PSYC 326Z
Winter 2025
| Section:
01
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| This course may be repeated for credit. |
| Crosslisting:
NS&B 326Z |
The course is designed to trace the people, experiments, social forces and ideas that have helped shape the legacy of current neuroscientific knowledge. The course will be broken up into five parts: Part one will look at Ancient Egyptian, and Classical Greek and Roman conceptions of brain function. Part two will investigate methodological advances in the study of electricity and cell-staining techniques -- both developed in the 18th-19th century -- that paved the way for novel ways of looking at brain function and human behavior and how these new conceptualizations impacted the culture at large. Part three will investigate the history of assigning specific cognitive, emotional and behavioral function to specific structures in the brain. Part four will link developments in neuroscientific study with their impact (both positive and ill) on the treatment and care of people with psychiatric and neurological illness form the 19th-century to the present day. Part five will present a summing up and an overview of contemporary models of brain and mind. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS PSYC |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Graded |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (NS&B)(PSYC) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Cobb, Matthew (2020). The idea of the brain: The past and future of neuroscience. Basic Books: New York.
Finger, Stanley (2005). Minds behind the brain. A history of pioneers and their discoveries. Oxford University Press, New York.
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Examinations and Assignments:
Each class participant will be responsible for the following:
1. Be an active class participant (10% of grade).
2. Four quizzes based on class lectures and discussion (40% of grade).
3. Delivering a presentation and leading a subsequent discussion on a scholarly article or chapter relevant to your selected term paper topic. Each class participant will present for 10 minutes with at least 2-4 PowerPoint slides on the last day of class .
4. Writing a final research paper which is due on the last day of finals (35% of grade)
5. Students will be asked to complete journal entries for the course though a Moodle discussion forum. You will be required to write at least one brief journal entry per week (13 for the course), describing which aspects of your course learning have been particularly relevant for your own educational and professional goals and how the course may have changed your attitudes about neuroscience (5% of grade).
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Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
PSYC105 or NSB213 will be helpful but not required. This course is scheduled to be held online. All Winter Session students should expect some readings and assignments to be due during winter break, prior to the beginning of Winter Session class meetings. Syllabi for Winter Session courses will be posted to https://www.wesleyan.edu/wintersession/courses.html as soon as they are available. |
| Instructor(s): Kurtz,Matthew Times: .MTWRF. 10:00AM-12:00PM; .MTWRF. 01:00PM-03:00PM; Location: TBA |
| Total Enrollment Limit: 14 | | SR major: 3 | JR major: 3 | | |
| Seats Available: 7 | GRAD: X | SR non-major: 3 | JR non-major: 2 | SO: 2 | FR: 1 |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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