Psychology

How do infants navigate their world? How do factors as diverse as genetics, socioeconomic status, social networks, mindfulness practices, and access to open spaces contribute to how people cope with the problems of living? How do technology, architecture, language, and cultural practices affect how we think? What accounts for the global epidemic of mental health issues? What has psychology contributed to understanding genocide and torture? In what ways can psychologists illuminate the mystery of the creative process in science and art? How does morality develop? What factors determine our political, economic, and moral decisions? What happens in mind and body as we experience emotions? These reflect just a few of the questions discussed in our psychology courses, a sampling of the broad range covered in the psychology curriculum.

We offer courses from the domains of biological, clinical, cognitive, community, cultural, developmental, educational, experimental, health, personality, and social psychology. Our courses emphasize the interplay of theory and observation, research and analysis, understanding and applications. Our courses are also inherently interdisciplinary, making connections between psychology and other fields such as biology, anthropology, education, linguistics, public policy, public health, women’s studies, philosophy, and the arts. Students have a variety of choices as they design their independent conference work.

Some conference projects consist of reviewing and analyzing the primary research literature on a topic of interest. Others make experiential learning central to the independent work. We will offer these as they become available over the course of the 2023-2024 academic year. ​ Opportunities open to students include: assisting at our Early Childhood Center, in local schools, or at clinics; planning and carrying out original research in one of three psychology lab spaces on campus (the Child Study Lab, the Cognition and Emotion Lab, and the Adult Experimental Psychology Lab); working with community organizations in Yonkers, NY; and participating in environmental education at our Center for the Urban River at Beczak (CURB).

Ideas and skills developed in class and in conference often play a formative role in the intellectual and professional trajectories of students who go on to pursue these ideas in a wide range of fields, including clinical and research psychology, education, medicine, law, the arts, social work, human rights, and politics. Our alums tell us that the seminar and independent conference work here prepared them well for the challenges of both graduate school and their careers.

The college has two psychology-related graduate programs—Art of Teaching and Child Development—which offer the possibility for our undergraduate students to pursue both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees in five years of study. The College also offers a dual-degree program with New York University’s Silver School of Social Work, allowing Sarah Lawrence undergraduates to obtain a BA, a Master of Social Work, and an MA in Child Development in six years.

Psychology 2023-2024 Courses

First-Year Studies: The Senses: Art and Science

FYS—Year | 10 credits

The perceiving mind is an incarnated mind. —Maurice Merleau-Ponty, 1964

Sensory perception is a vital component of the creation and experience of artistic works of all types. In psychology and neuroscience, the investigation of sensory systems has been foundational for our developing understanding of brains, minds, and bodies. Recent work in brain science has moved us beyond the Aristotelian notion of five discrete senses to a view of the senses as more various and interconnected—with each other and with the fundamental psychological processes of perception, attention, emotion, memory, imagination, and judgment. What we call “taste” is a multisensory construction of “flavor” that relies heavily on smell, vision, and touch (mouth feel); “vision” refers to a set of semi-independent streams that specialize in the processing of color, object identity, or spatial layout and movement; “touch” encompasses a complex system of responses to different types of contact with the largest sensory organ—the skin; and “hearing” includes aspects of perception that are thought to be quintessentially human—music and language. Many other sensations are not covered by the standard five: the sense of balance, of body position (proprioception), feelings of pain arising from within the body, and feelings of heat or cold. Perceptual psychologists have suggested that the total count is closer to 17 than five. We will investigate all of these senses, their interactions with each other and their intimate relationships with human emotion, memory, and imagination. Some of the questions that we will address are: Why are smells such potent memory triggers? What can visual art tell us about how the brain works, and vice versa? Why is a caregiver’s touch so vital for psychological development? Why do foods that taste sublime to some people evoke feelings of disgust in others? Do humans have a poor sense of smell? Why does the word “feeling” refer to both bodily sensations and emotions? What makes a song “catchy” or “sticky”? Can humans learn to echolocate like bats? What is the role of body perception in mindfulness meditation? This is a good course for artists who like to think about science and for scientists with a feeling for art. This is a collaborative course, with small-group meetings held weekly in addition to the individual conference meetings held every other week. The main small-group collaborative activity is a sensory lab in which students will have the opportunity to explore their own sensory perceptions in a systematic way, investigating how they relate to language, memory, and emotion. Other group activities include mindful movement and other meditation practices for stress relief and emotional regulation, as well as occasional museum visits if these can be done safely.

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The Social Psychology of Immigration

FYS—Year | 10 credits

Immigration is a worldwide phenomenon, whereby people move into another nation with the intention of making a life for themselves and/or residing there either temporarily or permanently. This course introduces a social psychological approach to our understanding of phenomena related to immigration in our society. While anchored in a multidisciplinary perspective, we will focus on the role of social psychology in understanding the processes associated with our conceptualizations of immigration and immigrants. From a brief historical review, including recent contentious narratives of such “history,” we will explore various theoretical perspectives on immigration and analyze this major societal challenge of the 21st century. We will look at how immigration affects identification. What are the consequences of intergroup attitudes and stereotypes? What shapes the psychological experience of immigrants as well as the impacts of immigration on the host population? We will conclude with a focus on the lives of undocumented citizens, trying to understand the processes through which “illegality” is constructed.

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Introduction to Social Psychology

Open, Lecture—Year | 10 credits

This lecture course introduces students to the key ideas of social psychology. We will examine the social dimensions underlying the cognitive existence of individuals by reviewing some theories, methodologies, and key findings of social psychology. We will look at human relations at various levels, with a primary focus on the tension between the individual and society. For this purpose, we will compare different theoretical perspectives (cognitive, interpersonal, and cultural). In the first part of the lecture, we will review micro-social phenomena. We will first look at cognitive constructs involved in our understanding of the world, notably the concept of attitudes. Then, we will explore the role of unconscious processes in our interpretations and explanations of the social world. At this point, we shall take a closer look at individuals as social “cognizers” to see how humans elaborate causes to explain the behavior of others and their own behavior, as well as events occurring in their social world. In the second part, we will examine the macro-social phenomena. We will look more specifically at the tensions between the individual and the social, beginning with how individuals manifest themselves in crowd behavior. We will then analyze the defining characteristics of groups to understand the psychological transformations required to become a member of, or to be defined as, a group. Finally, we will conclude with an examination of the processes of influence involved when individuals are in the presence of one another. 

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The Origins of Language: What Babies, Other Animals, and Machines Can Tell Us

Open, Lecture—Fall | 5 credits

Why is communication so important to us? We appear to understand messages from one another despite uncertainty, distraction, and ever-changing environments. Within milliseconds, we are often able to formulate a relevant response. In this course, we will consider central questions about communication: Are we the only ones who do it? When did we learn it? What does artificial intelligence (AI) like ChatGPT actually learn? And, what exactly is the point of so-called “small talk”? In this cognitive psychology course, we will start with an introduction to comparative research with animals, allowing us to consider other forms of communication. Next, we’ll turn to our own species, examining what findings from studies with babies and children can tell us about the nature and goals of communication. Finally, we’ll confront the “artificial elephant” in the room: neural networks. What kind of language have they learned, and how can we study it? In class, we will discuss the benefits and consequences of AI. Students should come prepared to engage with the topic of communication from multiple perspectives, including psychological, quantitative, and humanistic. Through small-group conferences each week, students will develop projects that relate the course to their collective interests, such as learning and communicating in Toki Pona (a philosophical artistic-constructed language), hosting a campus debate on the ethical consequences of artificial-language models, observing and analyzing children’s communication at the Early Childhood Center, or designing a behavioral intervention study that implements nonviolent communication practices.

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Psychology of Children’s Television

Open, Lecture—Fall | 5 credits

This course analyzes children’s media, specifically preschool media through middle school, using cognitive and developmental psychology theory and methods. We will examine specific educational television programs with regard to cognitive and social developmental issues related to family life, peer relationships, and education issues. Because media has an enormous impact on children’s behavior, this has increasingly become a subject of interest among researchers and the public. This course addresses that interest by applying cognitive and developmental psychological research and theories for the development and production of educational media. In addition, the course helps identify essential elements that determine the positive and negative qualities of media for children. Finally, the course examines and evaluates how psychological theories and frameworks can guide the successful production of children’s media (e.g., social cognitive theory). Projects and assignments will include weekly class discussions on peer-reviewed journal articles, watching television programs, group preschool television pitchbook preparation, child observations interacting with screens, and media artifact critiques as assigned.

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Sex Is Not a Natural Act: Social Science Explorations of Human Sexuality

Open, Lecture—Fall | 5 credits

When is sex NOT a natural act? Every time a human engages in sexual activity. In sex, what is done by whom, with whom, where, when, why, and with what has very little to do with biology. Human sexuality poses a significant challenge in theory. The study of its disparate elements (biological, social, and individual/psychological) is inherently an interdisciplinary undertaking; from anthropologists to zoologists, all add something to our understanding of sexual behaviors and meanings. In this class, we will study sexualities in social contexts across the lifespan, from infancy to old age. Within each period, we will examine biological, social, and psychological factors that inform the experience of sexuality for individuals. We will also examine broader aspects of sexuality, including sexual health and sexual abuse. Conference projects may range from empirical research to a bibliographic research project. Service learning may also be supported in this class.

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Finding Happiness and Keeping It: Insights From Psychology and Neuroscience

Open, Lecture—Fall | 5 credits

We must make automatic and habitual, as early as possible, as many useful actions as we can and guard against the growing into ways that are likely to be disadvantageous to us, as we should guard against the plague. —William James, 1887, Habit

We all want happy lives filled with meaning and satisfaction. Yet, for many of us, happiness can be difficult to obtain with regularity or to sustain over a long period of time. Happiness is more than a feeling; rather, it is a state of well-being that should last a lifetime. Like exercising to improve physical health, it takes sustained cognitive effort to improve our mental health and engage in practices to promote well-being. We can look to evidence from the fields of psychology and neuroscience that tells us that we are mentally unprepared to: (1) predict what will make us happy, and (2) engage in behaviors that are known to make us happier. In this course, we will cover the psychological and brain-based factors for why happiness feels so fleeting and what we can do to build better and more effective habits that have been shown to lead to longer-term maintenance of a positive mood and well-being. Students will read foundational work in the field of positive psychology by Martin Seligman, Sonja Lyubomirsky, Edward Diener, Daniel Kahneman, and others. We will also discuss studies in neuroscience that show how behavioral interventions in positive psychology can impact the brain’s structure and function—just like building stronger muscles during exercise. Through small-group conferences, students will apply evidence-based practices—such as bringing order and organization to their daily lives, expressing gratitude, and building social bonds (i.e., “cross training” for the mind) in activities called “Rewirements.” For the final project, called “Unlearning Yourself,” students will learn to undo or replace a detrimental habit (e.g., overspending, social-media use, poor sleep hygiene, complaining, procrastinating) by establishing a plan to cultivate evidence-based practices for sustained well-being. By the end of this course, students will have gained the ability to sift through the ever-booming literature on positive psychology and neuroscience to identify the practices that work best for them, along with an appreciation for the notion that finding and keeping happiness and well-being requires intentional practice and maintenance. Students should come prepared to engage in meaningful self-work.

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Art and Visual Perception

Open, Small Lecture—Spring | 5 credits

Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak. —John Berger

Psychologists and neuroscientists have long been interested in measuring and explaining the phenomena of visual perception. In this course, we will study how the visual brain encodes basic aspects of perception—such as color, form, depth, motion, shape, and space—and how they are organized into coherent percepts, or gestalts. Our main goal will be to explore how the study of visual neuroscience and art can inform each other. One of our guides in these explorations will be the groundbreaking gestalt psychologist Rudolf Arnheim, who was a pioneer in the psychology of art. The more recent and equally innovative text by the neuroscientist Eric Kandel, Reductionism in Art and Brain Science, will provide our entry into the subject of neuroaesthetics. Throughout our visual journey, we will seek connections between perceptual phenomena and what is known about brain processing of visual information. This is a course for people who enjoy reflecting on why we see things as we do. It should hold particular interest for students of the visual arts who are curious about scientific explanations of the phenomena that they explore in their art, as well as students of the brain who want to study an application of visual neuroscience. The course format is a small lecture (30 people), with one lecture and one small seminar (10 people) every week.

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Technology and Human Development

Open, Lecture—Spring | 5 credits

All of us today grow up in a technology-rich environment, which is not only different from the one we grew up in but also is still changing and evolving rapidly. The course examines the use and design of an array of educational technologies (computer programs, multimedia software, television, video games, websites, and so on) from the perspective of basic research and theory in the human cognitive system, development psychology, and social development areas. The course aims to provide a framework for reasoning about the most developmentally appropriate uses of technologies for children and young adults at different ages. Some of the significant questions we will focus on include: How are their developmental experiences affected by these technologies? What are the advantages and disadvantages for children using technology, especially for learning? In this class, we will try to touch upon these issues by reading classic literature, researching articles, playing games, watching programs, using apps, and discussing our experiences. Projects and assignments will include weekly class discussions on peer-reviewed journal articles and media artifact critiques written by individual students and through group project work.

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Intersectionality Research Seminar

Intermediate/Advanced, Seminar—Year | 10 credits

Prerequisite: two or more courses in the social sciences and /or psychology

This class is a hands-on introduction to conducting qualitative and quantitative psychological research on the intersection of race/ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. Although research is an indispensable part of scientific endeavors, the conduct of research itself is part scientific ritual and part art form. In this class, we will learn both the science and the art of conducting ethical research with diverse participants. What is the connection of race, sexuality, and gender within an American multicultural and multiethnic society? Is there a coherent, distinct, and continuous self existing within our postmodern, paradigmatic, etc. contexts? How is the sexual/racial/gendered implicated in the creation of this self-identity? Is there principled dynamic or developmental change in our concepts of self as human beings, sexual beings, and/or racial/ethnic beings? This course explores the analysis of race, ethnicity, and sexualities within psychology and the broader social sciences; how those constructs implicitly and explicitly inform psychological inquiry; and the effects of those constructs on the “psychology” of the individual in context. The course regularly moves beyond psychology to take a broader, social-science perspective on the issue of intersectionality.

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Culture and Mental Health

Open, Seminar—Fall | 5 credits

This interdisciplinary psychology and anthropology seminar will address mental health in diverse cultural contexts, drawing upon a range of case studies to illuminate the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, course, and treatment of mental illness across the globe. We open the course by exploring questions of the classification of mental illness to address whether Western psychiatric categories apply across different local contexts. We explore the globalization of American understandings of the psyche, the exportation of Western mental disorders, and the impact of psychiatric imperialism in places like Sri Lanka, Zanzibar, Oaxaca, and Japan. Through our readings of peer-reviewed articles and current research in cultural psychology, clinical psychology, and psychological, psychiatric, and medical anthropology, we explore conditions such as depression and anxiety, schizophrenia, autism, susto, and mal de ojo in order to understand the entanglements of psychological experience, culture, morality, sociality, and care. We explore how diagnostic processes and psychiatric care are, at times, differentially applied in the United States according to clients’ race/ethnicity, class, and gender. Finally, we explore the complexities of recovery or healing, addressing puzzles such as why certain mental disorders considered to be lifelong, chronic, and severe in some parts of the world are interpreted as temporary, fleeting, and manageable elsewhere—and how such expectations influence people’s ability to experience wellness or (re-)integration into family, work, and society. Several of our key authors will join us as invited guest speakers to talk about their current work. Students will conduct conference projects related to the central topics of our course.

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Food Environments, Health, and Social Justice

Open, Seminar—Fall | 5 credits

The role of the environment is well recognized in shaping food-related health outcomes, especially among vulnerable populations. This course will take an interdisciplinary approach and introduce students to food-environment research in environmental psychology, geography, and public health. Utilizing social justice and antiracist lenses, this course takes a participatory approach to investigating some of the key issues guiding this area of research and action. Students will critically review literature on food environments, food security, and health inequalities and explore how modes of food production and distribution shape patterns of food availability in cities. Students will use photography and video to examine foods available in the neighborhoods where they spend time. They will also review media related to course themes in order to reflect on the ways that their own eating habits are influenced by the social and material settings of their day-to-day lives. The course concludes with students writing letters to the editor/op-eds to a news outlet of their choice, with suggestions about how to move forward with action to improve food security, public health, and social justice.

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Social Development

Intermediate, Seminar—Fall | 5 credits

Prerequisite: prior course in psychology

Some of the most interesting and important pieces of knowledge that a child will ever learn are not taught in school. So it is with the child’s social world. Unlike “reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic,” there is no “Social Thinking and Behaving 101” for young children. Further, by the time children reach school age, they have already spent years learning the “lessons of life” and affecting those around them. This course will explore the social world of the child from birth through adolescence, focusing upon three main areas: parent-child relations, gender-role development, and moral development. Within parenting, we will examine issues such as different parenting “styles,” the long-term consequences of divorce, and the “hurrying” of children to achieve major milestones at ever-earlier ages. Within the topic of gender-role development, we will read about the role of powerful socialization forces, including the mass media, and the socialization pressures that children place upon themselves and each other. Within moral development, we will study the growth of moral emotions—such as empathy, shame, and guilt—and the role of gender and culture in shaping our sense of right and wrong. Conference work may include field placement at the Early Childhood Center or other venues, as interactions with real children will be encouraged.

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Perspectives on the Creative Process

Intermediate, Seminar—Fall | 5 credits

Prerequisite: prior course in psychology, social science, or philosophy

The creative process is paradoxical. It involves freedom and spontaneity yet requires expertise and hard work. The creative process is self-expressive yet tends to unfold most easily when the creator forgets about self. The creative process brings joy yet is fraught with fear, frustration, and even terror.The creative process is its own reward yet depends on social support and encouragement. In this class, we look at how various thinkers conceptualize the creative process—chiefly in the arts but in other domains, as well. We see how various psychological theorists describe the process, its source, its motivation, its roots in a particular domain or skill, its cultural context, and its developmental history in the life of the individual. Among the thinkers that we will consider are Freud, Jung, Arnheim, Franklin, and Gardner. Different theorists emphasize different aspects of the process. In particular, we see how some thinkers emphasize persistent work and expert knowledge as essential features, while others emphasize the need for the psychic freedom to “let it happen” and speculate on what emerges when the creative person “lets go.” Still others identify cultural context or biological factors as critical. To concretize theoretical approaches, we look at how various ideas can contribute to understanding specific creative people and their work. In particular, we will consider works written by or about Picasso, Woolf, Welty, Darwin, and some contemporary artists and writers. Though creativity is most frequently explored in individuals, we also consider group improvisation in music and theatre. Some past conference projects have involved interviewing people engaged in creative work. Others consisted of library studies centering on the life and work of a particular creative person. And some students chose to do fieldwork at the Early Childhood Center and focus on an aspect of creative activity in young children.

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Concepts of the Mind: How Language and Culture Challenge Cognitive Science

Intermediate, Seminar—Fall | 5 credits

Prerequisite: completion of a social or natural science course

How does the human mind represent the world? And how do these representations vary across people? Could knowing a different language change how we experience time or even how we see color? Even seemingly simple concepts like “in” vs. “on” mean different things in different cultures, and words like “one” and “two” may not be linguistically universal. Indeed, the very course description that you are reading makes culturally-specific assumptions about psychology and implicitly assumes objectivity. At the same time, humans seem to share certain core experiences, such as perceiving events, creating categories, and recalling the past. Which aspects are shared, and which are unique? In this course, we will draw on research from psycholinguistics, cognitive development, and cultural psychology to learn cognitive science in a larger context. Critically, we will consider how each of those fields have been severely constrained by an emphasis on white, Western, industrialized experiences. We will investigate the broader social and ethical consequences of these assumptions and explore insights and challenges that emerge when we step out of this limited perspective. We’ll draw on primary and secondary sources, including research articles, literature, videos, raw experimental data, and audio recordings. Students will develop projects in conference work that combine their interests with the course content, such as designing an experiment to test cross-linguistic differences in visual attention, analyzing vocabulary from languages other than English, or replicating and reinterpreting an existing experiment using culturally-responsive practices.

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Speaking the Unspeakable: Trauma, Emotion, Cognition, and Language

Intermediate, Seminar—Fall | 5 credits

Prerequisite: prior college-level course work in psychology

Psychological trauma has been described as unspeakable—so cognitively disorganizing and intense that it is difficult to put into words the experience and the emotions that it evokes. Yet, the language that survivors use to describe their traumas provides insight into the impact of trauma and the process of recovery. This course will begin with an overview of theories of trauma, resilience, and post-traumatic growth, as well as an introduction to the study of trauma narratives and how language reflects emotional and cognitive functioning. We will then explore different aspects of the cognitive, emotional, and biological impact of undergoing a trauma and how these changes are reflected in the language that trauma survivors use as they speak and write about their experiences. We will consider works by experts on trauma and language, including Judith Herman, Bessel van der Kolk, and James Pennebaker, as well as current research in the field of trauma and trauma narratives. Through these readings, we will address topics such as what makes an experience traumatic, how representations of trauma in popular culture color our perceptions of trauma and recovery, the role of resilience and growth following a trauma, and what we can learn from attending to the content and structure of language. This course will be of interest to students who are curious about how the words we use reflect our cognitive and emotional functioning, especially for students interested in pursuing topics such as these at an advanced or graduate level.

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Mind-Body Interactions: Psychoneuroimmunology

Intermediate, Seminar—Fall | 5 credits

Prerequisite: prior college-level course work in psychology and biology

Why do we tend to get sick more often when we feel tired or stressed? Can feeling happy reduce the time it takes to heal from physical injuries? How does acute (short-term) and chronic (long-term) illness impact the ways we navigate the world (our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and interactions with others)? This semester, we will address these and other questions by examining the intricate and bidirectional connection between the brain and the body through the lens of the immune system. We will consider how adverse emotional states that are triggered by daily stressors, trauma, mental-health disorders, and social determinants of health (e.g., loneliness, social comparison, bullying, and marginalization/discrimination) can impact our physical health and well-being. We will conversely examine the ways in which managing stress, experiencing positive emotions, cultivating warm and positive relationships, and striving for equity and social justice serve as essential “buffers” against acute and chronic stress and poor health outcomes. Emerging evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic on the ways in which our psychological states influence our immunity, and vice-versa, will also be discussed. Throughout the semester, in seminar and through conference work, students will also learn about the relevant methodologies that are used to study the connection of and between the brain, mind, and immune system. This course is recommended for students who are seeking specialized training in preparation for postgraduate studies in psychology, neuroscience, public health, public policy, and medical school, as well as for any student with a genuine curiosity to learn more about how the mind and body are deeply and intricately intertwined. It is recommended, but not required, that students take this course in conjunction with the spring semester, intermediate-level seminar offering on psychoneuroendocrinology.

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Psychology Advanced Research Seminar

Intermediate/Advanced, Seminar—Fall | 3 credits

Prerequisite: Previous coursework in psychology

In this research seminar, students will gain valuable experience through a weekly seminar meeting focused on research methods, research ethics, and contemporary research questions and approaches; a weekly lab meeting with one of the faculty members leading the research seminar; and individual and group conference meetings with faculty supervisors on a regular, as-needed basis. The seminar component will include readings on, and discussions of, research methods and ethics—both broad and specific to the research in which students are involved—as well as the discussion of contemporary research articles that are relevant to student and faculty research projects. All faculty and students involved in the research experience will take turns leading the discussion of current research, with faculty taking the lead at the beginning of the semester and students taking the lead as their expertise develops. Weekly lab meetings will also involve reading and discussing research articles and research-methods papers specific to the topics of research being undertaken by each student and faculty member. Students will be expected to learn the current research approaches being employed by their supervising faculty member, contribute toward ongoing research in the form of a research practicum, and develop and implement their own independent research projects within the labs in which they are working. Faculty supervising each lab will also be available to meet with students, both individually and in small groups, on an ongoing basis—as needed and at least every other week—in addition to the regular weekly, hour-long lab meeting. Students participating in the Psychology Advanced Research Seminar will be expected to attend and actively participate in weekly full-group seminars, weekly lab meetings, and regular (typically, at least biweekly) individual and group conference meetings; keep an ongoing journal and/or scientific lab notebook; select and facilitate group and lab discussions of relevant contemporary research articles (at least once for each meeting type); work at least 5 hours within a lab and/or community setting, as appropriate for their projects; contribute toward ongoing research and practice within their lab or community settings; develop, implement, and report on (in the form of a short paper prepared for possible publication and a poster at the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Poster Session) an independent research project; and provide their colleagues with ongoing verbal and written feedback on their projects.

 

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The Power and Meanings of Play in Children’s Lives

Intermediate/Advanced, Seminar—Fall | 5 credits

Prerequisite: prior college-level course in psychology

Play provides us with an amazing and informative lens for observing the development and complex inner lives of young children. Yet, play is being threatened by increasing amounts of time spent on technology and a growing societal focus on scheduled activities and academic goals. This course will offer an introduction to the many fascinating aspects of play, including the importance of unstructured free play, how play shapes the brain, sensory processing and self-regulation in play, outdoor play, cultural contexts of play, and humor development in play. Through readings, video illustrations, and discussion of student fieldwork at the Early Childhood Center, we will explore the many ways in which play contributes to the complex social, cognitive, emotional, and imaginative lives of children. This course will provide a foundation for the spring course, Early Intervention Approaches for Young Children and Families.

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The Stories We Could Tell: Theatre Through Memory

Open, Small seminar—Spring | 5 credits

All stories can enlighten us, all can transform the listener, and all can allow the storyteller to see and experience things that they have forgotten. The stories we could tell are limitless. In this course, 8-10 students will be trained in improvisational exercises used for building community and narrative storytelling. They will begin the course practicing and learning the varied theories connected to the work of community and social practice programs and Theatre of the Oppressed. Once the students feel comfortable using the exercises, we will spend one afternoon a week visiting and discovering the stories of the residents of the senior low-income housing and assisted-living communities at Wartburg Rehabilitation Center in Yonkers. We will listen to, invest in, and develop the stories from the lives of the residents. Some stories will be dramatic reflections of their life events; others will be simple adventures of everyday existence. Students do not need any background in theatre, just a desire to connect to the Wartburg culture and explore memory through storytelling. As we gather these stories, we will develop a theatre project with and for the residents. The goal of the collaboration is to motivate, expand, and create more vivid memories in us all.

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How Humans Learn Language

Open, Seminar—Spring | 5 credits

By the time you read this course description, you have likely learned more than 40,000 English words. That’s at least an average of six words per day—and many more if you are multilingual. How is this possible? This course is about how humans come to learn language so early and so quickly among striking environmental variation. For example, caregivers in the United States often alter and repeat their words when talking to children, while caregivers in a Tseltal Mayan community rarely talk to children at all. And yet, children in both settings successfully learn language on similar timescales. At the same time, no two children are alike. We will explore how the spectrum of neurodiversity sets many children on their own communicative path. We will also consider variation in modality: Babies in deaf communities rapidly learn to comprehend and produce sign. What kind of learning mechanism could operate under such diverse inputs? Together, we’ll evaluate existing theories and try to generate our own new theories of language development. We will bring these ideas beyond the seminar room, drawing connections to second-language learning in adults, early childhood education, and social and economic policy. Students will develop conference projects that relate frameworks and findings from language-learning research to their own developing interests, such as observing how children innovate language at the Early Childhood Center, designing structured interviews to compare the grammatical knowledge of children to artificial neural networks (such as ChatGPT) or conducting a meta-review on the effects of early-childhood programs such as Head Start.

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The Social Ecology of Caregiving

Open, Seminar—Spring | 5 credits

Care and caregiving are aspects of daily life that each of us depend upon at various times throughout our lives. Yet, care remains hidden and devalued in our current sociopolitical climate in which women continue to provide a majority of care. In this course, we will look at care, both as an orientation and as an activity provided by family and friends to people with disabilities and older adults. Utilizing Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory as a framework, we will explore the multilevel experiences of family caregivers. Specifically, we will focus on caregiving triads—for example, caregivers in all their diversity, as well as paid caregivers and care receivers living with a variety of chronic illnesses. This course will take an interdisciplinary approach and introduce students to the various literature on family caregiving. From psychology to public health, we will consider care as a reciprocal process that ebbs and flows throughout the life course. We will read from feminist theory, critical disabilities studies, psychology, and public health, as well as look at how care is portrayed in popular culture, film, and books. We will learn about multilevel interventions, such as individual and policy responses geared toward supporting family caregivers, as well as organizations and social movements that are dedicated to creating better conditions of care for all.

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Cognition Through the Lens of Neuropsychology

Open, Seminar—Spring | 5 credits

What would life be like if you grew up without a large chunk of brain tissue (your prefrontal cortex) located at the front of the brain that makes you “you”? Or without your amygdala, a structure buried deep in the brain that helps us learn about emotions and develop fear responses? Neuropsychology is the specific field of study that is conducted in laboratory, clinical, and forensic settings to deepen our understanding of how the brain gives rise to various aspects of perception (sight, hearing, taste, smell, etc.) and cognition (language, emotions, personality, decision making, etc.). This course will introduce students to the foundations of neuropsychology, starting with the historical arc of neuropsychology from Ancient Egypt to the present day, to appreciate that a seemingly widely accepted concept—that the brain gives rise to behavior—was, and in some cultures and groups still is, the topic of many theoretical, philosophical, and spiritual debates. We will also survey the sub-branches of neuropsychology, including clinical neuropsychology (the study of patients with brain damage and illness, as described above); experimental neuropsychology (the study of similarities/variations in behavior among “neurotypical” individuals); and comparative neuropsychology (studies across different species). Insights from patients with brain injuries and illnesses—including individuals studied by leading researchers and physicians in the field such as Paul Broca, Carl Wernicke, Brenda Milner, Antonio Damasio, Oliver Sacks, Lesley Fellows, and others—have, by far, generated the clearest inroads to understanding how the brain works. Throughout the course, students will also explore experimental tools and methods that are still being used today to plumb the depths of the human brain’s most essential functions.

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Children’s Literature: Psychological and Literary Perspectives

Sophomore and Above, Seminar—Spring | 5 credits

Children’s books are an important bridge between adults and the world of children. What makes a children’s book attractive and developmentally appropriate for a child of a particular age? What is important to children as they read or listen? How do children become readers? How do picture-book illustrations complement the words? How can children’s books portray the uniqueness of a particular culture or subculture, allowing those within to see their experience reflected in books and those outside to gain insight into the lives of others? To what extent can books transcend the particularities of a given period and place? Course readings include writings about child development, works about children’s literature, and, most centrally, children’s books themselves—picture books, fairy tales, and novels for children. Class emphasis will be on books for children up to the age of about 12. Among our children’s book authors will be Margaret Wise Brown, C. S. Lewis, Katherine Paterson, Maurice Sendak, Matt de la Pena, Christopher Paul Curtis, E. B. White, and Vera B. Williams. Many different kinds of conference projects are appropriate for this course. In past years, for example, students have written original work for children (sometimes illustrating it, as well), traced a theme in children’s books, worked with children (and their books) in fieldwork and service-learning settings, explored children’s books that illuminate particular racial or ethnic experiences, or examined books that capture the challenge of various disabilities. At the end of each class session, we will have storytime, during which two students will share childhood favorites.

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Immigration and Identity

Intermediate, Seminar—Spring | 5 credits

Prerequisite: prior course work in psychology, anthropology, or related social science

This seminar asks how contemporary immigration shapes individual and collective identity across the life course. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach that bridges cross-cultural psychology, human development, and psychological anthropology, we will ask how people’s movement across borders and boundaries transforms their sense of self, as well as their interpersonal relations and connections to community. We will analyze how the experience of immigration is affected by the particular intersections of racial, ethnic, class, gender, generational, and other boundaries that immigrants cross. For example, how do undocumented youth navigate the constraints imposed by “illegalized” identities, and how do they come to construct new self-perceptions? How might immigrants acculturate or adapt to new environments, and how does the process of moving from home or living “in-between” two or more places impact mental health? Through our close readings and seminar discussions on this topic, we will seek to understand how different forms of power—implemented across realms, including state-sponsored surveillance and immigration enforcement, language and educational policy, health and social services—shape and constrain immigrants’ understanding of their place in the world and their experience of exclusion and belonging. In our exploration of identity, we will attend to the ways in which immigrants are left out of national narratives, as well as the ways in which people who move across borders draw on cultural resources to create spaces and practices of connection, protection, and continuity despite the disruptive effects of immigration. In tandem with our readings, we will welcome scholar-activist guest speakers, who will present their current work in the field.

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Mind-Body Interactions: Psychoneuroendocrinology

Intermediate, Seminar—Spring | 5 credits

Prerequisite: prior college-level course work in psychology and biology

We navigate complex social interactions, often unaware of the role that our hormones play in shaping these experiences; nor do we often appreciate the subtle ways that our behaviors can alter our hormones. Through an exploration of the intricate and bidirectional connection between the brain and the body, we will cover the primary functions of specific hormones (e.g., cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, oxytocin, vasopressin); the ways in which hormones can affect social behaviors; and, conversely, the effect that our behaviors and social environments have on hormone release. As part of this work, we will cover a basic overview of the endocrine system; methods for measuring hormones; and the topics of aggression, bonding, trust/empathy, social threat, loneliness, discrimination, and mating/reproduction. Through seminar and conference work, students will apply this knowledge to infer how these interactions between the mind and the body can impact long-term health outcomes under specific social settings/conditions. This course is recommended for students who are seeking specialized training in preparation for postgraduate studies in psychology, neuroscience, public health, public policy, and medical school, as well as for any student with a genuine curiosity to learn more about how the mind and body are deeply and intricately intertwined. It is recommended, but not required, that students take this course in conjunction with the fall semester, intermediate-level seminar offering on psychoneuroimmunology.

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Bullies and Their Victims: Social and Physical Aggression in Childhood and Adolescence

Intermediate/Advanced, Seminar—Spring | 5 credits

Prerequisite: prior college-level course work in psychology

It can be the bane of our existence in childhood: the bully who simply will not leave us alone. Until fairly recently, the image that came to mind—in both the popular imagination and the world of psychological study—was that of a physically imposing and physically aggressive boy, someone who found the littlest, most defenseless boy to pick on. In recent years, however, that image has begun to change. Now we realize that the ability to harm a person’s social relationships and social “standing,” usually through the manipulation of others, can be every bit as devastating to the victim. And in this new world of social aggression, girls’ expertise has come to the fore. In this course, we will study the nature of bullies and victims—in both the physical and social sense—and the possible long-term consequences of such bullying for both the perpetrator and the picked-upon. We will explore recent evidence that bullying and victimization begin even in the preschool years, far earlier than previously thought; and we will examine some modern approaches used to break this vicious cycle, such as peer programs and interpersonal problem solving. Conference work may include field placement at the Early Childhood Center or other venues, as interactions with real children will be encouraged. 

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Psychology Advanced Research Seminar: Professional Learning and Advanced Research Methods

Intermediate/Advanced, Small seminar—Spring | 3 credits

Prerequisite: previous course work in psychology

The primary objective of this course is to provide students with additional instruction on professional learning for conducting research in psychology. This seminar will, therefore, be a useful companion to the completion of an independent research project as part of a senior thesis, research seminar, or conference project in psychology or related fields. Students may also develop their own independent research project within this course. Seminars will take place weekly and will be conducted in a workshop format that will allow students to learn about and apply various concepts in research related to open science practices, finding funding/grant writing, collecting and analyzing data, and more. Students participating in the course will also be expected to attend and actively participate in weekly lab meetings; develop an individualized training plan; keep an ongoing journal and/or scientific lab notebook; select and facilitate group and lab discussions of relevant contemporary research articles (at least once for each meeting type); work within a lab and/or community setting, as appropriate for their projects; contribute toward ongoing research and practice within their lab or community settings; develop, implement, and report on (in the form of a short paper prepared for possible publication and a poster at the SciMath Poster Session) an independent research project; and provide their colleagues with ongoing verbal and written feedback on their projects. Students will be responsible for working collaboratively with their colleagues to further develop their understanding of each of the topics covered in class. By the end of the semester, students will be more conversant on, and knowledgeable of, common practices for conducting research in psychology; their work will result in a final project report, be it a thesis, independent study, or other conference project.

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A Window Into the Growing Mind: Research Methods in Cognitive Development

Intermediate/Advanced, Seminar—Spring | 5 credits

Prerequisite: prior college-level course work in psychology and another social or natural science; a prior course in statistics recommended but not required

We have never known as much about the minds of infants and toddlers as we do now. Babies are better than adults at distinguishing faces of other races, perform spontaneous experiments with their toys, and even starting to learn language in utero. But how did we discover all of this? In this course, you will learn about classical and cutting-edge methods for studying learning and reasoning. This course will be a deep dive into multiple measures of behavior, starting with measurements of looking behaviors (e.g., real-time eye tracking, habituation paradigms, head-turn methods), reaction time measures, and naturalistic tasks and interviews with toddlers and children. We will also review the promise of neural methods (fNIRS, fMRI, psychophysiological), as well as their challenges. For each of these methods, we will explore how they shape ongoing debates about how best to design experiments, analyze data, and build inclusive theories that reflect human diversity. In the culminating project, you will design an experiment to test a novel research question, using one of our behavioral methods such as eye tracking or reaction time, and revise the proposal after peer review. During conference work, you’ll learn to use the method, implement the experiment, collect preliminary data, and present your findings in seminar. By the end of the course, you will have a strong understanding of several central research methods in psychology, your own perspective of the strengths and limitations of different approaches, and the tools to critically evaluate and communicate about published findings.

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Human Development in Context

Intermediate/Advanced, Seminar—Spring | 5 credits

Prerequisite: permission of the instructor

This course explores how people develop, influence, and shape their social settings—families, communities, and educational institutions—in childhood and in adolescence. We will focus on theories of individual and family development, the local and global dynamics of learning, and cognition and social relations across culture and society. Physical health, adverse childhood experiences, trauma, and learning are intertwined in the context of the child’s social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development and affect children’s learning and development. We will also examine the development of multiple identities (racial/ethnic, gender, social class) in young children. This interdisciplinary focus draws from current theory, research, and practice from areas as diverse as psychology, sociology, anthropology, and gender studies, among other disciplines. This class is appropriate for those interested in child development, early childhood and elementary education, special education and/or adolescent development, and secondary education.

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Making the World Go Round: Children in the Machinery of Empire

Open, Lecture—Fall

In the 1920s, a Miss Wilson presented a paper at a London conference, addressing “The Education of European Children in Contact With Primitive Races.” In her talk, she described the life of rural white settler children in Kenya growing up with African playmates and expressed her concerns about the “morally deleterious” effects of such play on these future imperial leaders. This particular case illustrates discourse about the role of privileged white children in imperial regimes; but children of diverse social classes, races, and nationalities across the globe were all implicated in processes of imperial expansion and European settler colonization over (at least) the past three centuries. What was believed about children, done to children, and required of children was central to the political and economic success of empire. In this lecture, we will examine a series of cases in order to understand the diverse roles, both intentional and unintentional, of children in colonial processes. In addition to the white sons and daughters of European settler colonists in Africa and Southeast Asia, we will look at the contrary things that were said and done about mixed-race children (and their mothers) at different historical and political moments of empire. We will learn, too, about the deployment of “orphans” in the service of empire. In the metropole, particularly British cities, orphan boys were funneled into the military and merchant navy, while children of both sexes were shipped across the globe to boost white settler populations, provide free labor, and relieve English poorhouses of the responsibility of taking care of them. The ancestors of many contemporary citizens of Canada, Australia, and South Africa were exported as children from metropolitan orphanages. We will deploy approaches from sex-gender studies, postcolonial studies, and critical race theory. Questions that we will explore include: Why did settler authorities in Australia kidnap mixed-race Indigenous children and put them in boarding schools, when such children in other colonies were expected to stay with their local mothers out of sight of the settlers? How did European ideas about climate and race frame the ways in which settler children were nursed in the Dutch East Indies? How did concepts of childhood and parental rights over children vary historically, socioeconomically, and geographically? How did metropolitan discourses about race, class, and evolution frame the treatment of indigent children at home and abroad? The sources for this class include literature, scholarly articles, ethnographic accounts, historical documents, and film. Students will attend the lecture once a week and group conference once a week.

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Culture and Mental Health

Open, Seminar—Fall

This interdisciplinary psychology and anthropology seminar will address mental health in diverse cultural contexts, drawing upon a range of case studies to illuminate the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, course, and treatment of mental illness across the globe. We open the course by exploring questions of the classification of mental illness in order to address whether Western psychiatric categories apply across different local contexts. We explore the globalization of American understandings of the psyche, the exportation of Western mental disorders, and the impact of psychiatric imperialism in places like Sri Lanka, Zanzibar, Oaxaca, and Japan. Through our readings of peer-reviewed articles and current research in cultural psychology, clinical psychology, and psychological, psychiatric, and medical anthropology, we explore conditions such as depression and anxiety, schizophrenia, autism, susto, and mal de ojo to understand the entanglements of psychological experience, culture, morality, sociality, and care. We explore how diagnostic processes and psychiatric care are, at times, differentially applied in the United States according to the client’s race/ethnicity, class, and gender. Finally, we explore the complexities of recovery or healing, addressing puzzles such as why certain mental disorders considered to be lifelong, chronic, and severe in some parts of the world are interpreted as temporary, fleeting, and manageable elsewhere—and how such expectations influence people’s ability to experience wellness or (re-)integration into family, work, and society. Several of our key authors will join us as invited guest speakers to talk about their current work. Students will conduct conference projects related to the central topics of our course.

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Anthropology and Images

Open, Seminar—Fall

Images wavered in the sunlit trim of appliances, something always moving, a brightness flying, so much to know in the world.—Don Delillo, Libra

A few cartoons lead to cataclysmic events in Europe. A photograph printed in a newspaper moves a solitary reader. A snapshot posted on the internet leads to dreams of fanciful places. Memories of a past year haunt us like ghosts. What each of these occurrences has in common is that they all entail the force of images in our lives, whether these images are visual or acoustic in nature, made by hand or machine, circulated by word of mouth, or simply imagined. In this seminar, we will consider the role that images play in the lives of people in various settings throughout the world. In delving into terrains at once actual and virtual, we will develop an understanding of how people throughout the world create, use, circulate, and perceive images and how such efforts tie into ideas and practices of sensory perception, time, memory, affect, imagination, sociality, history, politics, and personal and collective imaginings. Through these engagements, we will reflect on the fundamental human need for images, the complicated politics and ethics of images, aesthetic and cultural sensibilities, dynamics of time and memory, the intricate play between the actual and the imagined, and the circulation of digital images in an age of globalization. Readings will include a number of writings in anthropology, art history, philosophy, psychology, cultural studies, and critical theory. Images will be drawn from photographs, paintings, sculptures, drawings, films, videos, graffiti, religion, rituals, tattoos, inscriptions, novels, poems, road signs, advertisements, dreams, fantasies, phantasms, and any number of fabulations in the worlds in which we live and imagine.

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Ethnographic Writing

Sophomore and Above, Seminar—Fall

Transnational migration, human-animal relations, and American community life are but a few of the cultural realities that anthropologists have effectively studied and written about. This is no easy task, given the substantial difficulties involved in understanding and portraying the concerns, activities, and lifeworlds other than one’s own. Despite these challenges, ethnographic writing is generally considered one of the best ways to convey a nuanced and contextually rich understanding of people’s experiences in life. To gain an informed sense of the methods, challenges, and benefits of ethnographic writing, students in this course will try their hands at a concerted work of ethnographic writing. Along with undertaking a series of ethnographic writing exercises, students will be encouraged to craft a fully-realized piece of ethnographic writing that conveys something of the features and dynamics of a particular world in lively, accurate, and comprehensive terms. Along the way, and with the help of anthropological writings that are either exceptional or experimental in nature, we will collectively think through some of the most important features of the craft of ethnographic writing from the use of field notes and interviews, the interlacing of theory and data, the author’s voice in ethnographic prose, and the ethical and political responsibilities that come with any attempt to understand and portray the lives of others. This seminar will work best for students who already have a rich body of ethnographic research materials to work with, such that they can quickly delve into the intricacies of writing about their chosen subject.

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Immigration and Identity

Intermediate, Seminar—Spring

This seminar asks how contemporary immigration shapes individual and collective identity across the life course. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach that bridges cross-cultural psychology, human development, and psychological anthropology, we will ask how people’s movement across borders and boundaries transforms their sense of self, as well as their interpersonal relations and connections to community. We will analyze how the experience of immigration is affected by the particular intersections of racial, ethnic, class, gender, generational, and other boundaries that immigrants cross. For example, how do undocumented youth navigate the constraints imposed by “illegalized” identities, and how do they come to construct new self-perceptions? How might immigrants acculturate or adapt to new environments, and how does the process of moving from home or living “in between” two or more places impact mental health? Through our close readings and seminar discussions on this topic, we seek to understand how different forms of power—implemented across realms, including state-sponsored surveillance and immigration enforcement, language and educational policy, health and social services—shape and constrain immigrants’ understanding of their place in the world and their experience of exclusion and belonging. In our exploration of identity, we will attend to the ways in which immigrants are left out of national narratives, as well as the ways in which people who move across borders draw on cultural resources to create spaces and practices of connection, protection, and continuity despite the disruptive effects of immigration. In tandem with our readings, we will welcome scholar-activist guest speakers, who will present their current work in the field.

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First-Year Studies: The Brain According to Oliver Sacks

FYS—Year

Dr. Oliver Sacks was a prominent neurologist and prolific writer, who considered the workings of the brain by observing and diagnosing patients—including himself. Sacks communicated the marvels of the nervous system to the public through his engaging and remarkable stories of neurological dysfunction and his musings on intriguing and poorly understood topics in neuroscience. We will study the brain in health and disease through Sacks’s writings, accompanied by other readings and films that complement and expand upon Sacks’s descriptions of brain function. Topics will likely include: vision, blindness, and prosopagnosia (aka face-blindness, which Sacks himself had); speech, reading, audition, music, and deafness; autism spectrum disorder; Tourette’s syndrome; neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and ALS; learning, memory, and amnesia. We will meet for seminar classes and biweekly individual conferences throughout the year. In the fall semester, we will also have weekly group collaborative meetings, which will include neuroanatomy exploration using a neuroscience coloring book, movie screenings, or writing workshops.

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General Biology: Genes, Cells, and Evolution

Open, Small Lecture—Fall

Biology, the study of life on Earth, encompasses structures and forms ranging from the very minute to the very large. In order to grasp the complexities of life, we begin this study with the cellular and molecular forms and mechanisms that serve as the foundation for all living organisms. The initial part of the semester will introduce the fundamental molecules critical to the biochemistry of life processes. From there, we branch out to investigate the major ideas, structures, and concepts central to the biology of cells, genetics, and the chromosomal basis of inheritance. Finally, we conclude the semester by examining how those principles relate to the mechanisms of evolution. Throughout the semester, we will discuss the individuals responsible for major discoveries, as well as the experimental techniques and process by which such advances in biological understanding are made. Classes will be supplemented with weekly laboratory work. This course serves as the gateway course into the biology department curriculum.

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Drugs and the Brain

Open, Lecture—Spring

The nervous system is the ultimate target of many drugs: those taken to alleviate pain, to increase pleasure, or to transform perceptions. We will focus on the neuronal targets and mechanisms of psychoactive drugs, including which neurotransmitter systems they modulate. We will consider stimulants, depressants, narcotics, analgesics, hallucinogens, and psychotherapeutics. In order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of drug use and abuse, we will also explore the social, political, economic, and genetic factors that influence drug consumption—both legal and illegal—and drug epidemics, including the ongoing and devastating opioid epidemic. We will learn about drug sources, forms, and methods of use while also exploring what is known about the biological basis of tolerance, cravings, withdrawal, and addiction. Lectures will be complemented by seminar-style group conferences in which we will discuss the narrative nonfiction books Dreamland, by Sam Quinones, and How to Change Your Mind, by Michael Pollan.

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Animal Behavior

Open, Seminar—Fall

Behavior is the complex manifestation of multifaceted phenomena. Behavior involves the integration, synthesis, and sorting of vast amounts of biological information—from the molecular, cellular, and physiological to the cognitive, emotional, and psychological. Genetics, lived experience, embodied knowledge, and evolutionary legacy are all at play in the existence, persistence, and shaping of behavioral expression within and across lineages. Studying behavior provides insight into the interior lives of other animals and how they relate to and respond to their worlds, including a better understanding of their abilities to contend with environmental, social, and emotional challenges. Behavior can be studied at the level of the individual, group, and species. Studying animal behavior also provides awareness into our own species. In this course, we will explore the fascinating and complex world of other animals through the lens of behavior. We will begin to understand the relationship between nonhuman animal and human behavior, realizing that an understanding of human behavior depends to a large part on understanding nonhuman animals. We will develop skills to articulate the evolutionary history of a species’ behavior, the developmental history of an individual’s behavior, and the impact of evolution and development on natural selection. We will also investigate anthropogenic effects on animal behavior and begin to understand and articulate the ethical dilemmas posed when studying animals.

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Hormones, Food, and Sex

Open, Seminar—Fall

Hormones are released from diverse tissues, including the brain, ovaries, testes, stomach, intestines, and fat. These small molecules travel around the body via the circulatory system to influence the activity of distant cells involved in key biological processes. In this introduction to endocrinology, we will study the principles of hormone signaling by focusing on two overarching topics: 1) hormones that modulate food intake and utilization, and 2) hormones that control reproduction. The key molecules, cells, and tissues that play a role in endocrine-signaling pathways will be examined. We will study hormones that control appetite, satiation, fat deposition, and weight, as well as those that control many aspects of reproduction—including puberty, arousal, sex, gender identity, ovulation, pregnancy, and lactation. Readings will include textbook chapters, scientific articles, and popular science pieces.

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Genetics

Sophomore and Above, Seminar—Fall

At the biological core of all life on Earth is the gene. The unique combination of genes in each individual ultimately forms the basis for that person's physical appearance, metabolic capacity, thought processes, and behavior. Therefore, in order to understand how life develops and functions, it is critical to understand what genes are, how they work, and how they are passed on from parents to offspring. In this course, we will begin by investigating the theories of inheritance first put forth by Mendel and then progress to our current concepts of how genes are transmitted through individuals, families, and whole populations. We will also examine chromosome structure and the mechanisms and molecular functions of genes and DNA within cells and how mutations in DNA can lead to physical abnormalities and diseases such as Trisomy 21, hemophilia, or others. Finally, we will discuss the role of genetics in influencing such complex phenotypes as behavior or traits such as intelligence. Classes will be supplemented with weekly laboratory work.

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Wild Animals and Conservation

Open, Seminar—Spring

We live in an increasingly human-dominated world where the places for wild animals are shrinking, causing animals to face an increasing number of threats and translating into populations, species, and ecosystems being in jeopardy. The modern conservation movement developed from concerns over the loss of wilderness and the extinction of species through exploitation. As a result, the well-being of individual wild animals has not been a focus of our conservation practices. Instead, we have tended to focus on the health of populations, preservation of species, and overall biodiversity. But in light of habitat loss, climate change, increased human-wildlife conflict, and the current global extinction crisis, we are wise to rethink how we care for wildlife and nature. While conservation biology and the science of animal well-being share a guiding ethic of the protection of animals, the presence of animal well-being has been slow to emerge in the field of conservation. Recent changes in our understanding of human activity on wildlife—such as overharvesting, pollution, climate change, and habitat loss, as well as the intensification of conservation programs—have necessitated a reevaluation of this separation. This course introduces students to the emerging fields of animal well-being science, compassionate conservation, conservation welfare, and wild-animal welfare. We will explore the shared and conflicting concerns of animal well-being and conservation from both historical and current perspectives. In doing so, we will examine these issues in popular media (film and press, for example) and academic (including scientific) literature. We will explore why some wild animals are considered pest species, why endangered species get special treatment (and if the animals of these species are better off), as well as the issue of keeping animals in zoos in the name of conservation. Major questions for the course will be: When we think about wildlife as individuals…how do our decisions on their behalf change? How do our conservation practices change? How does our relationship with wildlife change? Some topics that we will cover in this course include: human values and attitudes relating to conservation decision-making and norms of conservation practice; the role of science in conservation decisions; ethical questions in conservation practice; presuppositions about nature; human attitudes toward animals; perils of animals in the wild; and application of animal well-being science to conservation issues.

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Artificial Intelligence and Society

Open, Seminar—Spring

In recent years, the field of artificial intelligence (AI) has made astonishing technical progress and has begun to assume an increasingly widespread and important role in society. AI systems can now (at least to some extent) drive cars; recognize human faces, speech, and gestures; diagnose diseases; control autonomous robots; converse fluently in English; instantly translate text from one language to another; beat world-champion human players at chess, Go, and other games; and perform many other amazing feats that just a few decades ago were only possible within the realm of science fiction. This progress has led to extravagant expectations, claims, hopes, and fears about the future of AI technology and its potential impact on society. In this course, we will attempt to peer beyond the hype and come to grips with both the promise and the peril of AI. We will consider AI from many angles, including historical, philosophical, ethical, and public-policy perspectives. We will also examine in detail many of the technical concepts and achievements of the field, as well as its many failures and setbacks. Throughout the course, students will be asked to read texts, write responses, do follow-up research, and participate in classroom discussions. This is not a programming course, and no background in computer programming is either expected or required.

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The Middle East and the Politics of Collective Memory: Between Trauma and Nostalgia

Sophomore and Above, Seminar—Fall

In recent decades, historians have become increasingly interested in the unique role and power of memory in public life and have sought to understand the innumerable ways that collective memory has been constructed, experienced, used, abused, debated, and reshaped. This course will focus on the rich literature on historical memory within the field of modern Middle Eastern history in order to explore a number of key questions: What is the relationship between history and memory? How are historical events interpreted and rendered socially meaningful? How is public knowledge about the past shaped and propagated? How and why—and in what contexts—do particular ways of seeing and remembering the past become attached to various political projects? Particular attention will be paid to the following topics: the role of memory in the Palestine-Israel “conflict”; postcolonial state-building and “official memory”; debates over national remembering, forgetting, and reconstruction following the Lebanese Civil War; Middle Eastern diaspora formation and exilic identity; the myth of a “golden age” of Arab nationalism; Turkish nostalgia for the Ottoman imperial past; and the role of museums, holidays, and other commemorative practices in the construction of the national past across the region. Throughout the course, we will attend to the complex interplay between individual and collective memory (and “counter-memory”), particularly as this has played out in several formulations of Middle Eastern nationalism.

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Care Work

Open, Seminar—Fall

How might we care for each other in the midst of accelerating planetary change? This course provides us with the theoretical frameworks to grasp the long and multifaceted history of environmental crisis on this continent and, likewise, to grasp the diversity of critical, careful responses to imposed disaster. The course begins with the proposition that dominant structures of care in the settler colony—afforded by the nuclear family, the state, and private enterprise—depend upon and reproduce racialized and gendered exploitation bound to the same systems that make environmental crisis inevitable. Throughout the semester, we will explore other literary and scholarly theorizations and enactments of care work that move outside dominant care regimes and that have always been responsive to environmental crisis in its long history. The reading for the course moves from Indigenous studies to queer studies to the energy and environmental humanities, illuminating critical intersections of use to a student interested in any one of those fields. Primary and secondary texts include works by José Esteban Muñoz, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Natalie Diaz, Sophie Lewis, Kim TallBear, Sheena Wilson, Imre Szeman, Samuel R. Delany, and Dean Spade, among others. Assignments for the course encourage students to take inspiration from the texts on our syllabus. In other words, you may present your work in creative as well as critical forms. Podcasts, manifestos, websites, –zines…are all more than welcome.

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Mirrors, Labyrinths, and Paradoxes: Mathematics and Jorge Luis Borges

Open, Seminar—Spring

Many of the works of Jorge Luis Borges—the highly influential, 20th-century Argentine writer and oft-cited founder of the magic realism literary genre—mirror mathematical concepts in profoundly intelligent and strikingly imaginative ways. Borges’ writings—primarily short fictions but also essays and poetry—often introduce alternate realities that warp standard notions of time, space, and even existence. Borges' works serve to uncover intriguing frictions between competing notions in the foundations of mathematics: the sensible vs. the paradoxical (logic), the infinite vs. the infinitesimal (set theory), the discrete vs. the continuous (analysis), the symmetric vs. the distorted (fractals and chaos), the convergent vs. the divergent (limits), and the likely vs. the impossible (probability). Not restricting itself to mathematics, this course will also explore themes and images in Borges’ works from philosophical, mythological, historical, scientific, psychological, and literary perspectives. Student conference work may focus upon other explorations at the intersection of literature, magic realism, mathematics, philosophy, etc. This course is intended for the student who is curious and open-minded though had never planned to study mathematics at the college level.

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An Introduction to Statistical Methods and Analysis

Open, Lecture—Spring

Variance, correlation coefficient, regression analysis, statistical significance, margin of error...you’ve heard these terms and other statistical phrases bantered about before, and you’ve seen them interspersed in news reports and research articles. But what do they mean? How are they used? And why are they so important? Serving as an introduction to the concepts, techniques, and reasoning central to the understanding of data, this lecture course focuses on the fundamental methods of statistical analysis used to gain insight into diverse areas of human interest. The use, misuse, and abuse of statistics will be the central focus of the course; specific topics of exploration will be drawn from experimental design theory, sampling theory, data analysis, and statistical inference. Applications will be considered in current events, business, psychology, politics, medicine, and many other areas of the natural and social sciences. Statistical (spreadsheet) software will be introduced and used extensively in this course, but no prior experience with the technology is assumed. Group conferences, conducted in workshop mode, will serve to reinforce student understanding of the course material. This lecture is recommended for anybody wishing to be a better-informed consumer of data and strongly recommended for those planning to pursue advanced undergraduate or graduate research in the natural sciences or social sciences. Enrolled students are expected to have an understanding of basic high-school algebra and plane coordinate geometry.

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Game Theory: The Study of Conflict and Strategy

Open, Lecture—Fall

Warfare, elections, auctions, labor-management negotiations, inheritance disputes, even divorce—these and many other conflicts can be successfully understood and studied as games. A game—in the parlance of social scientists, natural scientists and mathematicians—is any situation involving two or more participants (players) capable of rationally choosing among a set of possible actions (strategies) that lead to some final result (outcome) of typically unequal value (payoff or utility) to the players. Game theory is the interdisciplinary study of conflict, whose primary goal is the answer to the single, simply-stated, but surprisingly complex question: What is the best way to “play” or behave? Although the principles of game theory have been widely applied throughout the social and natural sciences, the greatest impact has been felt in the fields of economics, political science, psychology, and biology. This course represents a survey of the basic techniques and principles in the field. Of primary interest will be the applications of the theory to real-world conflicts of historical or current interest. Enrolled students are expected to have an understanding of basic high-school algebra and plane coordinate geometry.

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Philosophy Through Film

Open, Lecture—Fall

You care about movies (I presume). Why do you care about movies? Because they entertain you? Because they are beautiful? Because they are informative? Because they make you feel things? The guiding thought of this class is that we care about movies, because they participate in the practice of philosophy (or at least they have that potential). Of course, this also presumes that we care about philosophy (a claim that will take some time to defend). To test that hypothesis—that films have the potential to participate in the practice of philosophy—we first need to consider what the practice of philosophy is. Then, we will need to say something about what film is. And then, we can examine whether film can do philosophy. In the first part of the course, we will analyze the medium of film in order to clarify the characteristics of film that would allow it to be philosophical. In the second part of the class, we will explore how those characteristics of film contribute to how we think philosophically about our lives. In particular, we will explore problems pertaining to subjectivity (What it is to be a human being?) and to ethics (How do I know the right thing to do?). Each week we will watch a film (including Jeanne Dielman, Psycho, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Get Out, and Spring Breakers) and read a philosophical text (including Aristotle, Cavell, Merleau-Ponty, Parfit, and Adorno) with the aim of placing the two in conversation.

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Descartes and Princess Elizabeth: From Metaphysics to Morals

Sophomore and Above, Seminar—Fall

René Descartes can be seen as the founder of modern philosophy. He carried out much of his intellectual life through correspondence, and one of his most important correspondents was Princess Elizabeth of Bohemia. A central topic of their correspondence is the “union of mind and body”; i.e., how thought is related to matter but also how the perspective of science is related to the passions and human life. This problem is posed by Descartes’ treatment of mind and body in his Meditations, which led Elizabeth to begin the correspondence. Their exchanges led Descartes to write his last book, The Passions of the Soul, on psychology, the passions, virtue, and vice. We will begin by reading the Meditations, then focus on the correspondence between Descartes and Elizabeth, and finally turn to the Passions.

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Capitalism and Schizophrenia: A Thousand Plateaus

Intermediate, Seminar—Fall

This reading seminar will consist of a close study of one book, A Thousand Plateaus, which was coauthored in 1980 by French philosopher Gilles Deleuze and psychoanalyst Felix Guattari.A Thousand Plateaus, the second volume of their magnum opus, Capitalism and Schizophrenia—the founding text of a movement of thought called “poststructuralism”—is among the most influential books of 20th-century philosophy. As its name suggests, the book presents a vision, or visions, of the world and of history as multilayered and multiplex rather than homogenous and linear. The book teaches us to look and to think of things and of ourselves from a variety of new and shifting angles, with the aim of providing means of resistance, empowerment, and sometimes escape against capitalism, fascism, and forces of normalization. To do this, Deleuze and Guattari draw on a broad range of philosophical, literary, and artistic texts and on modalities of experience that have traditionally been associated with madness. Their writing style is bold and dazzling, full to the brim with new terminologies (many of which have since become common tropes in the humanities and the social sciences); it is also challenging and dense. Engaging their work fruitfully requires a mind that is, like theirs, open and adventurous, willing to take risks and follow unpredictable turns. We will proceed in workshop fashion, reading 30-40 pages a week in advance of each class, writing short analyses throughout the semester, and coming to class prepared and eager to work together toward increased understanding. In addition to the prerequisite, students enrolling in this class should, more importantly, have a philosophical passion and commitment, a diligent work ethic, and a spirit of camaraderie, collaboration, and generosity.

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Reflections From Damaged Life: Adorno and Critical Theory

Intermediate, Seminar—Spring

Surveying the post-Holocaust world of late capitalism, Theodor W. Adorno writes that “Wrong life cannot be lived rightly.” We find ourselves in a world replete with strife, burdened with a disconcerting future, and so the possibility of living a good life seems not just illusive but altogether impossible. And yet, from this dire prognosis, Adorno offers a critical assessment of modern life in all of its minutiae that hints at the possibility of redemption. His analysis is boundless, ranging from a vehement takedown of astrology to a psychoanalytic reading of fascist propaganda, from reflections on the fiction of Franz Kafka to questioning our capacity to shut a door quietly. Adorno suggests that describing the ills of modern life—what he variously identifies as capitalism, fascism, consumerism, or, more pervasively, the hallowing of meaningful experience that resolves itself in loneliness and alienation—might offer the possibility to transform those stifling conditions. The seminar will begin with his diagnosis of our social reality, proceed to theorize about the metaphysical underpinnings of this reality, and conclude by considering the capacity of art to redeem our physical existence. Underlying the entirety of our investigation of Adorno’s work will be the imperative to overcome what he calls the “barbarity” of our time. Readings will be drawn from Adorno’s main works, Dialectic of Enlightenment (1944), Minima Moralia (1951), Negative Dialectics (1966), and Aesthetic Theory (1970), as well as various essays. Our ambition will be not only to understand Adorno’s assessment of the stultifying conditions of his time but also to consider how he supplies us with tools, methods, and arguments for addressing the challenges facing our own.

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It’s About Time

Open, Small Lecture—Fall

This seminar will explore the topic of time from a wide variety of viewpoints—from the physical to the metaphysical to the practical. We will seek the answers to questions such as: What is time? How do we perceive time? Why does time appear to flow only in one direction? Is time travel possible? How is time relative? We will explore the perception of time across cultures and eras, break down the role of time in fundamental physics, and discuss popular science books and articles along with science-inspired works of fiction in order to make sense of this fascinating topic. Time stops for no one, but let’s take some time to appreciate its uniqueness. First-year students taking this course as their first-year studies class will have an individual conference every other week, along with the course group conferences on alternating weeks. Conference activities will focus on time management, research, reading, writing, science communication, and collaborative skills. First-year studies students are expected to enroll in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Research Seminar in the spring as a continuation of their first-year studies experience.

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Concepts of the Mind: How Language and Culture Challenge Cognitive Science

Intermediate, Seminar—Fall

How does the human mind represent the world? And how do these representations vary across people? Could knowing a different language change how we experience time or even how we see color? Even seemingly simple concepts like “in” vs. “on” mean different things in different cultures, and words like “one” and “two” may not be linguistically universal. Indeed, the very course description that you are reading makes culturally-specific assumptions about psychology and implicitly assumes objectivity. At the same time, humans seem to share certain core experiences, such as perceiving events, creating categories, and recalling the past. Which aspects are shared, and which are unique? In this course, we will draw on research from psycholinguistics, cognitive development, and cultural psychology to learn cognitive science in a larger context. Critically, we will consider how each of those fields have been severely constrained by an emphasis on white, Western, industrialized experiences. We will investigate the broader social and ethical consequences of these assumptions and explore insights and challenges that emerge when we step out of this limited perspective. We’ll draw on primary and secondary sources, including research articles, literature, videos, raw experimental data, and audio recordings. Students will develop projects in conference work that combine their interests with the course content, such as designing an experiment to test cross-linguistic differences in visual attention, analyzing vocabulary from languages other than English, or replicating and reinterpreting an existing experiment using culturally-responsive practices.

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Psychology Advanced Research Seminar

Intermediate/Advanced, Seminar—Fall

In this research seminar, students will gain valuable experience through a weekly seminar meeting focused on research methods, research ethics, and contemporary research questions and approaches; a weekly lab meeting with one of the faculty members leading the research seminar; and individual and group conference meetings with faculty supervisors on a regular, as-needed basis. The seminar component will include readings on, and discussions of, research methods and ethics—both broad and specific to the research in which students are involved—as well as the discussion of contemporary research articles that are relevant to student and faculty research projects. All faculty and students involved in the research experience will take turns leading the discussion of current research, with faculty taking the lead at the beginning of the semester and students taking the lead as their expertise develops. Weekly lab meetings will also involve reading and discussing research articles and research-methods papers specific to the topics of research being undertaken by each student and faculty member. Students will be expected to learn the current research approaches being employed by their supervising faculty member, contribute toward ongoing research in the form of a research practicum, and develop and implement their own independent research projects within the labs in which they are working. Faculty supervising each lab will also be available to meet with students, both individually and in small groups, on an ongoing basis—as needed and at least every other week—in addition to the regular weekly, hour-long lab meeting. Students participating in the Psychology Advanced Research Seminar will be expected to attend and actively participate in weekly full-group seminars, weekly lab meetings, and regular (typically, at least biweekly) individual and group conference meetings; keep an ongoing journal and/or scientific lab notebook; select and facilitate group and lab discussions of relevant contemporary research articles (at least once for each meeting type); work at least 5 hours within a lab and/or community setting, as appropriate for their projects; contribute toward ongoing research and practice within their lab or community settings; develop, implement, and report on (in the form of a short paper prepared for possible publication and a poster at the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Poster Session) an independent research project; and provide their colleagues with ongoing verbal and written feedback on their projects.

 

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Sociology of the Body

Sophomore and Above, Seminar—Fall

How are bodies produced in the contemporary world? To what degree are our bodies truly our own? Using Michel Foucault’s term “biopower” and his related work as its point of departure, this course will address the above questions as well as others related to the body in order to analyze and better understand how modern social institutions and relations regulate and attempt to control our bodies. Our examination and analysis will include the various modalities through which power is enacted at the macro level—including, for example, state surveillance, violence, and policy formation. We will also explore the relation between such forces and micro-level, everyday experiences throughout, deploying the concept of “embodiment” to understand how social power not only acts upon us but also becomes internalized within our very beings. This framework will help us better understand how social power is carried through the body and shapes our physicality, as well as the ways in which we move through the social world and interact with each other. Our analysis will enable us to examine biopower more critically with respect to constructions and interpretations of sex/gender, race, class, and sexuality at multiple social scales. For conference, students are expected to select a social context of their preference through which to examine the relationship between biopolitical forces and the embodied experiences of the individual(s). Students might also explore strategies of resistance—both individual and collective—to establish bodily autonomy and resist domination. In addition to social scientific studies, students may deploy ethnographic research, media analysis, and/or turn to personal (auto)biographies as bases of their research and analysis.

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The Stories We Could Tell: Theatre Through Memory

Open, Small seminar—Spring

All stories can enlighten us, all can transform the listener, and all can allow the storyteller to see and experience things they have forgotten. The stories we could tell are limitless. In this course, eight-to-10 students would be trained in improvisational exercises used for building community and narrative storytelling. The students would begin the course practicing and learning the varied theories connected to the work of Community and Social Practice Programs and Theatre of the Oppressed. Once the students feel comfortable using the exercises, we will spend one afternoon a week visiting and discovering the stories of the residents of the senior low-income housing and assisted-living communities at Wartburg Rehabilitation Center in Yonkers. We would listen to, invest in, and develop the stories from the lives of the residents. Some will be dramatic reflections of their life events; others will be simple adventures of everyday existence. Students do not need any background in theatre, just a desire to connect to the Wartburg culture and explore memory through storytelling. As we gather these stories, we will develop a theatre project with and for the residents. The goal of the collaboration is to motivate, expand, and create more vivid memories in us all.

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First-Year Studies: Poetry: The Human Song

FYS—Year

In this FYS class, we will study the art, the mystery, and the power of poetry. In our first semester, we will learn to pay attention. We will become intimate with the skills of the art: with the sounds of sense, the way a word feels in the mouth, the where-it-is in a sentence (diction, syntax). We will wonder: What is a line of poetry? What part does silence play in a poem? How is poetry experienced out loud—or read silently to oneself? Why use a metaphor? How important are forms? How do we know when a poem is “finished”? How do we write into what we don’t know? We will read the work of many published poets. We will read essays, watch films, take field trips, and meet in weekly poetry dates and in conferences. You will write a poem every week and bring it to class to share; then, you will revise each poem that you bring. At the end of the first semester, you will collect your revised poems into a chapbook. Expect to spend a great deal of time every week reading the poems written by other people—both dead and living. Expect to read the poems of your class community. Expect to spend time dwelling with your own writing—without preoccupations. In our second semester, we will concentrate on ecopoetry, poetry that concerns itself with the living world and the current planetary emergency. We will read ecopoems in order to come to an understanding of the possibilities. Each of you will choose a topic to learn about (an animal? a river? a forest?) and write into that knowledge, into a new understanding. At the end of the second semester, you will collect your poems into a chapbook. We will create a community together of trust and care so that every writer feels free to share work. We will delight in each other’s voices, in reading together, in wandering into the power of poetry. And we will have a wonderful time. This course will have biweekly conferences. During conferences, we will check on your well-being, go over your recent poems and revisions, review your responses to your reading of weekly poetry packets, and take a look at your weekly observations.

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First-Year Studies: Where Was It One First Heard of the Truth?

FYS—Year

In this omnibus nonfiction writing class, we will encounter and examine over the course of a year a range of literary, artistic, social, and historical phenomena—from plays by Shakespeare and poems by Whitman, to selections from autobiographies of Gandhi and Malcolm X and Virginia Woolf, to films and memoirs of identity and gender liberation, to a classic documentary about the terminal ward of a great Northeastern-seaboard hospital, to an oral history of a poor neighborhood in Mexico City, to artwork in New York museums and current art exhibits in Chelsea, to sports events and contemporaneous political conflicts, to masterworks of modernist nonfiction experimentation. In response to this range and overflowing variety of material, students will be asked to write accurately and cogently, in the tradition of various nonfiction genres, designed to capture one aspect or another of these encounters with reality. We will write impersonal work—reportage, reviews, journalistic profiles, editorials; and we will write highly personal pieces involving the life experiences of each of us in relation to what we encounter—personal essays, memoir fragments, hybrid pieces that experiment with form, that create their own genre, that allow us to fully explore our subjectivity and our unique points of view. We will work out the rhetorical and investigative techniques, whereby the truth of experience is represented on the page. We will also look at the many ways in which language can be used to distort, obscure, and evade the truth. We will think practically and will think philosophically about representing reality. We will develop our voices and our control of words, sentences, paragraphs, and larger units. Our biases will tend toward clarity of thought and beauty of expression. In this course, there will be weekly conferences for the first six weeks and biweekly conferences thereafter.

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Children’s Literature

Open, Small Lecture—Fall

Who doesn’t love Frog and Toad? Have you ever wanted to write something like it—or like Charlotte’s Web or A Snowy Day? Why do our favorites work so well and so (almost) universally? We will begin by reading books we know and books we missed and discuss what makes them so good. We will be looking at read-to books, early readers, instructional books for children, rude books, chapter books, books about friendship, and (possibly) young adult books. We may consider what good children’s history and biography might be like. We will talk about the place of the visual, the careful and conscious use of language, notions of appropriateness, and what works at various age levels. Invariably, we will talk about childhood, our own and as part of an ever-changing set of social theories. We will try our hand at writing picture books, early readers, friendship stories, collections of poems like Mother Goose. Conference work will involve making a children’s book of any kind, on any level. Classes will be in both lecture and conversational mode, and group conferences will involve looking at our writing.

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Forms and Fictions

Open, Seminar—Spring

Whatever short form you are interested in— episode, story, reflection, memoir, essay, tale—you will find in this course, both for reading and writing. We will talk about how different forms open the door to different takes on experience and how content or change can become more or less accessible in different forms. We will write 100-word pieces each week to learn to edit ourselves and to search through our minds for what’s there. We will practice pacing, dialogue, scene, portraiture. We will discuss what our favored forms say about our lives and the people in them. We will be writing and reading short pieces all semester, then editing, redrafting, and arranging them for conference work.

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Nonfiction Laboratory

Open, Seminar—Fall

This course is for students who want to break free from the conventions of the traditional essay and memoir and discover a broader range of narrative and stylistic possibilities available to nonfiction writers. During the first half of the semester, students will read and discuss examples of formally innovative nonfiction by writers such as Claudia Rankine, Nathalie Sarraute and George W. S. Trow. These readings will serve as the inspiration for brief assignments that will be read aloud and discussed each week. During the second half of the semester, students will workshop longer pieces that they will have written in consultation with the instructor as a part of their conference work. Required texts: The Next American Essay, edited by John D’Agata, and Multiple Choice by Alejandro Zambra. All other readings are in the PDF packet.

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Creative Nonfiction

Intermediate/Advanced, Seminar—Fall

This is a course for creative writers who are interested in exploring nonfiction as an art form. We will focus on reading and interpreting outside work—essays, articles, and journalism by some of our best writers—in order to understand what good nonfiction is and how it is created. During the first part of the semester, writing will be comprised mostly of exercises and short pieces aimed at putting into practice what is being illuminated in the readings; in the second half of the semester, students will create longer, formal essays to be presented in workshop.

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