How our Bodies and Minds Shape our Social and Physical Lives
PSYC 116F
Fall 2022
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01
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Over the past few decades, psychology has embarked on a serious journey to understand how our minds influence our bodies in ways that are important for our health. However, alongside this journey runs another, equally fascinating one, exploring how our bodies can influence our minds in ways that are important for our social lives. Throughout this course we will examine key insights from both these perspectives. First, we will investigate how the ways in which we think and feel can influence physiological processes that shape our health. Then, we will take a look at how our physiological states can shape our minds by influencing how we think and feel, and the judgments that we form about ourselves and others. We will explore these topics by taking a critical look at some of the most provocative and, at times, controversial methods, ideas, and findings that have emerged from this field of scientific inquiry. This course will involve lecture, readings, visual media, and in-class discussion. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
NSM PSYC |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (PSYC) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 | | Special Attributes: FYS |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
All readings will be provided by the instructor. I will use a variety of sources for each topic, including book chapters, popular press articles, shot review articles from academic journals, and a variety of media (e.g., documentaries, movies, academic talks).
Examples of materials include:
1. Excerpts from Anne Harrington¿s ¿The Cure Within¿
2. Robert Sapolsky¿s documentary ¿Stress, Portrait of a Killer¿
3. Amy Cuddy¿s Ted Talk (Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are) for a critical and provocative discussion on whether our bodies can influence our sense of power
4. Lectures on topics and perspectives such as embodiment, misattribution of arousal, ¿affect-as-information¿, and their influence on social processes across various contexts, from intimate relationships to intergroup relationships
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Examinations and Assignments:
No exams will be required. Students will engage in the following activities:
1. Answer 2-4 weekly reflection questions posed by the instructor
2. Prepare 3-4 short writing assignments (one about each month)
3. Engage in a 4-day, self-monitoring journal with the goal of understanding, through self-observation, how our physiological (or psychological) states influence a particular outcome (e.g., how sleep quality may influence the quality of social interactions with friends over 4 days)
4. Work in groups to prepare a presentation on their journal project at the end of the semester |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
This course counts as an elective towards the psychology major. |
| Instructor(s): Imami,Ledina Times: .M.W.F. 09:50AM-10:40AM; Location: SCIE72; |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 15 | | SR major: X | JR major: X | | |
| Seats Available: 0 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: X | JR non-major: X | SO: X | FR: 15 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 5 | 1st Ranked: 2 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 1 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 2 |
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