Courses

An introduction to the major subfields of psychology: behavioral neuroscience, cognitive, developmental, social, and psychological disorders and treatment. The course aims to acquaint students with the major methods, theoretical points of view, and findings of each subfield. Important concepts are exemplified by a study of selected topics and issues within each of these areas. [ more ]

Throughout the 20th century, parents, students, teachers, and policymakers have fought bitterly about the purpose of and practices in public schools. Public schools have been the site of a series of intense conflicts over the meanings of democracy and equality; the relationship between the individual, the family, and the state; and about completing claims to recognize the rights of teachers, children, and parents. Organized both chronologically and thematically, this course examines a series of "school wars" in the 20th century, focusing especially on battles over religion, race, and sex. Topics will include evolution/creationism, segregation and desegregation, bilingual education, sex education, free speech, and school prayer. This course asks how, why, and with what consequences schools have been an arena of cultural conflict in the United States? How do these debates help us understand the contested relationship between the rights of children and students, the rights of parents and families, the rights of communities and states, and the obligations of the federal government? How can historical analysis shed light on our present-day "school wars"? Many of these conflicts wind up in court, and we will be looking at some key Supreme Court decisions, but we will also draw upon memoirs, social histories, oral histories, popular culture, and other archival and documentary sources that focus on the experience of teachers and students. Tutorials meet in pairs. Every week, each student will either write an essay (1000-1250 words) that responds to and analyzes the readings OR a short essay (no more than 500 words) that responds to their partner's paper and raises further questions for discussion. [ more ]

This course surveys research on human cognition. Topics include perception, attention, learning, memory, categorization, language, judgment, decision making, reasoning, and problem solving. [ more ]

An introduction to the study of human growth and development from conception through emerging adulthood. Topics for discussion include prenatal and infant development, perceptual and motor development, language acquisition, cognitive development, and social and emotional development. These topics form the basis for a discussion of the major theories of human development, including those about early experience, neural plasticity, dynamic systems, information processing, social learning, attachment, parenting, and family systems. [ more ]

A survey of theory and research in social psychology. Topics include conformity, group dynamics, stereotyping and prejudice, aggression, altruism, attraction and love, the self, social perception, attitudes and attitude change, and cultural psychology. Applications in areas such as advertising, law, economics and business, and politics will also be discussed. [ more ]

What are the purposes of higher education? What are the purposes of liberal arts colleges in America? What should be the goals of Williams College? We will begin examining these questions by studying the history of some controversies in American higher education, and then turn to contemporary controversies such as campus free speech, cancel culture, divestment, decolonization, and admissions criteria. [ more ]

This course will start with a history of the curriculum of Williams College, and will include a research project students will complete through the course catalogues and other materias in the college archives. From that point of departure we will read several novels and articles, see films, listen to music, and study cultural moments in the United States and abroad when the Humanities have peaked (for example, the GI Bill) and others when their value has been questioned, censored or come under threat (from the McCarthy era to AI). [ more ]

This class will examine two interrelated topics in education. One is societal issues in schooling, such recruiting teachers, tracking, international differences, and fads. The other is principles in the cognitive psychology of learning, such as metacognition, spacing effects, and retrieval practice, that can be used to enhance learning. Most of the readings will be scientific articles. [ more ]

Are babies statistical experts? Will I ever be good at calculus? What are we born with and what do we learn? Before children are ever taught formal mathematics in a classroom, they are confronted with situations where they must use their informal understanding of geometry, space, and number to successfully navigate their environments. In this course we read and discuss both foundational and cutting-edge articles from neuroscience, cognitive science, education, and psychology to understand how humans bridge this gap between the informal and formal mathematical worlds. We will also tackle questions such as: How do culture and language affect numerical understanding? What are the sources of children's mathematical misconceptions? What are the effects of early environmental input or input deprivation on mathematical development? What do we know about gender differences in math achievement? How do stereotypes, prejudice, and math anxiety affect math performance? For your laboratory component, you will work with a small group of other students to develop an original research project that tests a specific hypothesis about children's mathematical thinking and learning. Data will be collected either online or in community schools, with the permission of parents, teachers, and children. Your results will be written-up in for your final paper, which will be in the style of an empirical journal article. [ more ]

This course will examine social psychological theories and research that are relevant to the understanding of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. We will take a variety of social psychological perspectives, emphasizing sociocultural, cognitive, personality, or motivational explanations. We will examine the impact that stereotypes and prejudice have on people's perceptions of and behaviors toward particular groups or group members and will explore a variety of factors that tend to exacerbate or weaken this impact. We also will consider sources of prejudice and processes through which it is maintained, strengthened, or revised. In addition, we will examine some of the effects that stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination can have on members of stereotyped groups, as well as some implications of the social psychological research findings for issues such as education, sports, and business and government policies. A major component of this course will be the examination of classic and ongoing empirical research. [ more ]

Education is inherently political, and politics necessarily involves pedagogy. Who should teach, what is taught, how it is taught, and why it is taught are questions hotly debated at all levels and in all sites of education because the answers have implications for societal reproduction or transformation. Politicians, activists, even family members at the dinner table all seek to educate in ways that incline us toward particular political positions. At the heart of this class stands the question: if different pedagogies point us in different political directions, then what kind of pedagogy or pedagogies serve the end of liberation from oppression and why? Are there certain pedagogical "goods" that reliably serve the goal of liberation across sites? Or do different sites require different approaches? To begin to answer these questions, we will engage a variety of thinker-teachers and groups known for their commitment to a "pedagogy of liberation." While feminist thinkers will be foregrounded, we may also look to thinker-teachers who and groups that do not claim this label. In addition to engaging texts which reflect on different aspects of radical pedagogy (content, form, method, etc.) and radical pedagogy in different settings (the college classroom, the social movement headquarters, the home), we will witness radical pedagogy in practice. Moreover, we will enact various radical pedagogical strategies in our own classroom and beyond. [ more ]

The development of child psychopathology is influenced by a complex interplay of factors related to the individual (e.g., genetic risk), the family (e.g., instances of abuse), the school environment (e.g., incidents of bullying), and the broader context (e.g., socioeconomic factors like poverty). In comparison to adults, the manifestation of symptoms in children and adolescents is more directly linked to their immediate surroundings. Consequently, interventions primarily centered around the family and school settings are commonly employed in the prevention and treatment of psychological and behavioral issues. Throughout this course, we will delve into the associations between risk and protective factors from various settings and the emergence of externalizing and internalizing symptoms in children and adolescents. A comprehensive examination of the role of parenting and family dynamics in the origins of disorders in children will be undertaken. Our discussions will also encompass a spectrum of practical and ethical considerations associated with working with children and families. The objectives of this course include gaining an enhanced understanding of crucial risk and protective factors, exploring how such knowledge can be applied at the individual, family, and population levels, and grasping the utilization of behavior analysis and case conceptualization as tools for crafting precise and effective interventions for children and adolescents. To accomplish these objectives, we will analyze case studies and research articles, adopting a hands-on approach to applying knowledge of risk and protective factors in both assessment and intervention design. Emphasis will be placed on addressing the myriad practical and ethical challenges linked to working with children and families during these discussions. [ more ]

Along with jazz, pragmatism stands as the greatest uniquely American contribution to world culture. As the music wails in the background, we will study the classic pragmatists: William James, C. S. Peirce, and John Dewey. We will continue with the contemporary inheritors of the tradition: Cornel West, Richard Rorty, and Hilary Putnam. Although it has influenced both analytic and continental philosophy, pragmatism is a powerful third philosophical movement. Always asking what practical difference would it make, our authors investigate the central questions and disputes of philosophy, from epistemology and metaphysics to ethics and religion. Rather than seeing philosophy as an esoteric discipline, the pragmatic philosophers (with the possible exception of Peirce) see philosophy as integral to our culture and see themselves as public intellectuals. [ more ]