An intermediate-level course focusing on a topic or sub-discipline within psychology. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic differs.
An in-depth examination of one to several selected topics within the realm of cognitive psychology. The particular topic(s) may vary across semesters, and may range from more traditionally studied aspects of cognition such as attention, perception, language, memory, problem-solving, reasoning, and decision-making to more contemporary topics and applications that integrate across these areas such as the cognitive psychology of beliefs, moral reasoning, and/or social change. Consideration is given to theoretical and methodological issues, empirical approaches and evidence, and practical applications. Includes a laboratory that engages students in designing and conducting studies to answer empirical questions concerning the focal topic(s) of the course.
An in-depth examination of one to several selected topics within the realm of cognitive psychology. The particular topic(s) may vary across semesters, and may range from more traditionally studied aspects of cognition such as attention, perception, language, memory, problem-solving, reasoning, and decision-making to more contemporary topics and applications that integrate across these areas such as the cognitive psychology of beliefs, moral reasoning, and/or social change. Consideration is given to theoretical and methodological issues, empirical approaches and evidence, and practical applications. Includes a laboratory that engages students in designing and conducting studies to answer empirical questions concerning the focal topic(s) of the course.
This course will be an examination of gender differences and similarities in behavior, major theories of gender, and the role that gender plays in interacting with others. Students will design, implement, analyze, and present original research in the area of gender.
This course will be an examination of gender differences and similarities in behavior, major theories of gender, and the role that gender plays in interacting with others. Students will design, implement, analyze, and present original research in the area of gender.
This course explores the psychological study of religion and spirituality as a science and examines the multifaceted ways religions impact meaning-making and identity in everyday life. Various psychological schools of thought related to the experience and practice of religion and spirituality are considered, and psychological theories involving religious beliefs, practices, and experiences are explored from an empirical and data-informed perspective. This course also engages the dialogue between psychology and religion regarding the human condition and culture.
An exploration of Latinx Psychology with a specific focus on the United States. Themes and issues relevant to and impacting upon Latinx Psychology including cultural strengths, identity, immigration, acculturation, colonialism, prejudice/stereotype, intersectionality, and mental health will be studied through first-person accounts, media, and scientific literature.
A study of the major conceptual approaches that are adopted as clinicians assess, define, and conduct clinical interventions. Topics addressed include the nature of the client-therapist relationship, results from empirical investigation of therapeutic outcomes, ethical dilemmas faced in clinical practice and research, and problems peculiar to subspecialties such as forensic psychology and community psychology.
An examination of current scientific study of consciousness and the cognitive unconscious, including neural correlates of conscious actions, the emergence of consciousness in evolution, and related topics. The course emphasizes how scientific results inform understanding of the mind-body problem, the tenability of competing philosophical and neurobiological approaches to consciousness, the extent to which methods of psychology and neuroscience can provide new insights into the nature of consciousness, and how these issues take on a new form in the philosophy of artificial intelligence.
Selected topics in psychology, typically incorporating relevant primary literature. Prerequisites vary by topic.
Selected topics in psychology, typically incorporating relevant primary literature. Prerequisites vary by topic.
Religious Studies
Through the lens of sociology of religion, this course examines contemporary religious and social movements and kin-formation in a time of climate-change disruption such as Mormon family prepping, eco-poetics, dominionism, eco-communalism, survivalist culture, climate migration, and Extinction Rebellion. In what ways are the social, political, and economic reverberations of climate breakdown affecting the social imaginary? In light of ongoing perturbations of Earth-system stability, how are notions and practices of kinship and communal belonging being reconfigured?
Introduces and explores new religious movements, sectarian spin-offs, and alternative communities in the U.S. that have tested the parameters of acceptable "religion" at different moments in history. Particular attention is given to intersectional dynamics. The class questions the politics and practices of labeling, especially the language of "cults," and centers on specific historical case studies in order to illustrate and analyze major theoretical and methodological challenges in and for the study of religion(s). It considers what draws people to create and join new religious movements, the distinctive worlds such groups endeavor to build, and the controversies that have historically attended them.
This seminar examines the history and methodological development of the discipline of religious studies. After surveying the discipline's inception in textual studies in the late Enlightenment period, the course examines its connections to earlier theological traditions, and the branching out into sociological, hermeneutical, and phenomenological approaches in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The seminar aims to acquaint junior majors with the complexities involved in studying religious phenomena, as well as with the categories and frameworks that constitute the contemporary multi-disciplinary field of religious studies.
A study of “religious freedom” discourse, its histories, and political consequences. Readings emphasize case law in the U.S., though with an eye to its comparative context, as well as the theoretical and methodological questions that studies of “religious freedom” offer the broader study of religion.
Rhetoric
Study of the principles, precepts, and strategies of informative, persuasive, and ceremonial speaking. Emphasis is placed on assessing the rhetorical situation and researching, composing, practicing, and delivering a speech. Ethical, political, and social questions raised by speaking in public are considered. Students deliver speeches, practice effective listening, and serve as speech critics and interlocutors.
Study of the principles, precepts, and strategies of informative, persuasive, and ceremonial speaking. Emphasis is placed on assessing the rhetorical situation and researching, composing, practicing, and delivering a speech. Ethical, political, and social questions raised by speaking in public are considered. Students deliver speeches, practice effective listening, and serve as speech critics and interlocutors.
Topical survey of the major questions and controversies in rhetorical theory, criticism, and practice, including rhetorical situations, classical canons of rhetoric, the role of rhetoric in civic life, and the relationship of rhetoric to power, politics, law, education, and ethics. Students consider the rights and responsibilities of speakers and critics. Accordingly, readings include selections from a wide array of rhetorical theorists and critics as well as a diverse and open canon of orators and speakers.
An examination of the history and criticism of American women's oratory and the history of women's public discourse in the United States from the colonial period through the present. Considers the historical, social, and cultural significance of women's rhetorical participation in civic life, as well as issues of authority, reception, and the nature of argument both within and about women's public address.
The seminar is designed to prepare and guide senior Rhetoric majors in the preparation of their senior theses. Weekly class meetings will be devoted to various topics related to their projects, including theoretical and practical problems of research, interpretation, analysis, scholarly writing and speaking, and the forms and standards of documentation and citation. Students will prepare and submit regular written and spoken assignments and read and critique each other’s work. They will deliver a final oral presentation of their completed project.