COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This seminar will focus on development in the first 12 months of life. Students in this course will read classic and current journal articles as a means of examining controversial areas in the field of infant development, such as newborn imitation, face perception, the development of prosocial behavior, spatial and mathematical cognition, and developments that contribute to walking and talking.
TOPIC SELECTION:
Between the first and second classes, please look over the list of topics on the syllabus, choose four topics that you would most like to present, and email me with your preferences, in ranked order. Topics will be assigned on a first come, first served basis, and there is no guarantee that the topics you choose will be the topics you’ll present. Each of you will be presenting twice during the semester.
PRESENTATION EXPECTATIONS:
Here is what you can expect to do on (and before!) the days you will be presenting:
- You and your two partners will be responsible for leading the discussion on the day assigned to you.
- You and your two partners will be asked to lead the discussion on the articles I have chosen for the day assigned to you. Links to these articles are provided on the SYLLABUS/READINGS tab.
- In addition, you and your two partners will be responsible for finding one other article (15 pages max, total) relevant to the topic we will be discussing on that day. You will need to have gotten my approval for the additional article by 2:45 pm one full week before the three of you will be presenting, so you should all plan to be in touch with me about this assignment at the end of the previous week (approximately 10 days before your presentation date).
- You and your two partners will be responsible for getting the chosen article delivered to me (in a PDF file-format) by 2:45 pm one week prior to your presentation.
- During the final 10 minutes of class one week before your presentation, you and your two partners will be asked to offer your classmates helpful reading hints about the articles to be discussed the following week.
EXPECTATIONS WHEN YOU’RE NOT PRESENTING:
Every week, each student NOT presenting that week will be asked to post on our course Sakai site. Every week, half of these students will be asked to proffer at least two questions that came to mind while checking out the weekly readings (see REQUIREMENTS for more information). These questions should be submitted 72 hours prior to class, on our Sakai website. The other half of the students who will not be presenting will be asked to respond to their peers' questions on Sakai, either with additional thoughts or potential answers to the questions (again, see REQUIREMENTS for more information). These responses should be submitted 48 hours prior to class. Both sets of posts will help the students who will be leading the discussion prepare for their task. Because this work is considered an asynchronous component of the class, it needs to be taken seriously. So, posted questions should not be about something that can be easily addressed by looking up the answer in an assigned article; they should probe issues in the readings more deeply than that. Usually, expressing a deep question can be expected to take multiple sentences.
A FINAL NOTE ON PARTICIPATION:
Come to class armed with your questions and ideas about the readings. Share your ideas and thoughts with the rest of us. In a seminar, participants learn from each other, so it will be important for everyone to put themselves out there, think out loud, and basically just let it fly. Don’t just be a sponge; this course will fulfill its potential only if everyone contributes to the collaboration. It should go without saying—but sadly, does not, so I am saying it here—that my classrooms are safe spaces where everyone should feel comfortable expressing their opinions, no matter what those opinions are. So mutual respect for one another will be an absolute requirement.
ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATIONS:
Please note that I will make every reasonable effort to accommodate students with disabilities. For Pitzer students, to request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Pitzer’s Academic Support Services (PASS) in the Office of Student Affairs to inquire about accommodations and support services (https://www.pitzer.edu/student-life/academic-support-services/). It would be best for any interested students to contact PASS early in the semester so that a collaborative plan can be developed for the academic year. PASS will work with students to identify reasonable and appropriate accommodations. If you attend another one of the Claremont Colleges, please contact your home college’s disability officer; you can get more information about that by contacting the Claremont Colleges Student Disability Resource Center here: sdrc@cuc.claremont.edu.
USE OF DIGITAL DEVICES:
Please restrict the use digital devices (e.g., laptops, phones, tablets, etc.) during class to class-related activities ONLY. Using such devices during class for other activities (e.g., texting, web surfing, video watching, etc.) is guaranteed to make the class less valuable for you and frustratingly more distracting for other students.
AUDIO RECORDINGS:
Please ask my permission if you think you need to make any sort of audio recording of this class. I am generally uncomfortable being recorded during class, so please take this into consideration before asking for permission to make an audio recording. If I do give you permission to record the class, any recordings you make must be ONLY for your personal use. Please do not share or post any of these recordings, either piecemeal or in their entirety. I do not permit any video recording or photography while in class, as these are not necessary.
WRITING CENTER:
Located in Mead 131, the Writing Center is one of Pitzer’s most popular academic resources. The Writing Center offers roughly 1,600 free one-on-one conferences with student writers working on projects across the disciplines. Writing Center Fellows are Pitzer students trained to consult with writers on any assignment at all stages of the writing process, from brainstorming ideas to developing an effective revision strategy. In addition to regular appointments, specialized consultations are available for senior thesis writers, multilingual writers, and fellowship applicants. You may book a consultation through the Writing Center’s online scheduler.
In addition to consultations, the Writing Center hosts virtual workshops, write-ins, and events designed to help you tap into community and sustain your motivation. If you have any doubts at all about your writing, I urge you to sign up for an appointment or drop by a virtual write-in or event prior to doing significant work on your final paper for this course. For more information, follow this link to visit the Writing Center.
All Pitzer students may use the Writing Center for any writing need. Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pomona, and Scripps students are welcome to book appointments for courses taken at Pitzer.
STANDARD CONTENT WARNING:
Please note that the material covered in this course may be challenging to some students, because it will cover topics related to human psychology, possibly including subjects such as mental illness, depression, suicide, psychosis, child neglect or maltreatment, pathological behaviors, sexual behaviors, evolution, obesity and/or eating disorders, recreational drug use/abuse, or any of several other topics that some individuals might find re-traumatizing. Please feel free to step outside during a class if you find the material we are discussing to be upsetting. Having said that, please be aware that these are standard topics of discussion in psychology courses.
COVID-19:
If you are directly or indirectly affected by COVID-19 in a way that impacts your ability to complete the course assignments, please let me know as soon as possible. As your professor, my job is to help you learn in a supportive, judgment-free environment. Please contact me if you encounter difficulties with any of the assignments, accessing the readings, or anything else that inhibits your ability to learn.