Knowledge Areas - School of HOD

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Knowledge Areas

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Doctoral study begins with foundational content in four core areas followed by four advanced study Knowledge Areas (KAs) and optional Concentration Areas. Within this diverse curriculum, students consult with their faculty mentors and design a course of study relevant to their emerging interests and professional goals.

FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE AREAS-42 units
(Completion of all four KAs are required for the PhD degree)

HOD 753 12 UNITS COMPLETED IN FOUR SEPARATE COMPONENTS: A, B, C, D	Scholar-Practitioner Inquiry This unique Knowledge Area has four separate, required components (A, B, C, D). Students complete each component at a different time in their doctoral studies.	Scholar-practitioners use knowledge in the service of change, and to generate new understanding for both academic and professional communities. This Knowledge Area introduces students to multiple modes of scholar-practitioner inquiry. 753A and B are completed as initial foundational KAs, while 753C and D are completed as part of students' advanced studies. Students contract separately for each component, often with different faculty assessors. There are tracks of study for each of the components during Research and Practice sessions.
753A 3 units	Epistemologies of Scholar-Practitioner Approaches Completed early in doctoral studies	Students learn about different ways of conducting inquiry and engaging in practice, along with their underlying assumptions about the nature of knowledge, practice, and action.
753B 3 units	Research Methods and Design Completed early in doctoral studies	Students develop and demonstrate competency in understanding and designing qualitative, quantitative, and action-oriented approaches to research.
753C 3 units	Integrating Research and Practice Completed as part of advanced studies	Students develop ways of integrating scholarly research and professional practice, as doctorally qualified scholar-practitioners.
753D 3 units	Advanced Research Competencies Completed as students begin the dissertation process	Students develop skills needed to conduct dissertation research, writing, and practice. They design and conduct a mini-research project, often a dissertation pilot study.
HOD 702 10 units	Human Development and Consciousness	Students explore theories and research in normal development and the evolution of consciousness across the life span, including early childhood, middle and late childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, maturity, old age, and death. Students use systematic self-exploration to examine personal and social consciousness.
HOD 703 10 units	Systems, Society, Culture, Community	Students examine both theoretical frameworks in the social sciences and empirical knowledge about the current social-historical situation. Together these contribute context for human and organization development issues, a framework for other KAs, and concepts and language for communicating across disciplinary boundaries. Students become familiar with broad traditions in the human and social sciences; generate models for understanding, explaining, and acting; and conceptualize human, organizational, community and social systems and their problems and developmental trends.
HOD 717 10 units	Organizational Studies	Students explore conceptual frameworks for understanding organizational dynamics based on historical perspective and empirical findings, theories and paradigms, problem-solving, and personal engagement.

ADVANCED STUDIES KNOWLEDGE AREAS-40 units
(In consultation with faculty, students select 40 units from the following elective KAs) [back to top]

HOD 704 10 units	Area of Specialization	This KA is defined by individual students in collaboration with HOD faculty members or approved scholars external to Fielding. Students use this KA to acquire new knowledge or deepen their existing knowledge in fields where they wish to build or advance their professional careers.
HOD 705 10 units	Personality Theory	Students examine major theorists and schools of thought from a social and interpersonal perspective. Particular attention is given to individual development and theories oriented toward personal change. The traditional perspectives of psychoanalytic, neoanalytic, behavioral, and humanistic theories are also explored.
HOD 706	Social Psychology	This KA covers social structures and behavior within the group, the family, and the organization. Topics include group dynamics, small group theory, attribution theory, attitude development, social influence, helping behavior, feminist and minority issues, negotiation and problem solving, power and leadership, and organizational dynamics.
HOD 707 10 units	Organization Change and Development	The purpose of this KA is to acquaint the student with the field of organizational change and the practice of organizational development. Students will learn about the history of the field of OD, organizational change, and planned change, appreciate the complex dynamics involved in changing organizational systems, and become familiar with major theories, concepts, debates, and controversies.
HOD 708 10 units	Human Learning and Motivation	Students survey the field of human behavior emphasizing needs, expectations, learning, motivation, and communication. This KA focuses on adult common human experience in the cognitive and affective realms; factors that influence physical, sexual, social, esthetic, and moral actions and interactions; and adult learning theory.
HOD 709 10 units	Management and Leadership	Students review the historical and contemporary literature on management and leadership. In addition to contemporary theories, many of the concepts found in organization development are dealt with in this KA, such as power and influence, decision-making, multicultural workforce issues, and networked leadership models.
HOD 710 10 units	Ecological Studies	The ecological paradigm situates individuals, organizations, and societies in their natural context and looks at ecological constraints on human activity. Students study global and local dimensions of human problems, ranging from overpopulation and environmental destruction to issues in community and work environments.
HOD 711 10 units	Information, Knowledge, and Media Studies	This KA focuses on information systems, virtual organizations and communities, knowledge management, computer-mediated communication, decision support systems, and other human and organizational systems involving Internet and computer technologies. The role of the scholar-practitioner in today's organization demands competency in understanding, managing, and navigating within knowledge, media, and information-based systems.
HOD 712 10 units	Public Policy and Public Action	Many professionals need to understand collective decision-making and social and public action. Students become familiar with the themes in current political debate, learn how public policy is made, examine how government actions impact their lives, review their own political convictions, and envision an expanded public role.
HOD 713 10 units	Social Change	Today human and organization development occurs in the context of rapid social change. Students examine theories of social change and investigate historic and contemporary changes to understand why they occur-not with the aim of adjusting to them, but rather of initiating proactive intervention.
HOD 714 10 units	Family, Community, and Human Service Delivery	This KA surveys the delivery of human services for family, schools, marriage, work institutions, and spiritual development. Various systems that provide supporting and facilitating functions are reviewed. Students develop skills in the design, creation, and management of human services and systems.
HOD 715 10 units	Structural Inequality and Diversity	The study of diversity involves understanding and respecting differences in race, ethnicity, culture, class, gender, sexual orientation, etc. Skillful interaction among diverse groups is a key dimension of human and organization development. Students also explore how inequality is produced in society.
HOD 716 10 units	Global Studies	As organizations increase their international scope, individuals find their work, clientele, and career paths pushed in a global direction. Domains to explore in this KA include multicultural labor, international clients, cultural/national oppression, global community development, global information networks, and internationally generated environmental degradation.

September 2004

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