Special Topics in Social Psychology: Culture and Social Behavior- Course Description: 400:162g- An elective for psychology majors, minors, and graduate students, and a requirement for some graduate students. Students will conduct a research project observing social behavior in the United States, England, and Spain while visiting important landmarks in England and Spain. They will also read literature about the psychology of culture and cross-cultural research methods.
London, Barcelona, and Jaen will be the main cities we visit. There may be, however, additional day trips to other interesting sites in Europe. In previous years, trips to Plymouth, Brighton, and Canterbury were included.
Dr. Helen Harton, Professor
Department: Psychology
Phone: (319) 273-2235
Email: helen.harton@uni.edu
Campus Address: SRL 334 0701
The course will include several meetings and assignments before the trip begins, as well as approximately two weeks traveling England and Spain and collecting data to be used in a self-designed study. After you return to the U.S., you will analyze your data and complete a paper on your study, which will be due one week after you return.
In addition to the data collection for the research projects, students will conduct smaller observational assignments to better understand cultural differences. The students will also visit several universities in England and Spain and hear presentations done by European psychologists.
Students pay UNI tuition and fees (in-state or out-of-state), the $65 application fee, and the study abroad administration fee to participate. There will be additional costs for housing, food, books and supplies, round-trip airfare, international health insurance, and other personal expenses.
To ease the financial burden on participants, expenses are broken up into four main categories.
1.) The first large expense is the airfare; shortly after the program is full* and has been declared closed, participants will be notified by the Study Abroad Center how to go about purchasing the airfare (normally organized by Study Abroad Center).
2.) The second amount due will be for any reserved activities associated with the program (e.g., housing, local transportation abroad, some cultural activities, some meals); this amount will be due before the program start, usually in the spring semester prior to the program.
3.) Third, the UNI tuition and fees, the study abroad administration fee, and any remaining amounts will be placed on the U-bill.
4.) Finally, there will be onsite expenses consisting of meals, additional cultural program activities, and any other personal expenses.
*Note that summer programs fill at different times and so airfare purchase dates will vary greatly by each program. Please contact us (contact page URL) if you have questions about a specific program.
"I traveled to England and Spain for a social psychology course and I can honestly say it was one of the best experiences of my life! Submersing myself in another culture is one opportunity I never thought I would experience and I'm so glad I took advantage of it while I had the chance. The professor and group I went with helped me enjoy the experience even more, from doing the academic part, to trying new foods, to going to performances, and experiencing the lifestyles of another part of the world. It was so nice to have a great balance of academics and time on our own to do more of our interest types of things like laying on a beach in Barcelona or talking with students from a University in Plymouth. Social psychology has always been an interest of mine and I'm so glad I got to fully experience a cross-cultural part of it." - Sabrina Roll, Summer 2010
