Psychology

This course provides an approach to the study of neuroscience. It covers the major issues addressed by the discipline and the fundamental bases of the functioning of the nervous system.

This course uses an interdisciplinary approach to examine various Gross Human Right Violations (GHRV). Students are introduced to a different GHRV each with its own psychological theories, mechanisms, and underpinnings. In addition to a theoretical understanding, students apply their knowledge to specific case studies by analyzing them through four parts. First, a historical incident where Human Rights were violated is introduced followed by a documentary on the specific situation. Second, students examine now declassified governmental cables, reports, and other sources thus reading influential documents in their original version without being dependent on anyone else’s interpretation. Third, a Perspective Challenge in the form of a scientific paper that has been controversially discussed is used to adopt a different perspective. Fourth, students analyze a currently ongoing or a recent violation of Human Rights to test if they are able to explain the psychological mechanisms at play.

This course focuses on brain-behavior relationships and aims at increasing one's understanding of how healthy humans (or brains) function and how brain disease, brain injury disorders, such as, traumatic brain injuries, stroke and dementia, express themselves and interfere with the demands of daily life. Relevant topics in this context are behavior, higher cognitive functions (e.g., memory, attention, executive functioning, language), emotion, and adaptation. During the course, students collect knowledge on: (1) the clinical phenomenology of the most important cognitive and behavioral disorders seen in humans; (2) the underlying brain-behavior relationships in these disorders; (3) the interrelationships between various cognitive dysfunctions, emotional-, and behavioral problems; and (4) assessment methods, diagnosis and treatment. Students also gain experience in the selection, administration, and interpretation of commonly used tests, measuring the above-mentioned domains of higher cortical functions, affective functions, and behavior.

This course examines the psychology of human sexuality and intimate relationships through the scientific examination of thoughts, emotions, and behavior, both individually and culturally. It looks at the biological, cognitive, emotional, and socio-historical factors that contribute to the psychology of intimate relationships and sexuality. It covers topics such as variations of sexual behavior, sexuality identity, sexuality, relationship theories, interpersonal attraction, love and partner selection, attitudes, taboos, values & morals, variations of sexual behavior, communication, conflict, infidelity, etc. It also addresses key issues with regards to the psychology of abuse and domestic violence. 

This course offers an advanced introduction to the field of neurodiversity. Neurodiversity refers to variations in the human brain and cognition, for instance in sociability, learning, attention, mood and other mental functions. The course examines how certain developmental disorders such as autism, ADHD, and learning disabilities affect how individuals experience, interact with, and interpret the world.

The course gives an overview of the field which studies the behavior of individuals in social contexts. It covers social perception, social cognition, social motivation, attitudes and attitude change, relationship between attitude and behavior, aggression, helping, interpersonal attraction, social influence on individual behavior and group dynamics. The impact of Chinese culture on various social behaviors forms part of the discussion.