First Year Seminar: Calling Bullshit: Fighting for Facts in a Post-Truth World
We live in a post-truth world in which the line between truth and falsehood is increasingly blurred. This may be because there are more insidious methods of deception that mix truth with sloppy reasoning. In this seminar, we’ll discuss the differences between bullshit, misinformation, disinformation, and fake news and learn strategies to detect and defuse unreliable information. We will explore common, and often subtle, ways in which information is presented by those who wish to influence our thinking and behavior. The information skills fostered in this seminar – detecting, defusing, and refuting bullshit – will be further developed through knowledge of statistical traps, misleading data visualizations, and the role of the internet and social media. After learning how to detect unreliable information, understanding its growth and development, and developing strategies to refute it, students will be asked to apply their skills to study both sides of a topic of interest.
First Year Seminar: Why do people believe weird things?
The beliefs we hold — about ourselves, about others, and about the world — are much closer to quickly constructed and poorly tested hypotheses than established fact. This is particularly true for paranormal beliefs. Because our beliefs shape everything from the life decisions we make, to the way we interact with others, to the governmental policies that are implemented, we have an obligation to critically evaluate our own beliefs whenever possible. This can only be done with the use of critical thinking skills. One goal of the course is therefore to learn critical thinking skills and apply these to paranormal phenomena. A second goal is to use standard psychological science and its methodological tools to examine paranormal beliefs and thus to gain an understanding of the origins, functions, and survivability of such beliefs. We will explore psychological processes that contribute to irrational beliefs, superstitious and erroneous beliefs and behavior. Why do we believe weird things?
PSYC 140: Social Psychology
Humans are “the social animal” because our beliefs, our brains, and our physical environments are profoundly shaped by our social context, often without us realizing it. The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the field of social psychology – the scientific study of how our thoughts, feelings, and behavior are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of other people. We will discuss topics such as the self, conformity and obedience, social cognition and information processing, attitudes and persuasion, prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination, social influence, romantic relationships, and helping behavior. You will learn how research in social psychology can explain everyday events in your own lives and around the world and how it can help to better human existence.
PSYC 211: Design of Psychological Research
This course serves as an introduction to research methods in psychology. In this class, we will explore the major concepts in planning research studies, research design, and analysis. We will review how to search and critically evaluate scientific research, how to design and conduct research projects, collect, analyze and interpret data, and communicate the findings to an audience of psychologists. We will also discuss the various limitations of each research approach, as well as methods for assessing threats to validity and reliability of psychological measures. Throughout the course we will work on developing critical thinking skills and deepen our understanding of the field of scientific psychology.
SCIE258:The History of Science and Culture Through the Lens of Denmark
In this globally integrated course, you will learn about the history of science through the lens of Denmark. You will develop an understanding of the mutual interaction between scientific ideas and cultural, political, and societal influences, learn the history of scientific and technological ideas relevant to Denmark, increase your understanding of the culture, geography, and politics of Denmark, and finally deepen your ability to write clearly while integrating historical, cultural, and scientific ideas. We will mostly focus on England and Denmark during the 16th-18th century. General areas include the origins of science and its development and interaction with society. Specific topics include the role of religion, warfare, industry, rivalry, globalization, instrumentation, exploration, evolution, progress, time, and objectivity spanning the breadth of the sciences.
PSYC 340: Research Methods in Social Psychology
We conduct empirical studies in order to become familiar with techniques for measuring attitudes and social behavior in the field and the lab, for analyzing and evaluating data, and for reporting findings and conclusions. Students gain direct experience in the process of conducting research studies by working as experimenters and data analysts.
PSYC 440: Seminar in Social Psychology
In this seminar, we read and discuss primary sources in theoretical or applied social psychology. Previous seminars have looked at applications of social psychology principles in law, medicine, mental health, consumer behavior, conservation, and education, and theories of social construal, social influence, and social systems. Students are responsible for leading class sessions and contributing to a group document, such as an annotated bibliography or literature review.