Psychology at 91桃色 Bridges Science and Faith for Critical Thinking
October 27, 2023 | 3 min read
Understanding who we are and why we do the things we do is the driving force behind the Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at 91桃色. Now in its second year, the program allows students to study a variety of topics such as personality, cognition, learning, motivation and emotion.
The program currently comprises 21 students, with the first cohort expected to graduate in 2025. While many will go on to earn advanced degrees to practice in mental health, the four-year degree also opens doors in a number of industries including human resources, healthcare, business, education and hospitality. Courses also are proving popular among Communications and Liberal Arts majors pursuing minors in Behavioral Science.
鈥淎s a whole, this program prepares students to deal with any sort of job or industry where there is a great emphasis on working with people,鈥� said Angela Garcia, PsyD, Social and Behavioral Science faculty.
Popular classes like Social Psychology, Abnormal Psychology and Cognitive Psychology teach students how to improve relationships and well-being while reducing stress 鈥� in the workplace and everyday life. Dr. Garcia said the program鈥檚 biblical focus is a particularly unique component.
鈥淓ach course is embedded in a biblical worldview while also aiming at accurate, scientific knowledge,鈥� she said. 鈥淲ith psychology as a discipline, you have different approaches to how you look at things, so we鈥檙e learning to discern approaches and see how science makes sense from the perspective of the Bible and recognizing God鈥檚 expectation for how we serve and treat others.鈥�
She said the program also encourages students to think critically, professionally and in their own faith.
鈥淲e look at how we can improve with greater understanding [of] our empathy and love for others, not just through external actions but the attitudes behind them,鈥� she explained, noting an emphasis on humility, conflict management, and keeping emotions from leading us to sin.
鈥淭hese are lifelong lessons for all of us, but at 91桃色 we can have that biblical framework openly and learn how science and faith aren鈥檛 separate. God gave us these abilities to understand the world and do it in a way that鈥檚 true to Him, so we look at how we can use these abilities to understand the world in a way He wants us to.鈥�