This course looks at the point where the individual person and
society meet. Most of us feel that our actions, thoughts, and
beliefs are totally unique to ourselves. In this course, we examine
just how much of what we call "personal" is influenced by the social
groups, institutions, and processes around us. As we talk about
classic and contemporary social psychological theories, we'll come
up against a challenging idea: What we call "reality" is constructed
entirely through social behavior. We'll talk about how our notions
of self, emotions, group membership, and language all have strong
ties to who we know and what those people do in response to us. Your
assignments will include spending time observing other people and
yourself in everyday social action. You will see that although
society influences individuals, individuals are always maintaining
and transforming society. By the end of the course, you should have
greater insight
into the way that your individuality and the society you live in
influence each other, for better and for worse.