This seminar explores the psychology of adoption from multiple perspectives: adopted persons, adoptive parents, birth parents, and the individuals or entities that arranged the adoption. In addition to the primary psychological focus, we will examine how adoption is affected by cultural, historical, geopolitical, and economic contexts in which it occurs. We will also critically evaluate the research literature relating to adoption and discuss issues regarding practice (clinical and psychoeducational) and policy (from the agency level to that of international treaties).

Practice in application of psychological techniques to clinical settings and counseling. Taught with staffs of cooperating institutions and agencies. Credit, variable; may be repeated for additional credit.

Not available at this time

The goal of this seminar is to provide an introduction to animal cognition. We will examine cognitive abilities in a variety of species, from invertebrates to nonhuman primates. Major topics to be discussed include: perception and attention, learning and memory, spatial representation, social cognition, tool-use, imitation and culture, communication and language, theory of mind, and the evolution of cognition.

What are we? What defines us? How did human culture arise? We communicate with spoken and written language, we make tools to build even more complicated tools, we learn calculus to solve differential equations, we use inductive reasoning to seek generalizable knowledge, we understand other people?s mind and emotion, we understand humor, we lie, cheat, and deceive others. Are these what makes us human? This course examines psychological and neuroscientific bases of human mind and behavior that are uniquely related to human culture and experience (that is, humanity).

Important forms of kindness and cruelty (from helping and harming among individuals to violence between groups and genocide). Historical conditions, cultures, personal characteristics that lead to kindness or cruelty. Devaluation, scapegoating, the role of ideology; prosocial values, empathy, feelings of responsibility. Socialization, experience with peers, culture promoting kindness or cruelty. Prerequisite: introductory psychology.

Practice in application of psychological techniques to clinical settings and counseling. Taught with staffs of cooperating institutions and agencies. Credit, variable; may be repeated for additional credit.

Practice in application of psychological techniques to clinical settings and counseling. Taught with staffs of cooperating institutions and agencies. Credit, variable; may be repeated for additional credit.

Practice in application of psychological techniques to clinical settings and counseling. Taught with staffs of cooperating institutions and agencies. Credit, variable; may be repeated for additional credit.

Practice in application of psychological techniques to clinical settings and counseling. Taught with staffs of cooperating institutions and agencies. Credit, variable; may be repeated for additional credit.