University of Dallas
The Masters of Arts Program in Psychology

This program will be devoted to the recovery of some of the great traditions in 20th Century psychology that are often lost in the shuffle of current day clinical and research-oriented graduate programs. While offering our students an array of courses in personality theory, psychodiagnostics, psychotherapy and health psychology, the Masters Program in Psychology will also provide rich courses in the history of psychology, as well as special topics classes ranging from film studies to projective techniques. That said, the distinguishing character of program will lie in its broadly defined existential-phenomenological and historical orientation, which also draws upon the traditions of depth psychology, hermeneutics, humanistic psychology, and Continental thinking.

Our classes will be grounded in many of the great texts in phenomenological psychology, clinical psychology, and personality theory, while our approach will be one of hermeneutic retrieval with an aim to carrying forward and thereby transforming work and ideas that are part of the living history of our discipline. Students in the program will read primary sources such as Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, and Levinas from the phenomenological tradition; Freud, Jung, Adler, Horney, Sullivan, Klein, and Schafer from the psychodynamic tradition; Rogers, Allport, Murray, Kelly, Maslow, and Bugental from the tradition of American humanistic psychology; May, Laing, van den Berg, Buytendijk, Minkowski, Binswanger, and Boss from the European tradition of existential psychiatry; and figures like Giorgi, Colaizzi, von Eckartsberg, and others from the Duquesne “school” of phenomenological research.

“Foundations Track” Courses

To provide an overall orientation to, on the one hand, the perspectives that represent our department, and, on the other hand, to the various fields that are important in the training of today’s psychologists (theory, research, assessment, and psychotherapy), we are planning a sequence of “foundations” classes that will anchor the student’s more specialized program studies (including courses to be listed in our “clinical track” and our “history track”) and that will culminate in a Masters Thesis. These courses will be sequenced over a four-semester period in such a way that students entering the program in any given year will take the fall and spring foundations track classes being offered in that particular academic year along with the students who entered in the previous year (who will be completing their foundations sequence) – thus providing the department with a way of beginning, in the second year of the program, to offer classes intended primarily for graduate students, (with only a small select number of undergraduates given permission to take these classes). Graduate students from “adjacent” masters classes will thus work together in many of the foundations classes.

Clinical Courses

Courses in this division of the program will include developmental psychology, personality theory and depth psychology, fundmentals of clinical psychology, health psychology, psychodiagnostics, projective techniques, professional ethics, and counseling and psychotherapy.

History Courses

In addition to the two-semester undergraduate history sequence (which will serve as a history sequence for those masters students who did not do their undergraduate work at the University of Dallas), there will be offerings in the history of psychology of a more “special topics” nature, such as courses in the social history of medicine, the history of psychotherapy, the history of film, etc.

Faculty

Chairman and Professor Churchill; Professor Kugelmann; Assistant Professors Garza and Smith.

PSYCHOLOGY

The graduate program in psychology is devoted to the recovery of some of the great traditions in twentieth century psychology. While offering students an array of courses in personality theory, psychodiagnostics, psychotherapy and health psychology, the Masters Program in Psychology provides rich courses in the history of psychology, as well as special topics classes ranging from film studies to primate research. The distinguishing character of the program is its uniquely existential-phenomenological orientation, which draws upon the traditions of depth psychology, hermeneutics, and humanistic psychology, as well as Continental thinking.

The “great books” of the aforementioned fields provide the backbone for the program; that is, primary sources such as Husserl, Heidegger, Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, and Levinas from the phenomenological tradition; Freud, Jung, Adler, Horney, Sullivan, Klein and Schafer from the psychodynamic tradition; Rogers, Allport, Murray, Kelly, Maslow, and Bugental from the tradition of American humanistic psychology; May, Laing, van den Berg, Buytendijk, Minkowski, Binswanger, and Boss from the European tradition of existential psychiatry; and figures like Giorgi, Colaizzi, von Eckartsberg, and others from the Duquesne “school” of phenomenological research.

The Masters program requires 30 credits including a culminating thesis for which six credits is awarded. Students pursue a cycle of Foundations courses in the intellectual traditions mentioned above (5311, 6311/6312, 7311/7312). Each series gathers up the previous to form an emerging nexus of ideas and sensibilities.

Students may elect to add two courses in the area of clinical psychology to the degree program (making 36 credits for the degree) so as to have a Clinical Concentration, drawing from such courses as health psychology, personality theory, clinical psychology, depth psychology, psychodiagnostics, counseling and psychotherapy, and professional ethics. Evidence of competency in a comprehensive examination is required along with proficiency in at least one foreign language pertinent to the field.

Courses in Psychology (partial listing)

5301-5310. Cross-listed Courses. These numbers indicate undergraduate courses taken for graduate credit. Additional work for graduate students is assigned. (See advance undergraduate listings for course descriptions.)
5311. Humanistic Foundations of Personality Theory and Psychotherapy. Introduction to the writings of Carl Rogers, Gordon Allport, George Kelly, James Bugental, Clark Moustakas, Joseph Rychlak, and others.
6311. Phenomenological Foundations of Psychology. An introduction to seminal texts in the field of phenomenological psychology, including both philosophical and psychological literature. Typically one author from the philosophical category is selected for close study, and supplementary readings in psychological applications of phenomenology are woven into the syllabus in any particular semester. Fall.
6312. Hermeneutic Foundations of Psychological Research. Introduction to seminal texts in hermeneutics (Dilthey, Heidegger, Gadamer, Palmer) and in psychological applications of hermeneutic principles. Spring
6322. Fundamentals of Clinical Psychology. Primary source readings in Freud, Jaspers, Rorschach, Murray, Allport, Rogers, Sullivan, Leary as well as the DSM-IV Guidebook will provide the basis for this seminar. Toward the end of the semester we will read critiques of existing systems of diagnostic classification and the psychopharmaceutical treatment of mental illness.
6377. Special Studies. This course, conducted in a regular class setting, provides an opportunity to examine a special topic, problem, or work within the discipline. Content is determined by the Chairman of the department in consultation with the faculty.
6V99. Graduate Reading. Registration for this non-credit course indicates that the student is involved in studies necessary for the completion of the degree. At the end of each Reading course the student must demonstrate progress. Master’s students are limited to two Reading courses. A matriculation fee is required. It entitles the student to the use of the library and other basic services.
7311. Existential Foundations of Psychopathology. A Heideggerian foundation of the understanding of psychopathology, divided between careful study of Heidegger’s early ontology and examination of some of the literature of phenomenological psychiatry that is based upon his thinking. Supplemental readings drawn from Rollo May, Viktor Frankl, Medard Boss, and Ludwig Binswanger among others. Alternating fall semesters.
7321. Psychometric Foundations of Assessment. Introduction to test construction and design, as well as administration and scoring of the Wechsler IQ tests, the MMPI, 16PF, and others.
7322. Psychodynamic Foundations of Assessment. The psychodynamic tradition in psychology is examined by hermeneutic reading of primary sources. Primary sources in psychoanalysis are supplemented with texts such as Henri Ellenberger’s The Discovery of the Unconscious or more sophisticated philosophical treatments of Freud, such as those of Politzer, Ricoeur, or Lacan. Assessment literature drawn from figures such as Rorschach, Murray, Schafer, Klein, and others concentrate on the psychodynamic approach to personality assessment. Spring.
7678. Thesis Research. A six-credit course designed for the student writing the M.A. thesis under the guidance of an appointed thesis director. An approved topic is a prerequisite for registering for Thesis Research. A grade of “T” is assigned for this course which remains until the thesis has been approved.
University of Dallas, Psychology Department