Health ProfessionsPublic Health

PSYC 259 – Discovering the Person

This course surveys major developments in psychology and psychiatry from 1860 to the present. Through readings and lectures, the course introduces the major schools, theories, and systems in the American “psy” sciences. We examine the kinds of persons who were “discovered,” the techniques of discovery, the extensions of psychological ideas to institutions and policy formulations, and the consequences of these discoveries for public as well as private life. We examine phenomena that were located, catalogued, and explained by these sciences, including rationality, gender, cognition, personality, race, emotion, psychiatric disorders, development, intelligence, and the will. Attention is given to the scientific grounds of investigations and the empirical evidence sought in the century-long process of discovering and naming psychological kinds. Readings include primary source documents, histories, and philosophical analyses.

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