9.68 Affect: Biological, Psychological, and Social Aspects of Feelings, Spring 2005

Abstract

Affect is to cognition and behavior as feeling is to thinking and acting or as values are to beliefs and practices. Subject considers these relations, both at the psychological level of organization and in terms of their neurobiological and sociocultural counterparts. From the course home page: In this class, diverse aspects of the current scientific paradigm which is based largely on a distrust of emotions is explored as well as other perspectives within a broader human-ecological context. Relevant issues are approached both experientially and theoretically through discussions in class and in study groups, and through field trips and assigned readings.