SELF AND IDENTITY (PY2068)

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What is my identity? And what is my self? Or should we speak of identities and selves? Whatever they are, these questions run through our lives. They are central issues in our relationships; they influence our view of the future; they impact what we remember from our past; they underlie our quest for a meaningful existence. They also are at the heart of countless investigations of psychologists, philosophers, social scientists, writers, and artists. In this class, we explore these issues both theoretically and empirically, that is, in research contexts of psychology and neighbouring human sciences.

Code: 
PY2068
Name: 
SELF AND IDENTITY
Discipline: 
PY (Psychology)
Type: 
Regular
Level: 
Undergraduate
Credits: 
4
Can be taken twice for credit?: 
No
Pre-requisites: 
PY1000CCI
Co-requisites: 
None

Learning Outcomes

  1. Students are encouraged to critically think through the multi-layered relationship of psychology and philosophy and, in doing so, develop an understanding of the complexities of human being in time, culture, and history seen both from a psychological and philosophical point of view.
  2. The course offers an introductory overview of the field that allows students to understand the meaning and function of different concepts of self and identity – including related concepts such as person, personality, subject, and autobiographical, narrative and cultural identity.
  3. Participants will learn to envision issues of self and identity from different points of view, within different disciplinary frameworks, and through different theoretical and everyday vocabularies.
  4. They are invited to think through scientific, philosophical, literary and other artistic forms and representations of human personhood, and to localize them within their cultural contexts.
  5. They are encouraged to read and critically discuss texts from a variety of genres, ranging from scientific articles to essays and novels.

Archived Syllabi