Offered as ENG 112 and PYX 112. This course offers the opportunity to read contemporary poetry and meet the poets who write it. The course consists of class meetings alternating with public poetry readings by visiting poets. This course does not count toward the English major. S/U only. Course may be repeated.

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 does one design research to answer these questions and inform policy interventions? This course introduces 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 course considers how psychologists approach the study of individual lives. The first part of the course focuses attention on Freud and psychoanalysis. His book on Leonardo da Vinci is considered the first psychobiography--the application of psychological theory to understand the lives of historical and contemporary figures. Although problematic in many ways, Freud’s ideas and those of his heirs are a theme running throughout the course.

What does it take to understand complex family phenomena? This course explores major theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches used in family science research to help students answer that question. By focusing on contemporary issues in family psychology, students analyze family dynamics in research and apply them to practice contexts. They become confident consumers of existing research and develop skills in producing new family research. Prerequisite: PSY 202 and one 200-level PSY colloquium. Restrictions: Juniors and seniors only. Enrollment limited to 12.

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. Restrictions: Juniors and seniors only. Enrollment limited to 12.  Instructor permission required.

The 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. This course approaches the study of child development from a cross-cultural lens. The class studies 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. Students read and discuss empirical articles and view relevant examples of film. Discussions range from change blindness and apparent motion to character identity and narrative. Prerequisite: PSY 100. Restrictions: Juniors and seniors only. Enrollment limited to 12. Instructor permission required.

Flourishing has been described as living a good, fulfilling life with a sense of purpose. Sometimes called thriving, it is a state of emotional, psychological and social well-being. This seminar examines pathways to flourishing via close reading of empirical articles, class discussion and guided practices in and out of class.

This course covers classic and emerging research on judgment and decision-making. Decisions are part of everyday life. Many are simple and automatic (e.g. what to eat for breakfast); others require more conscious deliberation (e.g. which college to attend). The quality of one's decisions depends upon a variety of factors, many of which have been explored in philosophy, psychology, and economic research. This course examines the impact of psychological biases and heuristics on decision-making.

An exploration of the nature of moral psychology. The class discusses how reason, emotion, cultural norms and social pressures shape moral judgments; how brain activity correlates with moral decision-making; and how to use psychological research on moral intuition to evaluate cultural and political disagreements. Prerequisites: PSY 202. Enrollment limited to 25. (E)