Psychology – Non-Majors (PSYCN-UH)

For centuries, Paris and France have had the reputation of being a progressive place of free gender expression and sexual liberation. After all, this was where the bikini was invented, and where Nabokov's Lolita was first published. But France was also one of the last countries in Europe to extend voting rights to women (1944), and today French women still earn only 75 cents to every man's euro. This course will examine the current state of sex and gender in Paris today, to explore how Paris's reputation fits with the reality on the ground, and to learn what gender relations in Paris can tell us about sex and gender more generally. The course is grounded in a literature drawn predominantly from research in psychology and gender studies. Students will have to opportunity to see first-hand how sex and gender plays out in Paris by visits to museums, theaters, bars, and department stores, and will report on their experiences in assignments and class discussion. Students will relate these experiences back to theories they learn to help understand the current state of academic knowledge on sex and gender. This course is open to all students but will NOT count towards the Psychology major or minor.

The course provides an overview of empirical research into the psychology of human sexuality. The course surveys findings from basic research, theories regarding human sexuality, sexual functioning and its psychological correlates, and clinical research into sexual problems and their treatment. Topics covered include psychological aspects related to sexual and gender minorities, including affirmative counseling approaches for LGBTQ individuals; current scientific understanding of sexual variations as well as sexual harassment and coercion; sex as a commodity; and psychological aspects related to HIV/AIDS and its prevention. The study of human sexuality is inherently multidisciplinary as sexuality is a biopsychosocial phenomenon. Even though the course focuses on the psychological level of analysis, cultural, societal and legal aspects related to sexuality in a global context are relevant to many of the topics covered. As an example, we explore the topic of sexual racism/racial fetishism as well as legislation related to sexuality in different societies. This course is open to all students but will NOT count towards the Psychology major or minor.

This methods course focuses on training students in the practice of transformative interviewing, a method of semi-structured interviewing and analysis used to disrupt stereotyping and to foster connection. It is a tool based on the science of human connection that tells a five-part story of who we are as humans, how stereotypes get in the way and cause a crisis of connection, the consequences of the crisis, and the solutions. Transformative interviewing is a solution to the crisis of connection. Each class is divided into two parts: 1) Discussing the course reading that describes different interviewing techniques and methods of analysis than transformative interviewing and 2) Learning the method of transformative interviewing. The objectives of this course are to: 1) provide a brief overview of the science of human connection; 2) understand and learn how to conduct transformative interviews; 3) learn how to construct an interview guide containing a variety of primary and secondary questions following a sequence appropriate for the purpose of the interview; and 4) learn how to analyze transformative interviews using qualitative techniques.