For as long as “religion” has been a distinct object of reflection and inquiry, opinion has been divided about whether it is good or bad, necessary or contingent, universal or parochial.  And accompanying such differences of opinion have been revisionary projects with different levels of ambition, ranging from the renovation of existing religious traditions to the abolition of all forms of religion. The middle range of this spectrum is occupied by proposals not to eliminate religion but to replace it with something better.

The Hebrew Bible is a rich anthology of traditional, communicative media including a range of genres that might be compared to the folktales, myths, proverbs, riddles, symbolic dramas, and other creative works of more familiar contemporary cultures. This course introduces students to the cross-discipline of folklore studies and explores the ways in which that field in comparative literature enriches our appreciation of Israelite literature.

What does religious studies study? How do its investigations proceed? Can a religion only be truly understood from within, by those who share its beliefs and values? Or, on the contrary, is only the person who stands “outside” religion equipped to study and truly understand it? Is there a generic “something” that we can properly call “religion” at all or is the concept of religion, which emerged from European Enlightenment, inapplicable to other cultural contexts? This course will explore several of the most influential efforts to develop theories of religion and methods for its study.

This course explores legal and narrative traditions of the Hebrew Bible as they pertain to questions about the nature of just and unjust behavior. We will study biblical texts that underscore the moral choices encountered by individuals and societies in a wide array of arenas: economic, ecological, sexual, gendered, political, and military. The goal is to understand variations in the responses of biblical writers to a range of ethical issues within their social and historical contexts.

Open to senior majors in Psychology who have received departmental approval. A double course.

Spring semester. The Department.

How to handle overenrollment: null

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Writing-intensive, attention to research, and attention to writing.

Open to senior majors in Psychology who have received departmental approval.

Spring semester. The Department.

How to handle overenrollment: null

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Writing-intensive, attention to research, and attention to writing.

This course will be an in-depth examination of major theoretical models of psychotherapy. The course will focus on theoretical models and empirical support for the second wave (e.g., Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) and third wave (e.g., Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) psychotherapies. Students will examine how different psychotherapeutic approaches conceptualize mental illness and approach the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Issues related to ethics and the empirical evaluation of treatment outcomes will also be discussed.

This course examines the development, maintenance, and treatment of psychopathology in children and adolescents. Disorders discussed will include behavioral (e.g., Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Conduct Disorder), anxiety (e.g., the phobias and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder), mood (e.g. Depression), and developmental (e.g. Autism). Using a developmental perspective, topics will focus on risk factors, theory and etiology, family and social influences, and evidence-based psycho-social treatments.

An introduction to the study of close relationships using social-psychological theory and research. Topics will include interpersonal attraction, love and romance, sexuality, relationship development, communication, jealousy, conflict and dissolution, selfishness and altruism, loneliness, and therapeutic interventions. This is an upper-level seminar for the major requirement that requires intensive participation in class discussion and many written assignments.

In this course we will examine how to apply psychological theories to understand the lives of political leaders. We begin this course with a consideration of the role of personality in political leadership. We then examine psychological theories that can be fruitfully applied to the study of individual lives. Over the course of the semester, we will evaluate existing psychobiographies of important figures and students will conduct their own psychobiographical analyses of figures of their choice.