The psychology degree program at Seaver College teaches students to study human behavior and mental life using scientific methodologies. Psychologists explore such questions as: How do organisms learn? What are the effects of hormones on behavior? What is personality, and how is it measured? What motivates behavior? What is mental illness, and how should it be treated? What information is gained through scientific endeavor? Our faculty set demanding standards of excellence in written expression, especially in writing for scientific publication.
Our faculty provide psychology majors with a series of courses focusing on the foundations of psychological principles and methodology to prepare them for admission into graduate school or career entry as professional psychologists and therapists. Psychology majors may choose to enroll in courses, designed to enhance personal growth and improve interpersonal relationships.
Although Pepperdine University has had a psychology program since its early years on the Los Angeles campus, it included both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree at that time. When the Malibu campus opened in 1972, the bachelor’s program moved to the new campus and became part of the newly-created Seaver College, while the master’s program stayed at the Los Angeles campus (later becoming part of the Graduate School of Education and Psychology; GSEP). At that time, the program had three full-time faculty members. The faculty offered 19 courses, and a student had to complete at least seven courses to earn a degree; this included three core courses (i.e., Foundations of Psychology, Introduction to Research, and History and Systems of Psychology), one Psychology elective, and one course from each of three different content areas.
The curriculum has gone through two large-scale revisions in the past 40 years. The most recent large-scale revision was in 1995, when the faculty adopted guidelines set forth by the American Psychological Association for Best Practices in Undergraduate Psychology Education; these changes were made in an effort to increase the emphasis on critical thinking and research methodology, and to ensure that every graduating student had been introduced to each of four major core areas of psychology (i.e., individual differences, social/group processes, learning/cognitive principles, and biological principles). The overall substance, structure, and philosophy of the major has not changed, despite small changes, in the past 17 years.
Quality Assurance: Each degree program should employ sufficient faculty such that there is a capacity to design and deliver the curriculum (CFR 2.5). Curriculum design and implementation should involve evaluation, improvement, and promotion of student learning and success (CFR 2.5). Thus, faculty are responsible to exercise effective academic leadership on a consistent basis to ensure that the program's quality and educational purposes are upheld (CFR 2.6). Student support and co-curricular programs and services of sufficient nature, scope, and capacity go hand-in-hand with the degree programs for promoting students' academic, personal, and professional development (CFR 2.13). - WSCUC 2023 Handbook, Standard 2