University of Sussex

This course examines when and why people care and help – or do not. Although the focus will be on caring for and helping other people, this course considers commitment more generally, e.g., to one’s self, to one’s relationships, to one’s country, to one’s god, to justice, etc. The course is concerned with whether non-human animals ever have similar concerns and commitments. Most sub-disciplines within psychology (e.g., biological, clinical, cognitive, developmental, personality, social) will be considered on the module, as will aspects of several related disciplines (e.g., economics, philosophy, sociology).

This course explores issues with humankind's relationship to food from a psychobiological perspective. The course focuses on appetite control and constructs of hunger and satiety. Students discuss flavor perception and hedonics, concepts of food craving and addiction, and food choice and preference. The course examines non-nutritive effects of foods (including nutriceuticals) and links food to mood and cognition. Finally, students explore the basis of the rise of obesity and disordered eating from a psychobiological perspective.

This course provides an interdisciplinary focus on six issues of current social concern. The topics include the consequences of child abuse, the effect of divorce on children, perceptions of rape and rape victims, eating disorders, stereotyping and prejudice, and abortion. Students have the opportunity to explore these contemporary social issues from a psychological and sociological perspective, using relevant readings as well as intimate lectures and a range of media sources.

This course focuses on the centrality of gender as a factor structuring, ultimately, all social relations. The course explores relationships between men and women, men and men, women and women, as personal and sexual relations, within the household, the labor market, and the state; how gender relations and practices are performed in different cultures; the role of gender in processes of social transformation and the impact of industrialization and migration on gender relations.