How do children learn right from wrong? Today’s youth face an onslaught of mixed messages about morality. Parents and teachers champion honesty, integrity and empathy, while sports stars use steroids, music and video games glorify sexual violence, and politicians pander for votes based on prejudice and fear. At the same time, children are confronted with uniquely modern moral challenges, as they navigate bullying and privacy invasion on the Internet, easily accessible drugs of abuse, and gang and relationship violence. This course will examine how children negotiate these challenges and learn moral principles, using perspectives from developmental neurobiology, evolutionary biology, philosophy, and multiple theoretical frameworks within cognitive and social psychology. Topics will include gender, culture, socioeconomic status, education, and parenting and their influence on moral development from infancy through adolescence.
Complementary and alternative treatments comprise the most rapidly expanding segment of American healthcare. This course will examine the role of non-conventional care in the mental wellness of children, adolescents and young adults. We will survey the historical, clinical, and scientific aspects of mind-body treatments, biologically-based alternative therapies, spirituality, and the traditional medical systems of China and India. In addition, we will investigate the social, political, and economic forces influencing the role and status of complementary and alternative practices in America. Students will assess these practices by participating in class discussion, reviewing research literature, and engaging in several group experiential exercises.
Sexual identity is central to our sense of who we are and how we relate to the world. The development of this identity is essential to becoming a well-rounded, effective, and high functioning adult, and failure to develop a cohesive sexual identity can lead to dysfunction. Sexual development involves a complex interplay of biological, psychological and sociological components. Sexual differentiation begins in utero, as the fetus is exposed to hormones and growth factors. As children age, their primary and secondary sex organs develop, and their ideas about the function, use and meaning of these organs change. At each stage the environment, social milieu, and hormones, among other factors, influence the direction of these changes. In this course we will explore the impact of sexual identity development on the mental health of children and adolescents.
What is the impact of our upbringing? This course provides an overview of child development with the goal of understanding the complexity of human growth, adaptation, and responses to adversity. To this end, we will trace a variety of overlapping trajectories, including the development of cognitive, emotional, interpersonal, and moral capacities. The course reviews historical and modern-day developmental theories as well as more complex interpersonal constructs, such as family systems, peer relations, gender and sexual identity, and cultural variation. Special emphasis is placed upon examining the dynamic interplay between biology and environment. The course consists of two interactive lectures per week based upon introductory readings on child development. Students are also assigned one film to view at home each week to illustrate the myriad of ways in which human beings evolve and adapt through life’s transitions and challenges.
Every childhood is fraught with complications, but some children are exposed to traumatic experiences that have a lasting impact on their development and health. Many children in New York City are still reeling from the effects of September 11, yet these numbers pale in comparison to the more than three million reported cases of child abuse and neglect in the United States annually, in addition to the many more cases that go unreported. This course examines the neurobiological and psychological effects of trauma on children, adolescents, and their families. We investigate the impact of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and neglect, war, terrorism, natural disasters, bereavement, and medical illness. In addition, we explore the concepts of vulnerability and resilience to discover why most affected children successfully traverse their trauma. Finally, we discuss the treatment modalities commonly employed with traumatized children, adolescents, and their families.
Adolescence is a remarkable time of growth and development; in just a few years, children transition dramatically towards adulthood across multiple domains. While adolescence is physically the healthiest period of the lifespan, it is also marked by an enormous rise in morbidity and mortality. This seeming paradox can be explained, in part, by biological and psychological changes during puberty that affect emotion regulation, cognition, and consequent risk-taking behavior. At the turn of the twentieth century, adolescence was described as a developmental period inevitably filled with “storm and stress.” In what ways does this vision of adolescence still apply? How should current scientific findings inform our understanding of the propensity for risk-taking behavior during this period (including substance use, increasing sexual activity, and disordered eating)? In exploring the factors that shape emotions, behavior, and emerging identity during adolescence, this course will examine such questions from biological and psychosocial perspectives.
Considers children’s and adolescents’ literature as a rich, untapped source of insight into child development for students of psychology, child development, and related disciplines. Over the last century, a vibrant, many-faceted literature for young people has grown in tandem with our understanding of child and adolescent psychology to pre-sent young readers with an increasingly finely calibrated perspective on such basic developmental issues as the formation of trust, the emergence of a sense of autonomy, and the complexities of family and peer relationships. Students explore these and other topics as they read and discuss a wide range of picture books, longer fiction, and relevant professional literature.
Approximately 72 percent of youth in the United States report using alcohol at least once and 47 percent report using illicit drugs at least once by the time they reach 12th grade. While the majority of youth who use substances will not develop a substance abuse disorder, substance abuse and addiction are major public health problems affecting approximately 9 percent of the U.S. population age 12 and older. The majority of individuals with substance abuse disorders began using substances during adolescence or even childhood. This course briefly reviews the classes of psychoactive substances, including alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs and their basic neurophysiological effects before exploring the historical, social, and psychological factors related to substance use and abuse in adolescents and children. The second half of the course considers substance abuse prevention, treatment, and policy related to children and adolescents.
This course covers the fundamentals of human brain development from birth to young adulthood. The focus is on normal brain functioning, but illustrative pathological development and dysfunctional conditions are reviewed as well, such as developmental dyslexia, autistic disorders, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Once students have developed a foundational knowledge of neurocognitive functioning, the course addresses three additional sections that reflect methods of examining brain-based activity: observation, assessment, and intervention. At the end of each section, students should have a greater understanding of the neurocognitive developmental perspective and be able to apply their knowledge of brain-based skill sets to understanding the environmental demands that children and teens confront, including learning in school, handling complex social interactions, remembering autobiographical experiences, and managing emotional reactions. Students read a sampling of research articles, relevant clinical materials, and textbooks chapters.
Consuming media has far outstripped reading storybooks or playing make-believe as the average American child’s favorite pastime. Children between the ages of two and 18 spend an average of five-and-a-half hours a day using some form of media. This course reviews the current literature on how media use affects children’s mental health, as well as their cognitive, emotional, and social development. Designed for those who wish to learn to think critically, this course provides a comprehensive, research-oriented review of how children and adolescents are influenced by the media. Discussions include an examination of controversial issues, such as media’s effects on children’s violent behavior and substance use, as well as the potential benefits of media.
After spending our early lives with our parents, what can we say about how they influenced our personalities and development? How have our parents affected what we learn, how we act, and how we manage our health? Just as you have wondered about these questions, so have scientists and professionals. We study parenting styles in detail to identify qualities that foster healthy child development. The course reviews research on the importance of parenting practices within a family context. Students also learn how to interact effectively with parents, how to mobilize parents, and what efforts have been successful in changing detrimental parenting actions. This course is for the curious and those interested in careers in education, health, and mental health.
Clinical practice and public policy in child mental health is too often driven by the media, conventional wisdom, and prejudice rather than by scientific data. Evidence-based clinical care seeks to guide practitioners in the critical appraisal of data on risk factors, prevention, and treatment. This course is designed for those who wish to read the health research literature and draw their own conclusions. It provides a practical means to learn and apply research methods and focuses on the knowledge and skills needed to design, carry out, and evaluate a research study. Discussion of topical “hot-button” issues, such as the apparent “epidemic” of certain diagnoses, the influence of the environment or culture on child mental health, and the risks/benefits of widely prescribed medications, are combined with a systematic review of the existing evidence base on current empirically supported treatment for child mental health problems.
What makes kids do bad things? Who is accountable for their acts? How can we prevent childhood violence? In this course we will explore these questions and seek to understand the spectrum of “bad” behavior from biological, psychological, and sociological perspectives. We will address broad topics ranging from the nature vs. nurture debate to biased media reporting to medicating disruptive behaviors. We will examine the increased exposure to media violence and its influence on children and adolescents; how the criminal justice system responds to delinquent behavior; and gender differences in disruptive behavior. We will study atrocities perpetrated by children and adolescents, the growing scientific literature detailing neurodevelopment as it relates to behavior, and historical descriptions of disruptive behavior and delinquency. Students will analyze case studies, debate controversial issues (e.g., the influence of violent gaming), and review online discussion boards in an effort to determine sensible efforts aimed at prevention and treatment.
While psychopathology courses are commonplace among undergraduate psychology curricula, courses focusing on child and adolescent psychopathology are relatively rare. More novel still is the opportunity to receive instruction in child and adolescent psychopathology from practicing psychiatrists and psychologists at an internationally renowned clinical and research center. Through lecture presentations and discussions, this course focuses on disease etiology, epidemiology, phenomenology, nosology, and diagnosis. It engages students in a critical review of common child and adolescent psychopathology and challenges social and cultural assumptions of what constitutes ?normal? vs. ?pathological? behavior, cognition, and emotion. Students also complete one practicum by participating with a clinician (psychologist or psychiatrist) during the evaluation of a child or adolescent patient at the NYU Child Study Center.
The ability to understand “what makes a good story well told” is a skill that is crucial to your growth as a filmmaker whether you become a writer, director, producer, actor, editor, cinematographer, etc. Storytelling Strategies looks at how narrative stories work through an examination of the structural and mythic elements first established by the ancient Greek playwrights and recognized by Aristotle in his “Poetics” thousands of years ago. The course continues this examination up to and including such contemporary story models as Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” as well as the current Hollywood paradigm, “the three-act structure.” We will seek to find those principles that form the backbone of successful narrative screenplays and contribute to a film’s ability to resonate with an audience. The lecture is for analysis. The recitations are for applying what you have learned, through writing exercises and a completed short screenplay. This course allocates as Scriptwriting for Film & TV majors. Course may not be repeated.
Art of the “age of the cathedrals”—including architecture, sculpture, stained glass, manuscript illumination, wall painting, luxury arts, and tapestry—from origins of the Gothic style in the 12th-century Ile-de-France through the early 15th century. Considers artistic developments in light of religious, historical, political, social, and cultural contexts of their creation. Topics include: Gothic patrons, artists, builders, and art-making; lay literacy and the patronage and reception of art; the cult of the Virgin and the arts; the Gothic image as bearer of religious, political, and social values and ideologies; arts of chivalry and courtly love; naturalism and developments in portraiture; the roles of art in devotional and mystical experience; Gothic art and late medieval notions of vision and the self.
An introductory survey of the history of South Asia from 2000 B.C.E. to 1200 C.E., with an emphasis on the Indian subcontinent. From the Indus Valley culture to the present day, artistic production has played a critical role in the transmission of religious beliefs and the development of cultural systems in and around South Asia. Diverse regions were linked by trade, politics, and cultural relationships, and interaction can be charted through the changing forms and functions of art. We consider the historical circumstances surrounding the production of South and Southeast Asian art, as well as the problems that art historians face when trying to interpret the surviving evidence. We look at art in a variety of media, including, but not limited to, architecture, urban form, sculpture, painting, and performance.
Begins with El Greco in Italy and Toledo, Velázquez, Zurbarán, Murillo, Ribera, and Valdés Leal before moving to the 18th century (the Tiepolo family, Meléndez). Defines Spain in the 16th and 17th century as a global power by considering colonial-era art in such New World centers as Mexico City and Lima. The focus then shifts to the art of Francisco de Goya and the projection of Spanish art into the modern era.
As in ARTH-UA 91, students examine artistic centers from two vast adjoining regions, in this case South and Southeast Asia, both of which include a wide variety of cultures. Includes monuments of Pakistan, India, Cambodia, and Indonesia. Although the two courses use the same approach and are designed to be complementary, either one may be taken without the other.
Art of Western civilization between Constantine and the Renaissance (300 to 1500 in northern Europe, 1400 in Italy). Topics: Christian beliefs underlying medieval art; acceptance and rejection of classical tradition and the roles of non-classical traditions in medieval art; stylistic transformations in medieval art in the context of medieval society; development of abbey and cathedral, monumental sculpture and painting, mosaics, stained glass, and fresco, as well as manuscript illumination, ivories, metalwork, and panel painting.