Courses

Prerequisites: Instructor permission required, contact [email protected]

This course will provide an overview of theoretical perspectives and research on what emotions are, what functions they serve, and what roles emotions and emotion regulation play in many parts of our lives such asmental health, social relationships, and decision making. The readings will incorporate a wide array of tools that scientists have adopted to understand emotions at different levels of analysis, such as the use of physiological measures (including brain activity), behavioral measures, self-reports of experience, and data acquired through social media.To present different perspectives on the study of emotions, the course will cover research drawn from such fields as social psychology, clinical psychology and developmental psychology, as well as social and affective neuroscience. Concurrently, we will hone a scientific mindset by approaching readings, presentations,and writing assignments with a structured approach to scientific inquiry that helps us identify the major components of the research process when reading and thinking about scientific research.