Psy 325:
Stereotyping & Prejudice

Kathy Oleson

Reed College

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Course Schedule (Readings)

Download Syllabus

Conference Discussion

Written Work

Journals

Term Paper

Commenting on Others' Papers

Research Project, Report and Presentation

Web Resources

 

Journal Entries

You will turn in 2 journal entries of 2-3 pages each (double-spaced). There are two sets of dates below; you will choose one during the first week of class, based on which is more convenient for your schedule. They will be due electronically to me at 5 pm on each of these days; please send them in Microsoft Word format as a file attachment to kathryn.oleson@reed.edu. (You will also receive them back with comments electronically.)

Set A

Friday, September 15

Monday, October 2

Set B

Monday, September 25

Wednesday, October 11

The content and the format of the journal entries is up to you; you may choose to write many small entries, a few medium-length entries, or a single entry that covers 2-3 pages. Your entries should address course reading or discussion in the 2 weeks prior to their due date (or since the last journal entry was due). They may also seek to make connections between the recent readings and earlier class material. Some ideas of topics to write about are below:

  1. Thoughts on class reading/discussion – What questions do the readings leave unanswered? What are strengths and weaknesses of the experiments and theories we read about and discussed?

  2. Ideas for further research – How would you improve or expand upon a study we have read about, or test a theory? You might discuss testable hypotheses or lay out a specific research design for an experiment.

  3. Personal application – How do you see stereotyping & prejudice playing out in your own life (friendships, roommate situations, class dynamics, etc.), or in the world at large? Using a specific example to illustrate this could be helpful. Does knowing more about the research on stereotyping and prejudice change the way you interact with people or interpret situations?

  4. Media watch – Do you see examples of what you have learned in class appear in the media? Analyze interesting examples from the media (TV, websites, books, comic strips, newspapers, etc.): for example, how does research on stereotyping and prejudice explain a character’s behavior or reactions, or how do advertisements use it to sell a product or service?

  5. Connections with other classes – Have you learned things in other classes that relate to the material in this class? What can this area of study learn, and how could particular theories and experiments be improved, by integrating approaches from other disciplines?

  6. Video – watch a video relating to course material and write a reaction to it. A list of videos that the psych department owns can be found on the class website, and can be borrowed from Jen Negen, the psych secretary.

  7. Your choice – write on whatever is interesting to you!