from peers and instructors. Students will be given a number of reading and writing exercises to provide them hands-on opportunities to think through these skills. The course is practice-based and requires extensive engagement from students on a daily basis.
ANTH/PSY/SOC/CAS 517 - Foundations of knowledge: Institutional and individual
This course serves to pursue two objectives: Firstly, it introduces into major concepts of epistemology in the social sciences. How do we know what we know and how is it that we grant specific knowledge to be valid and objective? Related to these basic questions about the status of knowledge the course, second, attempts to introduce into basic concepts of methods used in the social sciences to generate such valid and objective knowledge. The course is set up to provide an overview over questions and ideas that have structured the epistemological discourse in the social sciences and to give first guidance in our common undertaking to produce true scientific statements. As such it cannot offer detailed examinations of specific concepts or selected authors but tries to provide with as many references as possible throughout the course.
ANTH/PSY.SOC 540 - Quantitative Research Methods
Content objectives of this course are to understand the role of science in psychological research and to be able to determine an appropriate research design to answer a particular research question, to analyze the data collected in such a project appropriately, to think critically about other investigators’ research designs and the way they describe their research. A process objective of this course is to develop a critical eye to designing and conducting research in Psychology.
PSY 503 - Contemporary theories of personality
This course will explore advanced topics in Psychology of Personality. It will survey contemporary research and theory in the field of personality psychology. The course will focus on the self and identity, personality and mental health, biological models of personality, personality development and change, motivation, personality and social relationships, personality and cultural influences. The significant portion of the course will include reading and discussion of classical and contemporary texts in Psychology of Personality.
PSY 502 - Biological bases of behavior
This course is specifically developed for graduate students. It contains the current data about the biology of a human mind and explores physiological, psychological, and clinical approaches to understand connections between the nervous system and human behavior. Being a medical doctor and practitioner in the field of psychiatry, I especially highlighted relationships between different levels of brain processes and mental disorders. Moreover, the biological bases of both psychopharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatments are also covered.
PSY 681 - Contemporary Approaches to Counseling
The goal of this course is to provide the master-level psychologists-in-training with an overview of the key approaches in counseling and psychotherapy. Students will be introduced to a number of contemporary approaches in counseling, including Roger’s client-centered approach to counseling, Motivational Interviewing, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and others. The course will combine lectures, seminar discussions, in-class role plays and practice, and independent practice assignments.
The Research Team (RT) course is aimed at the development of hands-on skills of conducting research in psychology and social sciences. In the course of this class, students will participate in one or two on-going research projects initiated by faculty or students. Research team participants will collaborate with other students and faculty during research design, data collection and analysis and preparation of the manuscript. Through participation in the RT class, students get an opportunity to: 1) explore their research interests 2) get applied research skills 3) select and develop their dissertation topic 4) co-author a publication based on appropriate contribution to the writing process.
PSY/ANTH/SOC/CAS 511 - Research and Writing Colloquium I
The course is aimed at acquiring of methodological skills that help students to choose a dissertation topic, prepare research design and finalize the research proposal till the end of semester. The stages of work are in accordance with the Master Thesis Writing Guide that will be used during the course.
PSY 678 - Assessment in Psychology
The key goal of this course is to develop students’ understanding of general principles of assessment in psychology and build hands on skills of usage of a number of assessment methods in Psychology for diagnosis, counseling and prepare students to follow ethical code and appreciate scientific assessment process in psychology. The course will cover the key domains in psychological assessment: psychometrics and basics of test construction, diagnostic interview and basics of choosing assessment methodology, administration of neuropsychological and personality tests, including self-reports and projective methods, writing full assessment report, and application of ethics in psychology to the practice of assessment.
PSY 601 - Behavioral Statistics
CONTENT OBJECTIVES of this course are to learn the appropriate use of descriptive and inferential statistics, be able to think critically about other investigators’ uses of statistical procedures, be able to accurately describe what a statistical analysis indicates and be able to write up the results of statistical analyses in APA format.
The goal of the course is to explore the mental disorders. The contributions of a broad expanse of disciplines in preclinical and clinical arenas to the etiology, diagnosis, treatment, and management of MENTAL DISORDERS will be presented. A key thematic thread throughout the course will be the parallel evolution of our understanding of the organization and function of the brain, theories of the pathophysiological basis of neural dysfunction, and research methodologies used in the investigation of neural mechanisms involved.
PSY 610 - Internship Colloquium I
The goal of this course is to provide the master-level psychologists-in-training a platform to discuss their experience at their internship sites in a group supervision format, in light of their knowledge of psychology, counseling and theoretical bases of psychotherapy. This course will provide students with opportunities to present their work and get feedback from their peers, as well as gain additional didactic knowledge in areas related to their clinical work. The course will also provide additional external supervision to the students and is to be taken congruently with the internship field placement.
PSY 512 - Research and Writing Colloquium II
The Research and Writing Colloquium 2 is a part of a course that is aimed at preparing and conducting of research to complete Master dissertation. The main issues for the second stage of the course is about the completion of the literature review, discussing methodology issues, preparation of research proposal for IRB approval and starting of data collection. During the course, these issues will be discussed exchanging feedbacks between students with facilitation and participation of course instructor.
MAPAP/MAANTH/MASOC/MACAS 670 - Research and Writing Colloquium III
This course is devoted to dissertation finalization. The main activity during the course is monitoring the progress of Thesis writing and discussing together any problem that appeared during the preparation of the text.
PSY 612 - Internship Colloquium II
The goal of this course is to provide the master-level psychologists-in-training a platform to discuss their experience at their internship sites in a group supervision format, in light of their knowledge of psychology, counseling and theoretical bases of psychotherapy. This course will provide students with opportunities to present their work and get feedback from their peers, as well as gain additional didactic knowledge in areas related to their clinical work. The course will also provide additional external supervision to the students and is to be taken congruently with the internship field placement.
MAPAP 625 - Group Counseling
The goal of this course is to provide the psychologists-in-training with an overview of the key approaches in group counseling and psychotherapy. Students will be introduced to a number of contemporary approaches in group counseling, discuss key types of groups and group leadership styles. The course will combine seminar discussions, theoretical writing assignment, and practice of group leading and group participation.
PSY 606 - Family Therapy
This graduate-level course is designed to provide students of MAPAP with an introduction to couple and family therapy. In order to achieve this goal, the course utilizes discussion, videotapes, role-play, assigned readings, examinations, and case studies to explore the marriage, family, and relationship counseling field. Students are encouraged to reflect on their own family and relationship experiences as they may impact their training and practice as future counselors.
MAPAP 670 - Applied Behavior Analysis for Diverse Settings
The science of Applied Behavior Analysis can be used to develop systems of behavior change for any particular real-world problems. This course will expose you to that philosophy and methodology, and also provide you with a practical opportunity to use the concepts and practices with clients in the real life setting. It is a unique structure that will combine lecture, discussion, role-playing, and in-vivo training with feedback.
PSY/CA/ANT 507 - Gender, women and politics of development in Central Asia
This course invites students to engage in critical discussions about inter-linkages between gender, women and politics of development in Central Asia. Covering periods from early 1920s
to the present time, students will be exposed to a variety of topics ranging from body politics within the Soviet Union to understanding of post-socialist femininities and masculinities, sexual
citizenship, gender violence and religion. Other issues include women’s participation in the new labor markets, international development programs and nationalist projects. Drawing on
contemporary scholarship, the course’s focus is on the impacts of global political and economic systems upon the lives of women and men living in the region and, importantly, on the variety of ways local people have reacted to the changes, asserting their own agency and participating in the shaping of political courses governing their countries. The course incorporates theoretical debates on relevant issues to acquaint students with current state of affairs and scholarly discussions. Its fundamental pedagogy, though, draws upon active engagement with empirical case studies, media materials, lived experiences, and real testimonies.
MAPAP 540 - Educational psychology and school environment
This course examines psychological theories are applying to the educational practice. The process of education is (explicitly or implicitly) defined by many psychological assumptions. In some cases the psychological approach may very well shape of organization of the teaching and learning. Also theoretical frameworks define extracurricular activities and school environment in general. All of these issues, in turn, depend on political discourses that play an enormous role in education. We will explore how values and norms (including norms of thinking on intellectual development) are transferring through education systems. In particular, we will focus on teaching/learning practices, school environment components and role of a school psychologist in the educational process.
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Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic 720060
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