The professional seminar is designed to acquaint early-stage graduate students in the core professional knowledge and skills central to the discipline of academic empirical psychology. In addition, it is designed to provide familiarity with the research of the faculty in psychology and related disciplines.

Course Learning Goals: In this course, you will: 
1.    Be introduced to the major professional activities that constitute graduate and professional-level work in the psychological sciences.
2.    Develop and refine writing abilities in the psychological sciences.
3.    Become familiar with the fields of study of faculty in Psychological Sciences and related disciplines at UC Merced

Course Learning Outcomes: At the end of this course, students will be able to demonstrate the following:
1.    Familiarity with academic journals and the publication process in the area of future research; demonstrate comfort with basic grant writing and professional research presentations; demonstrate understanding of the academic requirements of the PhD at UC Merced.
2.    Production of improved prose in accordance with APA standards
3.    Knowledge of the areas of psychological research currently being undertaken at UC Merced