How Does Taking Introductory Psychology Contribute to a Liberal Arts Education?
“All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants." --John Gardner
Although liberal arts does not have a universally agreed upon definition, one way to think about a liberal arts education is by comparing it to the more applied forms of education provided by business, pharmacy, and the other professional colleges. Whereas the latter emphasize acquiring knowledge, skills and ways of thinking that will allow you to achieve in a specific profession, one of the overarching purposes of a liberal arts education is to teach you how to “think” in general (or at least “think better”). Taking courses in Butler’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will expose you to new perspectives and different ways of thinking/learning, will hone your ability to evaluate the validity and implications of information you encounter (or generate yourself), and will encourage you to think more creatively and in more complex terms (an increasingly valuable skill in contemporary society). In short, a liberal arts education is usually not just intended to transmit specific information and skills, but to help you discover, develop and harness your own intellectual talents and abilities. Taking a course in introductory psychology will facilitate this process in several ways. Over the course of the semester, you will be asked to master a relatively large amount of complex material from a diverse range of theoretical and methodological perspectives. Not only will you need to invest considerable mental effort to understand this material, you may also find that it frequently challenges your pre-existing views of what drives your own (as well as others’) behavior, emotions and cognitions. Reconciling your own experiences with what you learn in this course should not only improve your ability to think critically, but should also provide you with insights into the human condition that will help you not just during your Butler career but throughout the rest of your life.
Introduction to Psychology – PS 101 Joel Martin
It has been argued that psychology is one of the most basic liberal studies because there are no human endeavors that do not, at some level, involve people. Whether this involves navigating your social world or navigating your internal world, knowing a bit about how people (yourself included) behave, feel, interact, and process information underlies nearly every turn. Of course, knowing what psychologists know about people is one thing; knowing how psychologists acquire that knowledge is quite another. By understanding how knowledge is acquired about the ways people think, feel, act, and interact, you may become a more informed consumer of information and a more astute observer of the human condition.
Introduction to Psychology – PS 101 Jennifer Spoor
I believe that a liberal arts education plays an essential role in preparing you for lifelong learning, in whatever career or roles you wish to pursue. This training helps you develop critical thinking, communication, and leadership skills that can be applied across a wide variety of domains. Introductory psychology introduces you to the scientific study of human behaviors and mental processes, two phenomena that you will need to deal with every day of your life! Throughout this course, you will likely encounter a number of phenomena, theories, and research findings that are directly relevant to your past or present experiences.
Experimental Psychology I – PS 201 Kate Morris
How This Course Contributes to your Liberal Arts Education: In this course, it is my goal to provide you with opportunities to further your liberal arts education primarily through enhancing your understanding of scientific (vs. non-scientific) ways of knowing about the world around you. You will also have the opportunity to further your critical thinking skills (e.g., by designing experiments to test your hypothesis, by critiquing various experimental designs to find their flaws). In addition, because writing is a central aspect of this course, you will have many opportunities to improve your written communication skills. Finally, you will work closely with other students in this class; taking this class will foster your ability to work as a team to solve a problem. Each of these abilities will serve you well as you progress through your future, regardless of what career path you choose.
Experimental Psychology I – PS 201 Bob Padgett
Students in this course will be exposed to and ultimately expected to comprehend: 1) basic psychological research methodology; 2) basic statistical design and analysis; 3) psychophysical methods; 4) measures of perceptual and attentional processes; and 5) measures of memory and basic cognitive processes. As such, this is not a "comfortable" course, but rather one that will at times be time-consuming and psychologically as well as intellectually taxing. However, students who sincerely apply themselves will gain rich rewards. First, they will acquire basic research skills and a deeper understanding of the nature of science and human behavior. Second, sound methodological skills will prove invaluable for later study in psychology, physical sciences, social sciences and they are applicable to practically any vocation. Finally, as research and data based conclusions come to have a greater impact on our everyday lives, students who apply themselves to this course will acquire skills that are valuable for critically evaluating and interpreting such claims.
Learning – PS 202 Robert Dale
The Seven Liberal Arts emphasized in the early European universities of the Middle Ages were liberal in the sense of being liberating: freeing the mind from the claws of ignorance. The intent was that educated minds are free minds, allowing individuals to set their own courses in life by the means of informed choices, instead of suffering the “slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune” courtesy of the prevailing culture. The Liberal Arts emphasized reasoning, knowledge and communication. They encompassed the intellectual domains we currently call the humanities and the sciences (although the wide array of intellectual disciplines we observe now did not exist at that time. Note: Look up “Trivium” and “Quadrivium”). What have the liberal arts got to do with this course on learning? Well, in a word (and to be modest), everything! While a learned mind is not necessarily a liberated mind, an ignorant mind is in chains. To quote Rousseau (God help me!), “Man is born free, but he is everywhere in chains.” You will discover some of the ways animals, including humans, learn: About advertising, politics, social interactions, fear, love and hate. By now, it should be clear that, to misquote Randy Newman, “I love LA.”
Statistics in Psychology – PS 310 Brian Giesler
How Does Learning Statistics Contribute to a Liberal Arts Education?
“All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants." --John Gardner
Although liberal arts does not have a universally agreed upon definition, one way to think about a liberal arts education is by comparing it to the more applied forms of education provided by business, pharmacy, and the other professional colleges. Whereas the latter emphasize acquiring knowledge, skills and ways of thinking that will allow you to achieve in a specific profession, one of the overarching purposes of a liberal arts education is to teach you how to “think” in general (or at least “think better”). Taking courses in Butler’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will expose you to new perspectives and different ways of thinking/learning, will hone your ability to evaluate the validity and implications of information you encounter (or generate yourself), and will encourage you to think more creatively and in more complex terms (an increasingly valuable skill in contemporary society). In short, a liberal arts education is usually not just intended to transmit specific information and skills, but to help you discover, develop and master your own intellectual talents and abilities. Learning statistics will facilitate this process in several ways, including exercising and strengthening the more quantitative and analytic aspects of your intellect and providing you with a framework by which you can interpret and evaluate research produced by any of the scientific disciplines. Because most phenomena can be described statistically, learning the basic principles of statistics will also give you an alternative approach to understanding events that occur in everyday life, ranging from why you were (or weren’t!) able to get a date for Friday night to who will win the next presidential election.
Social Psychology – PS 350 Kate Morris
How This Course Contributes to Your Liberal Arts Education: Over the last 10 years, some 350 students have taken my Social Psychology course at Butler University. Of these, only 2 have gone on to earn Ph.D.'s in social psychology (and 2 more are currently pursuing the degree). Obviously, my main goal in teaching this course is not to turn you all into social psychologists. Although that might be a nice outcome, my instructional goals are actually much broader. I will teach this course within the wider context of your liberal arts education at Butler University. For example, as a student in this course, you will learn how to apply social psychology as one approach to understand yourself and events in your social world. As you progress through the course and your college experience, you may then compare and c ontrast the social psychological approach with approaches you learn in other courses both within and outside of the Psychology Department. In addition, you will have the opportunity to further hone your communication skills through written and oral presentation assignments. Ultimately, I have designed the course to further both your specific education in social psychology and your general liberal arts education, which should serve you well, regardless of whether you become a social psychologist or not.
Advanced Seminar in Biopsychology: Neuropsychology – PS 476 Tara Lineweaver
The primary goal of this course is to promote and improve scholarship skills in psychology: identifying and locating pertinent literature; reading, comprehending and critiquing research in the field; and using critical thinking to evaluate our current state of knowledge and to generate ideas for future inquiry. A secondary goal of the course is to introduce the field of neuropsychology, which explores the way that the brain influences psychological processes (cognition, emotion, and behavior) and examines the consequences of brain damage due to injury, disease, or abnormal development.
I see this course as a sort of “capstone” for your Butler liberal arts education. This is where all of the skills you have been building during your education at Butler (reading, thinking, evaluating, applying information to new contexts, forming creative ideas, and communicating effectively with others in writing and oral discourse) are meeting your chosen area of expertise (the study of psychology). If Butler and the Psychology Department have done their job in preparing you, this will be a lot of fun! Regardless of your future plans, gaining proficiency in researching, thinking (it is harder than it sounds), and engaging in a meaningful exchange of ideas will make you a better and more interesting person both professionally and personally. I can’t think of a better reason to come to class and to be prepared, can you?
Seminar on Small Groups - PS 477 Jennifer Spoor
I believe that a liberal arts education plays an essential role in preparing you for lifelong learning, in whatever career or roles you wish to pursue. This training helps you develop critical thinking, communication, and leadership skills that can be applied across a wide variety of domains. Groups are ubiquitous! You are already a member of member of many groups (e.g., your family, Butler students, this small group of students studying small groups, etc.), and you will find yourself in many groups in the future (e.g., the PTA, political party, work groups, a jury, etc.). This course will help you to evaluate your experiences and behaviors in these groups, as well as those of your fellow group members.