Every day we see two vastly different species -- human and dog -- successfully interacting, living, and working together. Simultaneously, the wild world is changing and shrinking as humans spread into land that was once dedicated to wild-living animals, humans are forced to interact with different species in new ways. To maintain species diversity, we must understand the relationships that develop and how to create best policies and practices.

Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination are common words, but what do social psychologists mean when they use these terms? In this class, we will explore these concepts including questions such as: Why do people categorize others (e.g., race, gender)? Why do people generalize attitudes across members of a category? What is a stereotype? What is the relationship between stereotyping and prejudice? How do stereotyping and prejudice influence behavior? These conceptual questions will be examined through readings, class discussions, and projects.

This course covers three major theoretical approaches to counseling: short-term psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and solution-focused. Related to each theory we will explore case conceptualization, therapeutic alliance, treatment planning, and mechanisms of change. We will be examining applications to classes of clinical disorders and empirical support for improvement outcomes. Role-playing will be used to illustrate key concepts and approaches to the counseling process.

The field of psychology has focused predominantly on defining and treating mental illness, rather than the promotion of mental health and resilience broadly. The latter area has tended to be lumped into the idea of "positive psychology." However, this idea of "positive psychology" is narrower in scope than the field of resilience as a whole. Therefore, the course will heavily explore how pop and media presentations of mental health align with the actual clinical science (or not!). Topics will include therapeutic orientations, mindfulness, positive psychology, stress, and behavior change.

Drawing on research in developmental, social, clinical, and health psychology, this speaking-intensive course investigates how close relationships "get under the skin" to affect our health and well-being. Topics include relational contexts of physical and mental health, sleep, stress, psychoimmunology, substance use, and behavior change. We will focus on attachment relationships, but other close relationships will be investigated as well. The course will emphasize presentations, debate, and student-led discussions, as well as writing assessments and reflection.

Adult illiteracy in the U.S. presents an ever-growing challenge. To understand this problem, we will learn various theories of reading. However, since many models of reading are based on data gathered from children, we will also examine how the cognitive abilities of adults are different from those of children. A large component of this class concerns learning the lab techniques associated with assessing reading abilities. In addition, since this is a community-based learning course, each student will become a tutor for an adult enrolled in an area literacy program.

The release of ChatGPT and other Large Language Models (LLMs) has sparked conversations about what, if anything, LLMs `understand' and whether they `mean what they say'. These discussions recapitulate debates in philosophy and linguistics that go back centuries, about the nature and source of ideas in the mind, the development of language and how linguistic items represent things in the world, and whether true meaning and understanding are possible in non-human entities such as artificial intelligences.

How much do we currently know about the symptoms of major depressive disorder? This course will take a deep dive into the risk factors, onset, underlying mechanisms, known treatments, and predicted treatments of several symptoms of major depression via a review of the neuroscience literature. We will also examine the roles of age, sex, gender, culture, environment, and species. This course will involve student-led discussions and presentations, as well as written summaries on various symptoms of major depression.

This seminar is for students who are completing an honors thesis. The primary purpose of this course is to provide students with constructive support during all stages of their research. In particular, this class will assist students with organizing the various components of their thesis work and help them meet departmental thesis deadlines.

When do we bring up issues of identity (i.e., race, class, gender, etc) in a classroom? What do teachers need to interrupt racism and other types of oppression? How do societal issues affect schools and communities? This course examines the historical, social, and legal underpinnings of social constructions and how perspectives on racism and other types of oppression have influenced lives within school communities.