Why would a person confess to a crime they didn’t commit? What makes eyewitnesses identify the wrong suspect? How does police body camera footage shape jurors’ decisions? And how do we design research to answer these questions and inform policy interventions? This course will introduce students to the interdisciplinary study of psychology and the law, focusing on how psychological science impacts and can be used to explain events in the courtroom and other legal settings.

This seminar focuses on people’s motivations to participate in political activism, especially activism around social issues. Readings include theoretical and empirical work from political psychology paired with personal accounts of activists. We consider accounts of some large-scale liberal and conservative social movements in the United States. Students conduct an in-depth analysis of an activists oral history obtained from the Voices of Feminism archive of the Sophia Smith collection. Enrollment limited to 12. Juniors and seniors only. Instructor permission required.

Same as SDS 364. Research on intergroup relationships and an exploration of theoretical and statistical models used to study mixed interpersonal interactions. Example research projects include examining the consequences of sexual objectification for both women and men, empathetic accuracy in interracial interactions, and gender inequality in household labor. A variety of skills including, but not limited to, literature review, research design, data collection, measurement evaluation, advanced data analysis, and scientific writing will be developed.

An introduction to research methods in clinical psychology and psychopathology. Includes discussion of current research as well as design and execution of original research in selected areas such as anxiety disorders, PTSD and depression. Prerequisite: PSY 100, PSY 201, PSY 202 and a relevant PSY intermediate colloquium course. Enrollment limited to 12. Juniors and seniors only. Instructor permission required.

How we think and feel can have a profound impact on our health. Through the interdisciplinary lens of psychosomatic medicine, we critically evaluate empirically-supported embodiment practices (e.g., breathwork, meditation, visualization) for preventing metabolic and cardiopulmonary diseases, major causes of death globally. We highlight recurring psychologically-mediated processes including placebo effects, emotion, and patient-practitioner relationships.

Our understanding of how children grow, learn, and think is largely based on studying WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) populations. Findings from just 12% of the global population are being used to inform worldwide policies in education, parenting, and public-health. In this course, we will approach the study of child development from a cross-cultural lens. We will study how cultural norms, research, and power structures impact specific areas of development.

This seminar explores the cognitive processes underlying human perception and comprehension of film and the techniques filmmakers use to capitalize on these processes. We read and discuss empirical articles and view relevant examples of film. Topics range from change blindness and apparent motion to character identity and narrative. Prerequisite: PSY 100. Enrollment limited to 12. Juniors and seniors only. Instructor permission required.

Offered as REL 304 and PSY 304. What is happiness? What is personal well-being? How are they achieved? This course examines the core ideas of the Buddhist science of mind and how they are being studied and employed by psychologists, neuroscientists, cognitive scientists and psychotherapists. The focus of the course is the notion of "happiness," its cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary definition as well as the techniques advocated for its achievement by both the Buddhist and the psychologist. Prerequisite: PSY 100, REL 105, one course in Buddhist traditions or permission of instructor.

A broad consideration of the nature of prejudice, stereotypes and intergroup relations from the perspective of social cognition with emphasis on issues of race and ethnicity. We encounter theories and research concerning the processes of self-and-other categorization, social identity, stereotyping, prejudice and strategies from the reduction of intergroup hostility that these approaches inform. Enrollment limited to 18.