This course presents an overview of laboratory methods in cognitive psychology including research design, methodology, data analysis, and statistical inference. We will explore these issues through the lens of human communication; specifically, speech. Students will design and complete a research project in which they record and analyze speech to explore questions about how meaning is expressed through spoken language.

In this seminar, we will explore a number of literacy issues as they relate to the ever-present challenge of adult illiteracy. We will examine the following topics as they relate to adults with low-literacy skills: vocabulary acquisition, reading comprehension, and writing abilities. This is a Community-Based Learning course, and students will spend time each week tutoring adults in local Adult Basic Education centers to gain first-hand insights into these issues.

Why do animals behave the way they do? How do animals see their world? In what ways do animals adapt to a changing environment? What is the best way to observe and analyze animal behaviors? Ethology is the study of animal behavior and the key to understanding animal evolution. In this course we will observe animals in their natural habitat and in the laboratory setting. We will read literature and watch videos that will cover key concepts of animal cognition, learning, and other behavior.

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.

What is the impact of what is included and excluded in formal sex education programs? What does it mean to maintain good sexual health? How does sexual identity relate to behavior and attraction? As a class, we will explore sexuality at an individual, interpersonal, community, and societal level. Primary topics will include sex education, sexual identity, health, consent, relationships, and media portrayals of sexuality.

What does it mean to be an adolescent? Popular culture has a lot to say about this life stage, not all of it rooted in evidence. In this course, we will examine the range of adolescent experiences in the United States and critically question common assumptions. We will consider how social context and relationships influence youth as they navigate school, college and career expectations, extracurricular activities, and social media. Our interdisciplinary approach will draw on readings from psychology, sociology, history, education as well as media resources.

Judaism is a 3,500-year-old tradition that has developed over time as Jewish communities all over the world creatively interacted with the different cultural and historical milieus in which they lived. This course explores the ways in which Judaism has sought to transform ordinary life into sacred life. What are the ways in which Judaism conceives of God, and what is the meaning of life? What roles do study, prayer, ethics, sex, marriage, family, rituals of the life cycle, and community play in Judaism?

This course explores the complex, often comic, and ultimately tragic history of Bohemia, a territory located today in the Czech Republic, but previously a part of the Habsburg Monarchy, then of Czechoslovakia, and then of Hitler's Third Reich. Students will complement historical studies with autobiographical material and contemporary fiction, beginning with the Revolution of 1848, progressing through the achievements and worrisome trends of Emperor Francis Joseph's 68-year reign, and concluding with the world wars.

This course explores the use of revolutionary terror by the state. More specifically, it examines policies of terror pursued by Communist dictatorships in Hungary and Czechoslovakia during the early years of the Cold War. Who did what to whom, and why? What insights do secret police work and public propaganda, knitted together in macabre show trials, allow us into Stalinist rule, European politics, and maybe ourselves? How did memories of terror shape politics after Stalin's death?

This course introduces speaking, reading, and writing German. Cultural and literary readings together with frequent use of video and other online resources dealing with everyday situations and experiences in the German-speaking countries sensitize students to the cultural context in which the language is used. Weekly conversation sessions with a German language assistant supplement class work.