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.

Examination of the empirical and theoretical research relevant to anxiety disorders and their associated features in youth. Using a developmental perspective, we focus on risk factors, theoretical models, and methods of assessment and intervention. Prerequisites: PSY 100 and PSY 150 or PSY 253 or equivalent). Enrollment limited to 12. Juniors and seniors only. Instructor permission required.

This seminar focuses on a comprehensive understanding of the science, study, and treatment of high-risk behaviors in severe psychopathology. Course topics: alcohol/substance use, disordered eating, impulsivity, and self-injurious thoughts and behaviors. Readings will involve empirical studies and theoretical papers that have shaped the study of these behaviors and their relationship/presence in DSM-5.

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 course explores the human side of climate change. Drawing from the domains of social, cognitive, developmental, and clinical psychology as well as interdisciplinary theories related to human decision-making, behavior and motivation, we will explore questions raised by the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on global climate change. Prerequisites: PSY 100 or equivalent. Enrollment limited to 25. (E)

This colloquium is concerned with the psychological processes underlying political phenomena. The course is divided into three sections: Leaders, Followers and Social Movements. In each of these sections, we examine how psychological factors influence political behavior, and how political acts affect individual psychology. Prerequisites: PSY 100 & PSY 202. Enrollment limited to 25.

Exploring adolescents’ developing identity, psychosocial and cultural adjustment and their needs for acceptance, autonomy and intimacy in light of the major biological, cognitive and social changes of this phase. Emphasis is given to cultural concepts in adolescent/emerging adulthood psychology and development. Prerequisite: PSY 100, PSY 201 and PSY 202. Enrollment limited to 25.