Community Psychology at National Louis: Locally Engaged with a Global Perspective
Worldwide pandemics caused by the emergence of new and life-threatening viruses. Increasingly frequent extreme weather events from accelerating climate change. Rising economic and social inequality compounding deeply entrenched structures of racial injustice. Perhaps more than ever before, it has never been clearer how we are all connected, and that the solutions to the problems faced by our communities call for a broader, more comprehensive perspective. Psychological research and instruction must be attuned to this fact in order to prepare agents of change whether they work as community organizers, non-profit leaders, or within a government or educational setting.
The field of Community Psychology envisions the psychologist as an agent of social change. Actively engaged within communities to understand how individuals develop in interaction with them, the community psychologist works with the community to examine the historical, social, and cultural sources of strength and trauma and collaborates in the collective process of thriving. For this work in today’s age an international sensibility is essential.
National Louis University’s PhD program in Community Psychology was established in 2009 to meet the need of the field for greater inclusion of perspectives from a diverse student body in line with community psychology principles. Now it is expanding its international focus. We are excited to offer a virtual classroom environment that encompasses synchronous Zoom and online learning with conveniently scheduled, hybrid courses to better engage students. This approach is aligned with our existing commitment to engaging students from around the globe.
We intentionally integrate international perspectives in all of our content courses. All of our faculty are currently involved in international working relationships with experts across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, North and South America, and Australia. We serve on international boards and as expert consultants globally. Our current students represent the US, Europe, Canada, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Africa. The perspective of our research and pedagogy is focused beyond the individual examining the larger context from local community to global influences, and we look forward to the opportunity to include more international students in our program.
We have succeeded in creating a supportive learning environment for diverse voices throughout the Chicagoland area. NLU is ranked above average on racial/ethnic diversity for both student and faculty, as well as age diversity.
Our PhD program excels in excellence in education as well. According to the Illinois Board of Higher Education, 78% Illinois PhD graduates in community psychology for 2020 came from NLU. By 2016-2017, we earned the Excellence in Education Program Award from the American Psychological Association’s Society for Community Research and Action.
Throughout this time, we have continued to draw applicants from outside the U.S. to our campus-based program. Since the pandemic in particular, we have welcomed a number of internationally-based students into our virtual classrooms. Going forward we aim to continue this trend by building an even more cosmopolitan learning environment that includes the unique insights and perspectives of students from all over the world.
If you are interested in finding out more about the field of Community Psychology or about the program at NLU in particular, please get in touch here!
