I have not taught this course for a number of years. When last I did teach it we focused on the ways in which human thoughts, feelings, and behavior are enormously variable yet consistently predictable. How can we account for the variations, and how for the discernable patterns? 

Human thought, feelings, and behavior are shaped by history, constitution, environment, culture, class, family, and fate. How can we understand the interactions between all these forces. For example, does abuse have different meanings and impacts at different developmental stages in different social environments? If so, can we ever say for sure what the effects of a particular type of abuse are going to be?   

Human thought, feeling, and behavior appears to change over the life course. To what degree are these changes shaped by biology and to what degree by society and culture? 

And what, on all of the above, is the impact of growing up outside the banks of the mainstream?

These and many more are the questions that will be addressed in this course. For a more complete look at the course, check out the Syllabus and the Assignments.