• October 21-November 1 Telephone registration for continuing students.

• October 28 Last day to withdraw for a serious and compelling reason. After this date, you must obtain a signature from the Chair.

• November 4-8 SOCI Week

• November 11 Holiday -- Veterans Day

• November 19 Last day of classes

• November 20 Study/Reading Day

• November 21-26 Final Exams

• December 3, 1996-January 1, 1997 Fall Quarter Break

• December 18-20 & 30-31 Telephone registration (Phase II) for continuing students

• January 2 Orientation and registration for new students

• January 6 First day of classes; beginning of late registration

• January 13 Last day to add classes; last day of late registration

• January 17 Last day to apply for Winter Graduation

PSYC 377 Introduction to Autism (2 Units)

(Jess Deegan II, Instructor)

Dr. Jess Deegan II will offer this class with the assistance of Danielle Bresee of the Kern County Superintendent's Office. Students will receive a brief introduction to autism for volunteer work with autistic children in a classroom setting. Topics will include the etiology of autism and treatment approaches. The class will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays for the first two weeks of the quarter with follow-up sessions on March 11 and 13. You must attend the class meetings to receive credit. You also should sign up for Human Corps, Psyc 396, which will provide one unit credit for volunteering as a classroom assistant working with autistic children (a TB test is required for this Human Corps placement). You must complete the lecture component prior to being placed in a volunteer setting. Prerequisite: one upper-division course in psychology or consent of instructor.

PSYC 403 Health Psychology

(Steve Bacon, Instructor)

Dr. Steve Bacon presents this subfield of psychology that investigates how psychological factors contribute to good health, how they contribute to illness, and how they come into play after a person gets sick. In this course, we will look at health promotion and illness prevention, psychological causes of illness, treatment approaches, and health care policy. Some specific topics for discussion may include mind-body interactions, stress management, hypnosis, the effects of positive coping on cancer growth, and how to live longer (and happier!).

PSYC 432 Industrial and Organizational Psychology

(Ed Sasaki, Instructor)

Dr. Ed Sasaki offers this course of interest to students considering a career in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and to students of any major who are interested in discovering how to improve performance in contemporary work organizations. Topics include personnel selection and placement, training program development and evaluation, supervisor/manager relations, and human factors. Lectures, discussion, case studies, and simulation exercises. Prerequisite: At least one upper-division course in psychology or Management 300, or permission of the instructor.

PSYC 477.1 Psychology of Intergroup Relations

(Luis Vega, Instructor)

This is a seminar course on the social psychology of intergroup relations. Topics will include an historical review, comparative approaches, ethnic identity, stereotypes, attitudes, and applications with special attention given to the social psychology of minorities. This is a useful course for students intending to work in a multicultural setting and for those wishing to better understand interracial relations. Prerequisite: Upper division standing or instructor's permission.

PSYC 477.2 Psychology of Diversity

(or around the world in 80 ways)

(Beth Rienzi, Instructor)

This course will provide an overview of theories and research on human diversity with a focus on populations of California and the United States. Diversity will be defined in a broad sense to cover culture, ethnicity, race, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, and physical challenges such as deafness. Lecture, discussion, and student project. Prerequisite: One course in psychology or permission of the instructor. This course will be taught on Friday nights and Saturdays on the following days: Jan. 10-11 & 24-25, Feb. 14-15 & 21-22, and March 7-8.

Note: Coming -- in Spring 1997, Dr. Jeannette Sanders, Forensic Psychologist at the Nevada Women's Correctional Center in Carson City, will co-teach a 2-unit forensic psychology course with Beth Rienzi. Tara B. DeLouth will be the teaching assistant and will provide information from her experience with the FBI.

The children in the three classrooms at Hort, as well as similar special education autistic programs at the Claude W. Richardson Child Development Center and Dai Break in Arvin, suffer from the severe neurological disorder known as autism. Typically, an autistic individual has speech problems, abnormal responses to stimulus and trouble relating socially to others.

The key to teaching autistic children is intensive, structured instruction. But, simply put, there aren't nearly enough qualified people out there to do the job. So Bresee, along with Dr. Jess Deegan, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at CSUB, have devised a lecture/volunteer program that introduces college students to childhood autism.

"We never, never have enough people," Bresee explained. "That's why we started this program at Cal State. This is a parent-driven program. The parents of these autistic children came to us. What they wanted was a pool of people who understood autism and have experience with direct-teaching methods."

The result was a program that combined a 10-hour lecture series with 30 hours of in-the-class volunteer work. The students earn college credit for participating. The lectures cover the definition of autism, theories of learning, behavioral psychology as well as some on-site observation. "There were two purposes: One, to develop some students to help train the autistic and; two, this is a way to get students some actual field experience," Deegan said.

Bresee's lectures provided the students with an introduction to autism and foundation to build on, but it's the volunteer portion of the program where the students actually enter into the mysterious world of the autistic child. The class was offered at CSUB in September, and 16 students signed up. Of those 16, 11 volunteered to work directly with the autistic children.

"The lectures were very good to explain the behaviors and concepts. We watched some films and they gave us a good start, but it was still very interesting in the classroom. This is my first day (at Hort School) and the thing that amazes me is that these children aren't that much different from other kids," said psychology major Debra Rivera.

CSUB student Erika Campos, who is doing her volunteer work at the Richardson Center, echoed those thoughts: "The classes were fine. They taught us what to expect, the rocking motions and different behavior patterns, but being in the actual classroom is different."

"That first day, they (the volunteers) are just watching. They are trying to kick in. But actually experiencing the noise and the behavior first-hand is very different," Bresee said. "I think the fact we got

CSUB Psychology Student Debra Rivera

11 out of 16 students to move up to the next level is great. We had 11 students say, 'I'll give you 30 hours of my time.' That's wonderful. I'm really excited."

"I'm pretty enthused about the number of students in the class. That's why we're going to offer the class again in the Winter (quarter)," Deegan said. He noted that other students in the class had scheduling conflicts and may yet spend time with the children. Getting teachers and volunteers into the classroom is the program's primary goal. "This type of teaching is very individual for each student. We're trying to break them from climbing on chairs or from just falling down. Others we're trying to teach eye-to-face contact. These children are all different. They are all at different levels, but each one is an individual challenge," said Bresee, who has been working with autistic children for 20 years. "You're not going to see the big steps in this field like you'll see in regular education. Our children take small steps. Tiny steps. It takes a long time," she added.

Submitted by Tom Gordon

Note: This tentative schedule is subject to change. Evening sections are in bold print. Individual study courses are not listed, nor are courses offered by other departments that may be used as Psychology electives (e.g., BEHS or INST courses).