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Introduction to Volume Two of the Special Issue: Developing undergraduate community psychology pedagogy and research practice

Lauren F. Lichty, Eylin Palamaro-Munsell, and Jen Wallin-Ruschman

Undergraduate Special Issue Editor's Note

Welcome to the second volume of the Special Issue centering community psychology (CP) teaching and research within primarily undergraduate institutions. This Special Issue seeks to provide a much needed platform for developing and disseminating undergraduate-focused pedagogical and research-related practices. The introduction to Volume One describes in detail how this project emerged.

Community Psychology at a Regional University: On Engaging Undergraduate Students in Applied Research

Peer Reviewed

Engaging students in service learning projects grounded in community psychology values and practices when working in a rural, conservative area provides several challenges and opportunities for faculty members. The authors share processes and outcomes from three case examples taking place between 2010 and 2013: (1) running focus groups and survey development with a local YMCA branch that predominantly serves people of color in low income housing, (2) the development of a strategic plan for the implementation of an art crawl in the local downtown community, and (3) the development and execution of an asset map evaluating supportive resources and spaces available to the local LGBTQA community. 

Development of Community Psychology Undergraduate Course from a Feminist Pedagogical Framework: Faculty and Students

Peer Reviewed

Community psychology is typically not a part of most undergraduate curricula. Yet, undergraduate coursework in community psychology affords many advantages to students. It encourages ecological thinking and exposes students to content such as community empowerment, intervention and prevention programming design, program evaluation, and other aspects of community psychology practice. This paper describes the development of a community psychology course taught from a feminist pedagogical framework within an undergraduate-only psychology program at a mid-size comprehensive public university in the United States.

Community Psychology in the Community College Setting: Strengths and Challenges

Peer Reviewed

Within the field of community psychology there is growing recognition of the role of undergraduate education in community psychology training as a primary introduction to the field. In this [recent] discourse however, the unique position of the community college has been rendered invisible. 

Learning through Doing: Reflections on the use of Photovoice in an Undergraduate Community Psychology Classroom

Peer Reviewed

Photovoice is becoming an increasingly popular research method in the field of Community Psychology (CP). This is, in part, because it reflects some of the values of CP, including respect for diversity and participation and collaboration. More recently, photovoice has also been used in undergraduate classrooms as a way to actively engage students in their learning, to enable students to investigate and address social problems of importance to them, and to help students develop self-efficacy skills. Accordingly, in this article, an Assistant Professor of Community Psychology and six of her former undergraduate students reflect on their experiences of the Community Psychology, Research, and Action course she taught at an urban-serving university in Washington in spring 2016, which was centered around the learning and implementation of a student-directed photovoice project about their campus. 

“Lessons that simply cannot be lectured”: Highlighting the experiences and benefits of undergraduates engaged in community psychology research

Peer Reviewed

Globally, Community Psychology (CP) currently struggles with a lack of visibility and a shortage of platforms from which to engage future researchers and practitioners. Many of these future researchers and practitioners study psychology as part of their undergraduate education, making psychology departments in undergraduate institutions an ideal point of exposure. Discouragingly, however, undergraduate students are unlikely to be exposed to CP in their course curriculums forcing students to seek out opportunities for exposure elsewhere (Jimenez, 2016; Glantsman, McMahon & Njoku et al., 2015). 

Promoting Undergraduate Student Engagement in the SCRA Biennial Conference

Peer Reviewed

There are many benefits for undergraduate students who attend professional conferences, such as having increased confidence for conducting research, gaining a better understanding of a field, developing a professional identity, and improving abilities to network.The project described includes a systematic reflection from six undergraduate students from SUNY Old Westbury and their faculty mentor about the group’s attendance at the 2017 SCRA Biennial Conference.

Developing an Undergraduate Community Psychology Program in a Graduate Institution

Peer Reviewed

This article provides an overview of the undergraduate degree program in community psychology at DePaul University. The recommendation of an undergraduate student ignited latent student and faculty interest. A program-bigger than a course but smaller than a major-was developed in 2005-2006 and was first offered in 2006-2007. Subsequently, this Community Concentration has been well received by students and has grown to an enrollment of about 20-25 students annually (Glantsman, McMahon, & Njoku, 2015). Graduates have gone onto positions in community and public agencies, graduate school in community psychology and related fields, and other relevant contexts.