A practicum is an opportunity for students to integrate on-site work with class time for interdisciplinary connections and reflection. A practicum includes placement at an outside organization, along with an academic component that involves regular meetings with faculty members and staff members, and culminates in a final reflective paper and presentation and, in some situations, participation in the College poster session.
Practicum 2024-2025 Courses
Foundations in Workplace Culture and Well-Being
Sophomore and Above, Small Lecture—Fall | 5 credits
PRAC 2105
Note: Students have the option to enroll for 3 or 5 credits. (NOTE: Each credit option has its own course number; the credit option you select during registration, or the add/drop period, will be the credit option you will complete or attempt for the semester.) Students have the option to enroll in each course a second time, as a returning student, with an emphasis on early career leadership and mentorship.
This course is an SLC EmbeddEd practicum-credit course offered to sophomores and above (including graduate students) completing experience-based work (an internship, volunteer placement, or job) during the fall semester. NOTE: Students must have experience-based work in place and complete the required preregistration form prior to registering for this course. Experience-based work should begin by the end of the first week of class. Please see SLC EmbeddEd on MySLC for more information, including how to register for SLC EmbeddEd courses, info session dates/recordings, FAQ for students, and resources for finding experience-based work. Students are advised to begin looking for experience-based work opportunities 3-6 months before the fall semester, when possible.
Over the semester, students explore shifting and inclusive definitions of work, workplace culture, and strategies to support well-being through reading assignments, class discussions, experience-based observations, small group work, workshops, events, panels and engagement with peers and alumni. Topics will include workplace communication, diversity equity and inclusion, professional networking, stress management, work-life balance, sleep health, and restorative practices. Students are encouraged to engage in observation journals, experiential activities, and collaborative group work. Assignments include weekly homework, an alumni series recording and a final portfolio. The goal is for students to integrate class material with experience-based observations, engage with campus resources and develop a community of peer and alumni support that students may utilize this semester and beyond. SLC EmbeddEd courses are graded pass/fail and meet remotely via Zoom on Monday evenings. SLC EmbeddEd courses are offered in collaboration with campus partners, including Career Services; Community Partnerships and Engagement; the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; pre-professional advisors; Alumni Relations; Health + Wellness; the Dean of Well-Being; and the Learning Commons.
Faculty
Foundations in Workplace Culture and Well-Being
Sophomore and Above, Small Lecture—Fall | 3 credits
PRAC 2103
Note: Students have the option to enroll for 3 or 5 credits. (NOTE: Each credit option has its own course number; the credit option you select during registration, or the add/drop period, will be the credit option you will complete or attempt for the semester.) Students have the option to enroll in each course a second time, as a returning student, with an emphasis on early career leadership and mentorship.
This course is an SLC EmbeddEd practicum-credit course offered to sophomores and above (including graduate students) completing experience-based work (an internship, volunteer placement, or job) during the fall semester. NOTE: Students must have experience-based work in place and complete the required preregistration form prior to registering for this course. Experience-based work should begin by the end of the first week of class. Please see SLC EmbeddEd on MySLC for more information, including how to register for SLC EmbeddEd courses, info session dates/recordings, FAQ for students, and resources for finding experience-based work. Students are advised to begin looking for experience-based work opportunities 3-6 months before the fall semester, when possible.
Over the semester, students explore shifting and inclusive definitions of work, workplace culture, and strategies to support well-being through reading assignments, class discussions, experience-based observations, small group work, workshops, events, panels and engagement with peers and alumni. Topics will include workplace communication, diversity equity and inclusion, professional networking, stress management, work-life balance, sleep health, and restorative practices. Students are encouraged to engage in observation journals, experiential activities, and collaborative group work. Assignments include weekly homework, an alumni series recording and a final portfolio. The goal is for students to integrate class material with experience-based observations, engage with campus resources and develop a community of peer and alumni support that students may utilize this semester and beyond. SLC EmbeddEd courses are graded pass/fail and meet remotely via Zoom on Monday evenings. SLC EmbeddEd courses are offered in collaboration with campus partners, including Career Services; Community Partnerships and Engagement; the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; pre-professional advisors; Alumni Relations; Health + Wellness; the Dean of Well-Being; and the Learning Commons.
Faculty
Building a Professional Identity
Sophomore and Above, Small Lecture—Fall | 5 credits
PRAC 2125
Note: This course may be taken for three or five credits. Each credit option has its own course number. The credit option should be selected during registration, and any credit changes must be made prior to the end of the add/drop period.
Building a Professional Identity is an experience-based, Embedded Education course offered to sophomores and above (including graduate students) completing experience-based work (an internship, volunteer placement, or job) during the spring semester. Students must have experience-based work in place and complete the required preregistration form prior to registering for this course. Please see SLC EmbeddEd on MySLC for more information, including how to register for SLC EmbeddEd courses, info session dates/recordings, FAQ for students, and resources for finding experience-based work. Students are advised to begin looking for experience-based work opportunities three-six months before the spring semester, when possible.
Over the semester, students in this course explore the process of building a professional identity through reading assignments, class discussions, experience-based observations, small-group work, workshops, events, panels, and engagement with peers and alumni. Topics include imposter phenomenon; diversity, equity, and inclusion; workplace communication; online branding; professional networking; mentorship and mentoring; work-life balance; and strategies to support well-being. Students are encouraged to engage in observation journals, experiential activities, and collaborative group work. Assignments include weekly homework, an alumni series recording, and a final portfolio. The goal is for students to integrate class material with experience-based observations, engage with campus resources, and develop a community of peer and alumni support—which students may utilize this semester and beyond. SLC EmbeddEd courses are graded pass/fail and meet remotely via Zoom on Wednesday evenings. Students have the option to enroll for three or five credits (see note below). Students have the option to enroll in each course a second time, as a returning student, with an emphasis on early career leadership and mentorship. SLC EmbeddEd courses feature collaborations with campus partners, including Career Services; Community Partnerships and Engagement; the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; preprofessional advisors, Alumni Relations, Health + Wellness, the Dean of Well-Being, and the Learning Commons.
Faculty
Building a Professional Identity
Sophomore and Above, Small Lecture—Spring | 3 credits
PRAC 2123
Note: This course may be taken for three or five credits. Each credit option has its own course number. The three- or five-credit option should be selected during registration, and any credit changes must be made prior to the end of the add/drop period.
Building a Professional Identity is an experience-based, Embedded Education course offered to sophomores and above (including graduate students) completing experience-based work (an internship, volunteer placement, or job) during the spring semester. Students must have experience-based work in place and complete the required preregistration form prior to registering for this course. Please see SLC EmbeddEd on MySLC for more information including how to register for SLC EmbeddEd courses, info session dates/recordings, FAQ for students, and resources for finding experience-based work. Students are advised to begin looking for experience-based work opportunities three-six months before the spring semester, when possible.
Over the semester, students in this course explore the process of building a professional identity through reading assignments, class discussions, experience-based observations, small-group work, workshops, events, panels, and engagement with peers and alumni. Topics include imposter phenomenon; diversity, equity, and inclusion; workplace communication; online branding; professional networking; mentorship and mentoring; work-life balance; and strategies to support well-being. Students are encouraged to engage in observation journals, experiential activities, and collaborative group work. Assignments include weekly homework, an alumni series recording, and a final portfolio. The goal is for students to integrate class material with experience-based observations, engage with campus resources, and develop a community of peer and alumni support—which students may utilize this semester and beyond. SLC EmbeddEd courses are graded pass/fail and meet remotely via Zoom on Wednesday evenings. Students have the option to enroll for three or five credits. Students have the option to enroll in each course a second time, as a returning student, with an emphasis on early career leadership and mentorship. SLC EmbeddEd courses feature collaborations with campus partners, including Career Services; Community Partnerships and Engagement; the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; pre-professional advisors, Alumni Relations, Health + Wellness, the Dean of Well-Being, and the Learning Commons.
Faculty
SLCeeds: Startup and Passion Project Accelerator
Open, Large seminar—Spring | 3 credits
PRAC 3035
In this course, you will explore your business ideas or passion interests through content creation, so that you can design a business or passion project that solves an important problem. Whether you have a business idea or a passion project that you want to bring to life, this course will help you leverage the power of content creation in order to pave a way into your field of interest while building your credibility, network, and personal brand. You will launch a podcast and interview the “who’s who” of your field of interest! Equipped with the lessons learned from your interviews, you will conceive and bring a business or passion project to life that you will pitch to a panel of judges made of up of esteemed SLC alumni. The top-voted presentation will win a cash grant to help launch the idea!
Faculty
Empowering Engagement: Collaborative Civic Involvement
Open, Seminar—Spring | 1 credit
PRAC 3038
This community-partnership course is designed to introduce students to the field of community engagement and, in particular, to our local communities: the City of Yonkers and Westchester County. Community engagement is defined as “the process of working collaboratively with and through groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest, or similar situations to address issues affecting the well-being of those people. It is a powerful vehicle for bringing about environmental and behavioral changes that will improve the health of the community and its members. It often involves partnerships and coalitions that help mobilize resources and influence systems, change relationships among partners, and serve as catalysts for changing policies, programs, and practices (CDC, 1997).” Upon successfully completing this course, students will be equipped to: become familiar with the history and culture of Sarah Lawrence College, the City of Yonkers, and Westchester County; be able to identify community-based initiatives that they are passionate about; know how to conduct a community-needs assessment; and know how to create a project proposal that includes community partnership. By acquiring new knowledge and skill sets, students will experience increased civic empowerment impacting not only the College campus but also the local communities. Students will actively participate in community engagement, enhancing community partnerships by designing a transformative community project (final class project). Through self-reflection, guest speakers, special projects, and collaborations with local community partners, this course offers a range of opportunities for students to explore and strengthen their voices, interests, and skills as engaged citizens.
Faculty
Related Economics Courses
Introduction to Feminist Economics
Sophomore and Above, Seminar—Spring
Feminist economics arose as a critique of the androcentric and Eurocentric assumptions underlying mainstream (neoclassical) economics. But over the past 30 years, feminist economics has developed into a coherent perspective in its own right. Feminist economics acknowledges and investigates power differentials in both the home and the market on the basis of race/ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation, nation, and disability status. It takes seriously the crucial economic impact of caring labor (both paid and unpaid) in both the home and the broader community. And it proposes alternate measures of economic success that emphasize bodily integrity, human agency, sustainability, and human rights. We will begin this course with a brief exploration of the historical context for the development of feminist economics; i.e., the rise of feminist movements in both the developed world and the Global South. We’ll then examine the differences between feminist and mainstream neoclassical economics by examining questions such as: What do we mean by "the economy”? Do transactions and activities have to be monetized to be "economic”? How is caring labor (both paid and unpaid) conceptualized in economics, and how does the performance of this labor impact one's status in both the labor market and the household? The answers to these and similar questions will help us to reconceptualize economics to take account of all of the labor necessary to reproduce individuals and social/economic structures. Finally, we’ll apply this reconceptualized, feminist economics to questions of economic policy. We’ll examine a number of case studies, including:
• the persistence of occupational segregation and wage differentials by gender and race and policies to mitigate these inequalities;
• the impact of domestic violence and other forms of nonmarket coercion on economic outcomes;
• the impact of reproductive control (or the lack thereof) on the economic trajectories of both individuals and societies; and
• the (re)conceptualization and measurement of economic development and growth.
In addition to class participation, requirements for the course will include frequent short papers on the readings, leading class discussions (in pairs), and participation in group presentations. In lieu of a traditional conference paper, students may elect to participate in an on- or off-campus service-learning project.
Faculty
Related Psychology Courses
Introduction to Research in Psychology: Methodology
Intermediate/Advanced, Seminar—Fall
This first research seminar in a yearlong practicum series on conducting research in psychology will introduce students to the posing of research questions and the design of methods to answer those questions. In this seminar, students will gain valuable research experience through a weekly meeting focused on qualitative and quantitative research methods, research ethics, and contemporary research questions and approaches. These topics include, but are not limited to, exploring the historical contexts that led to current guidelines for ethically conducting human-subjects testing; receiving institutional review-board approval for a proposed study; staying conversant and engaged in open science practices; maintaining a lab notebook; choosing a methodological approach and designing a study; recruiting participants; and more. The seminar component will include readings on, and discussions of, research methods and ethics that are specific to the research in which students are involved, as well as discussions of contemporary research articles that are relevant to student and faculty research projects. Weekly seminars will be led by the instructors of the course and, on occasion, invited faculty with expertise in related topics. All students involved in conducting research will also take turns leading a discussion of current research related to their group’s work. We will have individual and/or lab conference meetings with faculty supervisors on either a regular or as-needed basis. Seniors undertaking a senior thesis project are welcome to take this class alongside their senior thesis in order to work collaboratively with other students engaging in their own independent research. Students should come prepared to work collaboratively with faculty and their peers.