The success of Homo sapiens clearly results from the amazing things the human brain can do, and yet our brains are almost completely isolated from the outside world. How does the human brain give rise to the thoughts and behaviors that enable everyday life? How is the brain organized? Why is it “programmed” the way it is? Where does consciousness come from? What happens when our brain malfunctions? This course tries to answer these kinds of questions through an overview of foundational concepts from psychological and related mind sciences including...
One of Harvard's iconic survey courses for more than 20 years, Introduction to Psychological Science is an owner's manual for the human mind. Covering topics such as memory, consciousness, sleep, dreams, language, racism, sex, violence, and more, the course is led by Professor Daniel Gilbert (Links to an external site.), the best-selling author of Stumbling on Happiness (Links to an external site.) and host of the award-winning PBS television series This Emotional Life (Links to an external site.) whose TED talks (Links to an external site.) have been viewed more than 30 million times...
What could be more interesting than the human mind? This is not just a first course in psychology but an opportunity to explore some of the deepest and most fascinating issues in intellectual life. Is there such a thing as human nature? How does the activity of the brain result in intelligence, consciousness, will? How do we see, think, learn, talk, feel, relate to one another? Why do we fall in love, find babies cute, crave sex, experience disgust and fear, distrust other races, kill each other? And why do we differ: women from men, gay from straight, one individual from another, the... Read more about Head Teaching Fellow & Remote Support Teaching Fellow, Introduction to Psychological Science (Steven Pinker)
Surveys the scientific study of human psychology. Introduces students to topics such as perception, consciousness, development, cognition, emotion, motivation, psychopathology, decision making, and social behavior.
In this course, we will seek to answer two questions about the distribution of resources in our society: who gets what, and why? The course is organized into three units that represent core elements of social position: social class, race/ethnicity, and sex/gender. In each unit, we will study the ways in which socio-economic resources are distributed and explore the social processes, structures, and institutions that influence the distribution of these resources. The course materials are organized around a selection of books that have defined contemporary research on social inequality
Explores American society and culture through the lens of its various media, including television, literature, music, movies, and the internet. Topics include class and cultural consumption, the business dynamics of the art world, the power of advertising and mass media, children's media and the online worlds of adolescents, and the rise of urban creative economy. Throughout, students will have opportunities to explore and evaluate ideas from class via independent social and media research. Appropriate for sociology concentrators and non-concentrators alike.
