Psychology

Course Highlights

Here is a closer look at some of the courses offered by the Psychology Department:

Hollywood Does Psychology: An Introduction to Psychology Through Film
People in Nature: A Non-Western Perspective of Psychology
Contemporary Issues in Sex and Gender

Hollywood Does Psychology: An Introduction to Psychology Through Film

PSYC 271
J-Term 2010 — Prof. Penny Seymoure

This course introduces students to the five core areas of psychology (social, developmental, cognitive, neuropsychology and abnormal), and allows students to examine how these cores are depicted by the entertainment industry in a variety of classic and not-so-classic films. Prof. Penny Seymoure is offering this course for the first time in J-Term 2010.

Each week of the J-Term course is devoted to a particular theme in which the films will include one or more of the psychological cores.

During the first week, students will explore social attitudes, behaviors and prejudices through films such as Gran Torino and Twelve Angry Men (racism and racial injustice, anger management, social conformity, aging), Ma Vie En Rose (development, gender identity, stress, social prejudice) and Transamerica or Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (homosexuality, cross dressing, family relationships).

The second week will be devoted to films about memory systems, memory deficits, and amnesias with films such as What Jennifer Saw (memory consolidation and recollection of false memorial information), Memento and 50 First Dates (amnesia), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (memory control and memory erasure).

In the third week, students will examine abnormal behaviors, clinical disorders, and treatments through a variety of films including Rain Man (autism), A Beautiful Mind (schizophrenia), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Good Will Hunting (treatment).

People in Nature: A Non-Western Perspective of Psychology

PSYC 217 (Global Heritage)
Fall 2009 — Prof. Penny Seymoure

A Mbya boy places a wreath he made on Prof. Penny Seymoure's head, in the community of Fortin Mbororé, Misiones Province, Argentina. Prof. Seymoure has traveled to Argentina to study the effects of local and tourist development on the cultural, psychological and medical practices of the Mbya Guarani people. Photo courtesy of Greg Larsen, '07

This course examines the psychology of peoples whose belief systems and traditions are embedded in the natural world. It differs in its perspective from conventional psychology courses because these actors are traditionally engaged in community-based sustainable economic activities and resource sharing. In contrast, collective dependence is seldom discussed in western psychology as the emphasis is on the individual and the needs of the individual.

Students explore the interdependence of psychology and the natural world through the life projects of two closely related Guaraní peoples, the Mbya of Argentina and the Ava-Chiripá of Paraguay. Both of these cultures are under threat from increasing tourist and agricultural development and demands for their natural resources.

The course is organized around five themes that provide both ancient and contemporary understanding of the two cultures, and allows students to examine their own lives and beliefs in contrast to the two cultures living in the subtropics of South America. Dr. Seymoure has been conducting research with the Mbya of Argentina since 2003 and has taught two J-term travel courses where students engage in a service learning project for Mbya children as the students learn about and visit the Mbya. She is currently co-authoring a book discussing indigenous rights and the physical and psychological consequences of internal displacement caused from development and deforestation of Mbya lands.

Contemporary Issues in Sex and Gender

PSYC 345
Spring 2010 — Prof. Penny Seymoure

In this course students learn about the delicate balance between chromosomes, the central nervous system, gonadal hormones and the environment in shaping sex and gender. These issues are examined through reading and discussing a variety of scientific research studies and biographical books written by or about individuals who may differ from our normal perspective of male and female. This selection of materials will hopefully enable students to develop insight, and tolerance, regarding the many variations of sex and gender.

Secondly, students also examine the existing evidence for sexual dimorphisms in the structure and function of the nervous system in both humans and rodents and question whether anatomical differences are predictive of sex differences in a variety of forms of cognition. A crucial question related to rodent models is whether the evidence found for sexual dimorphism in these models is predictive or relevant for the human species.

Psychology Courses

"Professor Seymoure's People in Nature course has been my very favorite class at Carthage so far. This class gives an insight into the views of fascinating groups of people who have ideas so different from our own. I believe that Professor Seymoure made all the difference in the quality of this class. She was able to bring her expertise and experiences to the table to give us a true, first-hand look into the topics we discussed. I absolutely loved coming to class and hearing her stories. She was a fantastic professor, and I can't wait to take another of her classes!"

Sarah Bennett