Community & Organizational Research for Action (CORA)

The Community and Organizational Research for Action (CORA) focus area within the Department of Psychology is comprised of scholars from multiple disciplines engaged in research to promote equity and social justice. CORA faculty work in partnership with communities, private and public sector organizations, and institutions of higher education, to conduct applied field-based research that promotes positive, transformational change. We believe that by uniting methods and tools from the social sciences with social justice values we can contribute to overcoming disparities and inequities in health, education, workplaces, and other domains.

Training

We prepare students for careers in academia (i.e., faculty positions in Industrial/Organizational, Social, and Community Psychology) and in non-academic careers including (but not limited to):

  • Organizational consultants
  • I/O psychologists
  • Global lead, assessments
  • Community organizers
  • Program evaluators, grant writers, and strategic planning specialists
  • Leaders in the nonprofit sector
  • Specialists in community health promotion
  • Educators or administrators in a wide range of academic settings

Doctoral students working under the direction of CORA faculty will be expected to fulfill all of the general requirements of the PhD program in Psychology. However, consistent with the multidisciplinary nature of CORA faculty work, elective coursework in the area of specialization will include four courses from the list below (or other courses approved by the training committee) depending upon availability and fit with program of study.

  • PSYC6004: Industrial and Organizational Psychology**
  • PSYC7005: Community Psychology**
  • PSYC 7006: Community-Engaged Research Graduate Practicum
  • PSYC7063: Program Evaluation and Policy Analysis I
  • PSYC7064: Program Evaluation and Policy Analysis II
  • ORGL8010: Organization Development and Change
  • ORGL8029:  Individual Behavior for Organizations
  • ORGL8084:  Diversity in the Workplace
  • ORGL8090:  Strategic Leadership
  • BE9063: Participatory Methods in Community-Engaged Research
  • MGMT9026: Research Methods
  • MGMT9011: Seminar in Organizational Behavior
  • EDST7045: Community-Based Participatory Research
  • EDST8056: Developing and Improving Interview Design and Technique
  • EDST8021: Action Research I
  • EDST8022: Action Research II
  • EDST7093: Learning, Working & Thriving in Groups

** Strongly recommended for students focusing in either organizational or community psychology.

Note that in addition to fulfilling Specialty Area courses, the preceding classes can be used toward the completion of various Graduate Certificates offered within and outside of A&S, including the Graduate Certificate in Community-Engaged Research for Health offered by the Department of Psychology in partnership with the College of Medicine.  

In addition to coursework requirements within the emphasis area, CORA students will be able to fulfill the requirement for attending a 1-credit seminar, journal club, or the equivalent in the emphasis area in Years 1 and 2 of their program by attending colloquia, brown bags or presentations arranged by or featuring CORA or affiliate faculty.

Core Faculty

Core faculty members affiliated with the CORA program include Drs. Jacquez, Dutt, Furst-Holloway, Chrobot-Mason, and Trott. 

Partnerships

CORA faculty are collaborative partners with organizations across campus, the region, the country, and internationally who share our vision to promote equity and social justice. We collaborate with for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, government agencies, and IHEs on research projects, student internships and applied projects, workshops and training, and other partnerships intended to generate and disseminate research findings with the goal to create social change. Examples of such partnerships include:

For questions, please contact Dr. Stacie Furst-Holloway, Director of CORA, at stacie.furst-holloway@uc.edu or 513-556-0176.