The science of me, you and us: understan

Prerequisite:  Course equivalents of at least two of the following  courses:  UN1001, UN2430,  UN2630, UN3410, UN3480, UN3485; and/or instructor's permission.

Why do we feel the way we do, how do we understand ourselves and others, and how does this relate to our social relationships?  In this course, we tackle questions like these using an integrative approach that blends social psychology, affective science and neuroscience to uncover how our emotions and social interactions work. To do this, we will draw on multiple types of data to examine human behavior at multiple levels, connecting our social and emotional lives (what we experience and how we act) to cognitive processes (how our minds process information) and underlying neural mechanisms (what's happening in the brain).  Across the semester, the course is split into three parts, each one building on insights from the prior section.  Part 1 starts with the premise that emotions are at the root of everything we do, exploring where they come from and how we can understand and manage them.  Part 2 turns the focus outwards, examining how we make sense of other people and form connections with them.  With these two foundational building blocks in place, Part 3 uses what we have learned to understand what happens when things go awry and we end up with momentary - or long-lasting - bouts of anxiety, depression, or loneliness – and what we can do to overcome them and lead a happy and fulfilling life.  The overarching goal is to build a nuanced understanding of how and why we think and feel the way we do – about ourselves, other people and our connections to them – that can inform both scientific and personal explorations of what it means to be human.