HD 4580 - The Science of Social Behavior

(crosslisted) COMM 4580, ILRLR 4580, SOC 4580
(SBA-HE)

Fall. 4 credits. Student option grading.

Prerequisite: HD 2580 or SOC 2580 or COMM 2580 or ILRLR 2580. Permission of instructor required. Enrollment limited to: seniors.

S. Ceci, M. Macy.

This is a capstone seminar for seniors who are interested in graduate or professional study in scientific disciplines that focus on human behavior and social interaction. The intent is to provide seniors with an opportunity to summon, integrate, and apply insights that they have acquired over the course of their undergraduate education, and give prospective graduate students the opportunity to lead discussions in a large introductory lecture course, “Six Pretty Good Books” (HD/ILRLR/COMM/SOC 2580). Each seminar member is part of a two or three-person team that leads the discussion together, under the supervision of a graduate teaching assistant. Seminar meetings are devoted to building lesson plans for leading an effective discussion of each of the six books. The authors vary from year to year but include Malcolm Gladwell, Michelle Alexander, Nate Silver, and Nicholas Christakis. All authors have agreed to participate in a “Q&A” session with the students which seminar members are required to attend. The course meets Cornell’s SBA distribution requirement.