2017-2018 Academic Catalog

Dec 15, 2025

2017-2018 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

PSYC 246 - Self and Identity in Social Context

What makes us who we are-what is a Self? Is our Self comprised of memory, a set of cognitive functions, or our personality? What are the narratives we use to understand our lives in a social world? How is our Self translated into identities, and how do those identities operate in the larger social world? How are those identities shaped by those around us, and how much can or do they change?

The first objective of this course is for you to understand how psychologists study each of the above questions and others, as well as how they have attempted to answer them. We will do this through discussions and reflections on empirical and theoretical readings in psychology, as well as readings from related fields, excerpts from novels (both traditional and graphic), and other sources. The second objective of this course is for you to produce a scholarly zine (a kind of self-made magazine) or blog that explores questions related to self and identity, and for which you have polished and self-reflective answers, informed by psychological theory.

Prerequisites for this course require a grade of C- or better

This course fulfills the mid-level First Seminar requirement of the Psychology major.

Prerequisites: PSYC 101 , PSYC 108 , and PSYC 109

Anticipated Terms Offered: Fall or Spring, Bi-annually