Course Catalog

CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY (PY2046)

Human beings are cultural beings. We cannot understand human nature without understanding its cultural fabric. We cannot understand ourselves and our being in the world without understanding this world as a cultural world, in fact, as consisting of multiple cultural worlds in which we live at the same time. In this course, we inquire why the cultural dimension is crucial for human psychology. To this purpose, we explore a number of cultural worlds, Western and non-Western. We also investigate various psychological functions such as thinking and consciousness, remembering and memory, and self-construction and identity. And we look at different cultural sign and symbol systems such as language, art, literature, and film. In this way, the course also offers the opportunity to think about our own cultural existence and the way we view ourselves and others.

BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR (PY2055)

This course provides students with knowledge of the central nervous system of humans and an understanding of its contributions to various psychological functions. An emphasis will be on applying this knowledge to various diseases, disorders, and injuries. A further focus will be on how individuals who are affected understand their neurological changes and how they cope with them. Additional topics may include the mechanics of basic biological functioning in behaviors such as emotions, sleep and sexual behavior.

POLITICAL PSYCHOLOGY (PY2062)

This course explores international political affairs from psychological perspectives. It examines how psychology contributes to politics while being shaped by it. Students learn about a range of psychological phenomena – such as emotion, memory, socialization, resilience, self, and identity – in the contexts of political institutions, political movements, cultural politics, and governmentality.

SELF AND IDENTITY (PY2068)

What is my identity? And what is my self? Or should we speak of identities and selves? Whatever they are, these questions run through our lives. They are central issues in our relationships; they influence our view of the future; they impact what we remember from our past; they underlie our quest for a meaningful existence. They also are at the heart of countless investigations of psychologists, philosophers, social scientists, writers, and artists. In this class, we explore these issues both theoretically and empirically, that is, in research contexts of psychology and neighbouring human sciences.

COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY (PY2075)

This course introduces students to the basic aspects of human cognition. How do humans think? How do we come to know the world? The course will concentrate on the classic topics in adult cognition: pattern recognition, memory, attention, categorization, problem-solving, reasoning, and decision-making. Special emphasis will be placed on cross-cultural aspects of cognition.

TOPICS IN PSYCHOLOGY (PY2091)

Treats a series of topics that change every year and deal with various aspects of psychology. Courses are taught by permanent or visiting faculty and are generally related to their fields of specialization.

WRITING THE SOCIAL WORLD (PY2120)

This class is uniquely tailored to the interdisciplinary focus of students majoring in Psychology and/or Gender, Sexuality, and Society. Juxtaposing different forms of writing, evidence, and rhetorical practices in psychology, the social sciences, and the humanities, students will reflect on methods and writing practices in order to develop an authentic disciplinary voice. Prerequisites: Sophomore standing, EN 1010, and PY 1000 or GS 2006

TOPICS IN PSYCHOLOGY (PY2910)

Topics vary by semester

PSYCHOLOGY OF SENSATION (PY3025)

Provides a comprehensive overview of the fundamental operations by which every human being acquires knowledge about the external world. This course provides a scientific understanding of how and why the human senses affect the way people perceive the world around them, including how perceptions can be distorted by both physical and experiential factors.

PSYCHOLINGUISTICS (PY3035)

Studies the psychological processes involved in the acquisition, understanding and use of language. Provides an overview of the following research areas: speech perception, word recognition, sentence and discourse processing, speech production, first-, second-, and third-language acquisition, bilingual and multilingual acquisition, and language processing in the brain. PY 1000 is recommended as a prerequisite.