Professional Writing and Discussions: The Language of Psychology

7.140301

Dozenten

Beschreibung

*IMPORTANT: It is likely that this course will be taking place during its usual times in an online classroom (via BigBlueButton). Please only sign up for this class if you are able and willing, and in possession of the necessary equipment (stable internet connection, microphone, webcam) in order to accomplish this.

Professional Writing and Discussion classes are designed to allow students – under the guidance of their course instructors – to undertake a more active and independent development of their language skills by applying them to a specific topic area. Ultimately, the central aim of these courses, whatever topic area and skills focus you choose, is to facilitate your transition into a self-sufficient and proficient user of the English language. You will continue to train your productive and receptive language skills, you will further expand your lexico-grammatical knowledge in connection with the specialist language used in the course, and you will acquire supplementary cultural knowledge on English-speaking countries. You will be expected to attend class regularly and contribute actively and intelligently. Furthermore, you will need to complete oral and written tasks during the course of these classes, hold a graded session and submit a final written portfolio.

In this particular course, we will spend the first half of the semester analysing selected paradigm-changing experiments, many of them from the fields of social and behavioural psychology. For example, we will hold sessions focussing on conditioning, cognitive dissonance, conformity, authority, and the bystander effect. We will also touch on further interesting fields of theory and practice, such as clinical, developmental, differential and personality, forensic, educational and organisational psychology. As the course develops, we will read and discuss various studies so that you are able to establish and discuss the impact of psychology on our everyday and professional lives, including the way we learn, process and interpret language. In the last unit of the course, we will discuss mental health and how the recent covid-19 pandemic has affected people's mental well-being. An electronic reader will be made available before the start of class.

TRIGGER WARNING: This course will contain discussions on social experiments that may prove uncomfortable or distressing. We will also be discussing clinical psychological disorders as well as mental health as a general psychological issue. If this is likely to cause you significant distress, please consider whether this is really the class you want to take. If you need advice or support in this regard, you are welcome to contact me.

Up to eight spots in the course can be allocated in advance to students who attend one of my online office hours on July 15th, 22nd or 29th (note: email is not an acceptable alternative to this! Students wishing to do this should sign up for an office hour appointment using the form at the bottom of my profile on Stud.IP.) and confirm in our consultation that they (1) are prepared to commit to taking the course and (2) have identified a topic that they would like to investigate for their class session. All other registrations are provisional and will be allocated based on factors such as level of need and semester of study.

Weitere Angaben

Ort: nicht angegeben
Zeiten: Mo. 12:00 - 14:00 (wöchentlich)
Erster Termin: Montag, 19.10.2020 12:00 - 14:00
Veranstaltungsart: Seminar (Offizielle Lehrveranstaltungen)

Studienbereiche

• Veranstaltungen > Interdisziplinäre Studiengänge > Literatur und Kultur in Europa > Modul Sprachpraxis
• Veranstaltungen > Anglistik; Englisch > Sprachpraxis > Bachelor
• Veranstaltungen > Anglistik; Englisch > Sprachpraxis > Master
• Courses in English > Language and Literary Studies