CONN 325 | The Experience of Prejudice

This course uses the disciplinary lenses of psychology and literary studies to examine how the world looks and feels from the perspective of someone who is a member of an oppressed or negatively stereotyped group. The course provides an introduction to the assumptions, scientific methods, and forms of writing used by experimental social psychologists and to theories and research findings bearing on the experience of prejudice. Analysis of literary texts including poetry, fiction, and autobiography provide additional insights into the experience of prejudice. Integration and synthesis occurs by comparing and contrasting the two approaches, using psychology as a lens for analyzing literature, using literature as a source of ideas to inform psychology, and considering how insights gained from both approaches might be used together to create positive personal or social change.