The Department of Psychology at the University of Prince Edward Island has nine openings for sessional instructors during the forthcoming Fall 2021 semester. Courses may be taught online or in-person. These positions are subject to final budgetary approval.

PSY 1010 – Intro to Psychology Part 1

A general introductory survey of theory and research on basic psychological processes: research methodology in psychology, biological basis of behaviour, sensation and perception, learning and motivation, memory and cognition.

Three hours per week.

PSY 2010 – Developmental Psychology

This survey course examines human development across the life span through physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional domains. The course includes discussions surrounding applications of developmental theory in various contexts, including public policy, education, counselling, and health domains. Lectures, in-class assignments, and research papers are designed to encourage students to evaluate developmental change critically and to apply their knowledge to their communities.

Three hours per week.

PSY 2420 – Social Psychology

This course focuses on the ways in which an individual's thoughts, feelings, and actions are influenced by the social environment. It provides an introduction to major theories, principles, methods and findings of the discipline. Topics include social perception and cognition, attitudes and attitude change, gender, attraction, aggression, helping, conformity, obedience, group interaction, and cultural influences. Through a variety of assignments students are encouraged to attend to the operation of social psychological principles in daily living.

Three hours per week.

PSY 2600 – Sensation and Perception

This course examines how the more basic senses work and how they contribute to our awareness of the world. The sense of touch seems to give us direct contact with the world. The abilities to sense chemicals in the food we eat and the air we breathe guide not only what we eat but also our emotions. Sensing vibrations in air enables us to detect events out of sight and to receive both verbal and musical communications from others. Content covered in this course also considers principles and theories of how visual information is received, and how it is processed and combined to produce visual images. These vastly different sources of information-mechanical, chemical and gravitational, as well as the electromagnetic basis of vision are sensed by specialized biological receptors that transform the information into nerve impulses. This course examines how the principles used by the brain to interpret the diverse information are surprisingly similar.

Three hours per week.

PSY 3080 – Child Development

This course explores children's development in depth by focusing on the various domains of change from birth to adolescence. Themes of change and stability throughout childhood are examined using analytical and descriptive theories of development. Implications of developmental approaches are examined for practice and public policy domains. Lectures, in-class assignments, and research projects are designed to encourage students to assess critically these developmental changes and to apply that understanding to other contexts.

Cross-listed with Family Science (cf. Family Science 3080). 

Three hours per week.

PSY 3420 – Intimate Relationships

This course is designed to examine a variety of areas of study within the field of intimate relationships. Through in-class discussion of the major theoretical frameworks of the discipline and by designing their own original relationship research proposals, students will gain an increased understanding of the multifaceted nature of intimate relationships. Topics to be covered include but are not limited to: attraction, social cognition, interdependency, conflict, and love.

Cross-listed with Family Science (cf. Family Science 3440).

Three hours per week.

PSY 3820 – Cognitive Psychology

This course examines recent developments in cognitive psychology with special emphasis on the study of thinking, problem solving and decision making. Its topics include theories and research in inductive and deductive reasoning, information processing approaches to thinking and problem solving, and the implications of the cognitive perspective for our understanding of intelligence, creativity and mental development. A lab will provide students with the opportunity to perform problem solving demonstrations, test representative phenomena, analyze their own data, and examine the results in terms of current theories.

Three hours per week.

PSY 3830 – Psycholinguistics

This course reviews the psychology of language from the perspectives of sensation, perception, cognition, and interpersonal processes. Topics include the nature of speech production and perception, the nature of grammatical and lexical knowledge, semantics and pragmatics, language acquisition, the social bases of human communication, and computer systems for language understanding.

Three hours per week.

PSY 3930 – Health Psychology

This course examines how psychological, social, and biological factors interact to influence health and illness. Students explore the systematic application of psychology to health promotion and maintenance, illness prevention and treatment, the determinants of health and illness, health care systems, and health policy.

Three hours per week.
 

Qualifications:
Successful applicants should hold a Graduate degree or a Doctoral degree in Psychology.

Please note that applicants on the UPEI Sessional Roster for Psychology will be considered first.

Application Instructions:
Applicants should submit a letter of application, an updated C.V., and the names of three referees to:

Dr. Nia Phillips, Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Psychology
University of Prince Edward Island
Charlottetown, PE C1A 4P3
nlphillips@upei.ca
tel: 902-566-0966
fax: 902-628-4359

In accordance with Canadian immigration requirements, all qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be given priority. UPEI is committed to the principle of equity in employment.

Closing date for applications is July 15, 2021