PSYC 307 SYLLABUS Introduction This course will explore how culture influences human thought. The relations between culture and psychology are both complex and profound. We'll be considering a number of difficult questions including: What is human nature? How do culture and self make each other up? What methodologies can we use to study culture in psychology? How do various ways of thinking differ across cultures? What happens when people grow up in multiple cultures? How do cultures change or persist over time? The goals of the course are to introduce you to the field of cultural psychology, stimulate critical thinking and analytic skills generally, and help you think about your own psychological experiences from a cultural perspective. If you wish to contact the instructor please email him at heine@psych.ubc.ca and do NOT send an email over Canvas, as he probably won't see it if you do. Text Heine, S. J. ffi2020). Cultural Psychology ffi4th edition). New York: W. W. Norton. Exams. There will be two exams ffia midterm and a final) in this course. The exams will test your understanding and mastery over the material covered in the readings and lectures. The midterm and final will both consist solely of multiple choice questions. The final is NOT cumulative and will only cover material since the midterm. Perception Study Assignment In this assignment you are to seek the participation of three people ffithis can be done either online or in person). You will show them some visual stimuli and will ask them to make some judgments about them. You will then upload their responses to a database that will be shared by the whole class. After the whole class has uploaded their data you will be asked to conduct some simple analyses of the data and then to answer some written questions about the findings. Your data needs to be entered by March 11, and your assignment is due by March 18. Details about this assignment can be found further below.
Class Discussions Because the large size of this class makes it more challenging to interact with your fellow students, I'm incorporating asynchronous chats in Canvas under the Discussions link as a way to help you to get to know your classmates, and to provide an opportunity for you to discuss the class material. For each of the topics below you will be asked to post a minimum of 2 posts. You will only be graded for the first two of the posts you make, but you are encouraged to post as many times as you wish to keep the discussions going. You will earn up to .5 points for each of your first two posts - as long as your posts are thoughtful and on topic you will earn full points for them; otherwise partial points will be deducted. There are 5 separate chats, so you can earn up to 5 points total towards your grade if you participate in all of them. Please be respectful towards your classmates in