HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING

Catalog description

This intensive course introduces students to developmental theory and research. The life stages covered during this semester are prenatal, infancy, early childhood, middle and late childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, late adulthood, aging, and death and dying. The interaction of heredity and environment and their influences on development will be explored. The relationship of Catholic teaching will be routinely integrated into the course material, including Catholic literature on the topic of human growth and development. Also discussed will be the impact of sociocultural contexts (culture, gender, socioeconomic status, race, and ethnicity, etc.) on physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development. It also considers central aspects of Christian life such as the development of the conscience, the life of virtue, commitment to human relationships, and the discernment of one’s vocation. Prerequisite: PSYC 201* or MAFS minor.