The Park University Psychology and Sociology Club has not only increased its membership but brought home some awards.

Last year former president and now treasurer, Lilly Gall, increased membership and took the club to first place at Missouri Undergraduate Psychology Conference. Azita Aramjoo, President, has plans to continue the progress this semester.

The club placed 1st in the oral empirical presentations at the 10th Anniversary MUPC. The conference was hosted by Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo., in November last semester. Students collected and analyzed data and reported on the results in an oral presentation. The presentations were judged on the understanding of the research and how well the research was presented.

“We looked at the topics presented in the past years and what was most popular,” said Gall.

Gall said that about 15 members went to the conference and of the ones that presented everyone received 1st or 2nd place. Laura Barber, vice president of PSYC, participated in the oral empirical presentation.

“It was a great way to network and it brought our members together,” said Barber.

Aramjoo has plans for the club to attend three other conferences this semester. She has also arranged for the club to participate in the upcoming health fair. Members will help the counseling center with depression screenings. The health fair will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26.

PSYC is also planning to partner with Dr. Hilliker, a sociology professor at Park and the director of the Center to Advance the Study of Loss, to co-sponsor a death café. A death café is a group of people gathering to eat cake, drink tea and discuss death.

“We hope this will help students become aware of CASL and will bring more Sociology students to club,” said Gall.

The club has mostly social psychology and psychology students, she said, but they would like to get more sociology students involved.

A trip to the Glore Psychiatric Museum in St. Joseph, Mo., is being planned for later this semester. All Park students are invited to attend. The club said they are interested to see the history of mental health and how it was dealt with historically.

“The contents of a women’s stomach, including metal objects she ate like tools and coins, is on display,” said Gall. “Later it was determined that she had an iron deficiency.”

The club does not have a set date for the trip but they said it is expected to be later in February.

Some members will graduate soon. Barber said she graduates in May and plans to get her master’s in counseling psychology with the program at Avila. She also hopes to be a graduate research assistant and get her LPC, she said. She is graduating Park with a major in social psychology. Aramjoo and Gall also are majoring in social psychology. Aramjoo is minoring in chemistry and Gall is minoring in organizational communication. They said they plan to graduate in December 2015.

“We have a good group who really care about the club,” said Gall.
PSYC started out with only two or three members and now they have about 10, said Aramjoo. They said their goal is for the club to continue this progress even after their graduation.

“We want to leave the group in a strong position to keep going,” Aramjoo said.

To learn more about how to join contact Aramjoo at [email protected]. The club meets at 5 p.m. every other Wednesday in the multipurpose room of the library.