IFSA Buenos Aires Quarter Program: Psychology and Neuroscience

IFSA CLASSES 

Not all classes may be offered in a given term, depending on enrollment. Click each link below for a detailed class syllabus. 

Introduction to Research in Community Health 
This class examines the essential components of research in community health. Through theoretical and practical exploration, students delve into research design, methodologies, data collection, and analysis techniques relevant to community health studies. Emphasis is placed on ethical considerations, cultural sensitivity, and community engagement in the research process. Through hands-on projects and fieldwork, students develop the skills and knowledge necessary to conduct rigorous research that addresses pressing public health issues and informs evidence-based interventions. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)

Argentina and Human Rights
Language of Instruction: English
The class comprises theoretical and practical contents of human rights and modernity. The main objective is to cover the historization of human rights, through an analysis of modernity and capitalism. It focuses on the history of human rights in Argentina from the independence revolutionary era to the return of the democratic government in the 1980s. Finally, the class reviews the experience of human rights in Argentina through two specific ways: The 1976 military coup, the detention camps, and the transition to democracy; Through the visit to communal memory spaces related to the systemic and institutional violation of human rights during the 1976-1983 military governments. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)

Brain, Drugs, Addiction
This class examines substance use and its impact on how the brain functions from the perspective of neuropsychology. The concept of drugs, normal brain functioning, and the impact of their consumption at the neuroanatomical and neurophysiological levels will be analyzed. Students address social, psychological, cultural, and biological aspects that are linked to the deterioration of the nervous system, as well as the differences between occasional use, problematic use, and addiction. Finally, students compare substance use and its impact approach between Argentina and the U.S. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)  

Cognitive Neuroscience 
Students explore the cognitive systems of neuroscience, which encompass aspects such as attention, pattern recognition, knowledge representation, language, reasoning, and human intelligence. Through this exploration, students learn how these systems enable humans to sense, perceive, act, learn, think, and remember the host context and the broader world. (3 U.S. semester credit hours) 

Food, Culture, and Argentine Society
Language of Instruction: English
Understanding food’s role in culture, in society, is therefore a local and global concern. This class examines all of these issues from anthropological and sociological perspectives and draws on the rich culinary situation of the course in Buenos Aires throughout. Living in a time where food is no longer limited to home and restaurant kitchens, this course explores the place food has in a globalized world. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)

Mental Health Psychology 
This class explores the psychological dimensions of mental health and illness from a biopsychosocial lens. Class topics include the classification of mental disorders, evidence-based treatments, and stigma reduction efforts. Through lectures, discussions, and experiential activities, students gain insight into the complexities of mental health issues and develop strategies for promoting psychological wellbeing in individuals and communities. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)

Multicultural Psychology
This class examines how “cultural traditions and social practices regulate, express, and transform the human psyche, resulting less in psychic unity for humankind than in ethnic divergences in mind, self, and emotion” (Shweder, 1991). It explores how psychology is socially constructed with particular attention to certain factors that influence human development: oppression, language, acculturation, economic concerns, racism and prejudice, sociopolitical elements, child-rearing practices, religious practices, family structure and dynamics, and cultural values and attitudes. Students explore the meaning of culture and how it affects thoughts and behavior. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)  

Psychology of Crime and Justice
This class introduces a broad range of theoretical and methodological approaches to psychology, crime, and justice. It explores sources of individual variation in criminal conduct from a psychological perspective. Students examine the factors that influence violent criminals, such as the environment, mental disorders, and personality. Topics focus on associations between criminality and genetics, brain functioning, psychophysiology, mental disorders, personality and moral development, and social learning. Through the study of a broad range of topics within the discipline of psychology, including the application of psychological knowledge in the study of crime and justice, students learn to appreciate how the subject progresses through careful use of research methods. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)  

International Internship Seminar
Language of Instruction: English
All internships include participation in the International Internship Seminar, which covers 15 hours of online asynchronous Canvas modules to provide structured opportunities to reflect on the practical experience of the internship, learn more about your host country’s business culture, and further develop the professional skills needed for a successful transition from undergraduate coursework into a career or graduate school. Plus, you will engage with an online global cohort of IFSA internship participants, gaining exposure to business cultures around the world. While most internships placements are conducted in Spanish, limited English placements are available. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)

Intervention Strategies in Mental Health
Some psychologists in Argentina have defined mental health as a comprehensive and inclusive state of actions capable of producing welfare rooted in the insertion of the individual in their functional milieu. Students learn about mental health, intervention, and effective strategies, while exploring applications across diverse situations and populations. Identifying effective preventive and therapeutic strategies is crucial to establishing public policies that contribute to mental well-being at individual, family, community, and social levels. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)  

Social Cognition and Neuroscience 
Integrating insights from cognitive psychology, social cognition, and cognitive neuroscience, this class explores how we understand other people’s behavior. Students will examine the organization of the brain and its functions from a descriptive dimension, as well as from a global and systemic perspective to understand how we construct social cognitions and their effect on behavior and social interaction. Intending to make the theoretical contents easily understandable, the topics will be approached from practical examples, both from the local culture (e.g., fútbol, mate) and from global social examples (e.g., the Holocaust, bullying). (3 U.S. semester credit hours)  

Social Psychology 
A comparison of familiar social settings with unfamiliar social norms and behaviors abroad, this class explores the basic theory and research of social psychology. Students examine the interaction between individuals and social groups and how the behavior of groups and individuals within them is mutually affected. Students demonstrate and discuss pillar concepts of social psychology, including conformity, conflict, persuasion, helping, perceptions, and social identity. Students expand on the roots of feelings, beliefs, attitudes, and behavior locally and globally and explore their own attitudes and identity. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)

Sports and Identity in Argentina
Language of Instruction: English
This class draws on the approaches of anthropology, sociology, history, and other disciplines to bring new perspectives on some of the most popular sports in Argentina like soccer (“football”), rugby, and polo. What is the connection between cultural identity and the sports world? How do popular sports impact on nationalism in Argentina? Gender and equality in sports? We will examine how socio-cultural, political, and economic issues are understood in sporting terms and concepts: the hero; merit and sacrifice; individual identity and team identity, the vindication as society through sports victories and even the idea of sports as a path to social mobility. (3 U.S. semester credit hours)

Directed Research
IFSA Directed Research offers a unique opportunity for undergraduates to delve deeply into host context research. Students are guided through projects that are feasible in the study abroad context. 

The Directed Research class is structured through regular individual meetings with a faculty mentor to discuss the design and execution of a research plan, where students are guided through the approved research methods and outcomes, including ethical and safe research practices, effective communications, and reflective practice. 

Faculty meetings aim to familiarize students with academic research practice, including qualitative and/or quantitative research methods, evaluation and analysis of collected data, and competent communications of research findings. At the end of the term, students bring their research to fruition in the form of an academic paper and an oral presentation that meet recognized standards of scholarly work. 

To participate in a directed research, you must have a specific language level. Please visit our Language Requirements page for more details. If you have questions about whether you qualify, contact your IFSA Enrollment Counselor. 

Directed Research 

IFSA Directed Research offers a unique opportunity for undergraduates to delve deeply into host context research. Students are guided through projects that are feasible in the study abroad context. 

The Directed Research class is structured through regular individual meetings with a faculty mentor to discuss the design and execution of a research plan, where students are guided through the approved research methods and outcomes, including ethical and safe research practices, effective communications, and reflective practice. 

Faculty meetings aim to familiarize students with academic research practice, including qualitative and/or quantitative research methods, evaluation and analysis of collected data, and competent communications of research findings. At the end of the term, students bring their research to fruition in the form of an academic paper and an oral presentation that meet recognized standards of scholarly work. 

New country, new way of learning! 

• Here’s what to expect at IFSA Study in Buenos Aires: 
• More emphasis on independent learning. More self-directed learning outside of class. 
• Locate the syllabi for IFSA classes on our program page to understand assignments and class requirements. 
• Grade inflation and curving are uncommon; fewer students get exceptional grades. 
• Strong focus on critical analysis with supporting resources documented. 
• Students cannot audit courses. 
• IFSA local staff are also available for individual help and provide tutoring. 
• More information can be found in the IFSA Student Portal under Resources – Helpful Documents and Links and Academics. 

Eligibility 

• You must be at least 18 years of age. Students under 18 may be accepted on a case-by-case basis. 
• You must be currently attending or recently graduated from a U.S. or Canadian community college, technical college, two-year college, four-year college, or four-year university. 
• You must have completed at least one (1) full-time semester of study at your home institution before the beginning of the term. 

IFSA Classes 

• GPA: 2.0 
• Fall Term Application Date: April 15 
• Spring Term Application Date: Nov. 1 
• Letter of Recommendation: Not required 

TRANSCRIPT 

Upon completion of your program, IFSA will send an official Butler University transcript to your home university with your coursework converted to the U.S. semester credit hour system. You will also have access to an unofficial transcript in your IFSA Student Portal. The transcript reflects classes taken, credits attempted, and grades earned during your term abroad. This service is included in your study abroad program at no additional cost. See our Transcripts page for more information.