SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS University of Virginia, Academic Sponsor Voyage: Spring 2015 Discipline: Psychology Course Title: PSYC 2559: Cross-Cultural Psychology Global Comparative Lens Course Division: Upper Faculty Name: Joseph Lowman Class Meeting: B Days 0925-1040 Hours Pre-requisites: None COURSE DESCRIPTION Cross-Cultural Psychology aims to identify those human experiences and behaviors that are common to all humanity and those that are modified by the environment to varying degrees across cultures. As such, this is an ideal subject to study on a round-the-world voyage to different Asian, South Asian, and African Countries. Each port of call will offer rich examples of human behavior that with close observation may seem similar that you encounter in the US and Western countries. But you are also likely to note systematic cultural differences, some large and some subtle, especially after we have visited a number of international ports. Whether participating in formal Field Lab designed for students in your other courses or any of your less formal excursions and experiences in port, students will have countless planned and unplanned opportunities to experience their fundamental similarity to others as well as appreciate the richness surface differences thought to be produced by cultural forces. COURSE OBJECTIVES Students will be able to identify those features of human experience and behavior thought to vary across cultures and those that empirical studies suggest are much the same everywhere. Using their own experiences in various cultures students will be better able to critically evaluate formal theories and published studies on the ways culture can or cannot modify human nature. Students will be able to of apply complexly a number of course concepts, for example, personality differences, developmental psychology, and dating behavior, to what they observe in various cultures. Most importantly, through their exam essays and their two papers on port experiences, students will have ample opportunities to form and defend their own opinions on this fundamental question about the biological and cultural origins of the human condition. REQUIRED TEXTBOOK AUTHOR: Matsumoto, D., & Juang, L. TITLE: Culture & Psychology PUBLISHER: Cengage Learning ISBN: 978-1-111-34493-1 1
DATE/EDITION: 2013/5 th Edition Other assigned readings will be available on the ship s electronic library reserves. Clark, T. (2008) Plight of the Little Emperors, Psychology Today, 1-5. Coonan, C. (2010). China Rethinks its Controversial One-Child Policy. Internet News Article. Gaulin, S.J.C., & McBurney, D. H. (2004). Evolutionary Psychology, 2 nd Ed. Prentice-Hall, Chapter 6, Motivation and Emotion Hesketh, T., Li Lu, and Zhu Wei Xing (2005). The Effect of China s One-Child Policy After 25 Years. New England Journal of Medicine, 353, 1171-1176 Japanese Internet Sites: (1) Japanese Dating from the Perspective of a Western Man (2) History of Marriage in Japan Pagel, M. (2012). Wired for Culture: Origins of the Human Social Mind. New York: Norton. Chapter 1, The Occupation of the World, pp. 29-68. Pinker, S. (2007) The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature. Chapter 7, The Seven Words You Can t Say on Television. Wade, N. (2009). The Faith Instinct, Penguin. Chapter 3, The Evolution of Religious Behavior. Watters, E. Crazy Like Us. Free Press, 2010. Chapter 2, The Wave that Brought PTSD to Sri Lanka pp 65-126. Workman, L. & Reader, W. (2008). Evolutionary Psychology (2 nd Ed). Cambridge. Chapter 13, Individual Differences TOPICAL OUTLINE OF COURSE Depart Ensenada- January 7: B1-January 10: Introduction to Culture and Psychology Chapter 1 B2-January 12: In-Class Writing Assignment Pagel, Chapter 1 Hilo: January 14 B3-January 15: Cross-Cultural Research Methods Chapter 2 B4-January 17: Enculturation Chapter 3 Lost Day January 19 No Classes: January 20 B5-January 21: Culture & Development Chapter 4 B6-January 23: Culture and Gender Chapter 5 B7-January 25: Exam #1 2
Yokohama: January 26-27 In-Transit: January 28 Kobe: January 29-31 B8-February 2: Dating & Marriage in Contemporary Japan: Internet Readings 1-Japanese Dating from the Perspective of a Western Man 2-History of Marriage in Japan Shanghai: February 3-4 In-Transit: February 5-6 Hong Kong: 7-8 B9-February 10: Dating, Marriage, and the Single Child Policy in China Hesketh, 2005 Clark, 2008 Coonan, 2010 Ho Chi Minh: February 11-16 B10-February 18: Culture and Cognition (including Religion) Chapter 6 Wade, Chapter 3 Singapore: February 19-20 No Classes: February 21 B11-February 23: Culture & Health Chapter 7 Rangoon: February 24-March 1 B12-March 3: Culture and Emotion Chapter 8 B13-March 5: Culture and Emotion (continued) Gaulin &McBurney, Chapter 6 Cochin: March 6-11 B14-March 13: Culture and Language and Communication Chapter 9 Pinker, 2007, Chapter 7 No Classes: March 14 B15-March 16: Culture and Personality Chapter 10 Port Louis: March 18 B16-March 19: Culture and Personality Continued Workman & Reader, 2008 3
No classes: March 21 B17-March 22: Exam #2 B18-March 24: The Shifting Mask of Schizophrenia in Zanzibar Watters, Chapter 3, Cape Town: March 25-30 B19-April 1: Culture and Psychological Disorders Chapter 11 Walvis Bay: April 2-6 B20-April 8: Culture and Psychotherapy Chapter 12 No Classes: April 10 B21-April 11: Culture, Self, and Identify Chapter 13 B22-April 13: Culture and Social Behavior Chapter 14 No Classes: April 14 B23-April 16: Culture and Social Behavior (continued ) TBA Casablanca: April 18-22 B24-April 23: Final Integration April 24: Global Lens Exams and Study Day B25-April 26 B Day Final Exams April 29: Arrive in Southampton FIELD LAB Because this is a Lens Course no formal Field Lab has been organized. But students will be given a number of opportunities to discuss their various formal and informal experiences in the various ports and cultures we ll be visiting in the scheduled small discussion groups that are part of the Lens Course format. The specific days and times for these will be on days at sea when no classes are assigned; these will be announced later on. METHODS OF EVALUATION / GRADING RUBRIC Three exams (two during the voyage and one on the Lens final examination day) will constitute the main method of evaluation. Each exam will be essay in format (five or six questions) and will allow students to show they have mastered the details of the readings and topics as discussed in class and have also integrated them as they reflect broader issues we have studied. Thus, the 4
best essays will show full mastery of details and also independent thinking. Each exam will count 26.5 % toward the final grade. If the final exam grade is the highest of the three it will be counted 32%, the lowest grade will count 22%, and the other exam will count 26%. Two papers are also assigned. Each will count 10% toward the final grade and will be based on students individual field experiences in which they select and discuss examples they have observed in any port they wish that illustrates topics we have studied. These papers should be between 5 and 8 pages and will be submitted electronically as pdf files. Each paper should include specific examples from our readings and classroom discussions as illustrated by specific observations that do or do not fit what we have studied. Examples of potential paper topics will be discussed from time to time in class, especially during our designated discussion sessions. ELECTRONIC COURSE MATERIALS Several book chapters and research articles have been placed on the ship s Electronic Course Materials site and will be assigned on a TBA basis throughout the voyage. HONOR CODE Semester at Sea students enroll in an academic program administered by the University of Virginia, and thus bind themselves to the University s honor code. The code prohibits all acts of lying, cheating, and stealing. Please consult the Voyager s Handbook for further explanation of what constitutes an honor offense. Each written assignment for this course must be pledged by the student as follows: On my honor as a student, I pledge that I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment. The pledge must be signed, or, in the case of an electronic file, signed [signed]. 5