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LIFE'S BIG QUESTIONS:
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE SELF
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The Daniel Fox Youth Scholars Institute is a week long summer program, where outstanding high school students get a college-like experience by taking a non-credit college course from an LVC professor in a course of their choice. LIFE'S BIG QUESTIONS: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE SELF is a program offered as part of th is program.
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Course Description
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Who am I?... What does it all mean?... How can I be happy?...
These are important questions, and the way in which people pursue answers to them provides remarkable insight into human psychology. Indeed, psycholgoical research indicates that identifying who you are and finding meaning and happiness is a vital and uniquely human process. Moreover, these questions raise related and even more complex questions. For example, does your perception of who you are differ from how others' perceive you? How do others interpret your behavior?
In this workshop, we will address several questions related to identity (e.g., do others see me as I see myself?), meaning (e.g., where do people find meaning?), and happiness (e.g., can money buy happiness?). Many of these research findings may surprise you. For example, while high self-esteem is typically viewed as essential, there are unexpected consequences related to high self-esteem. While meaning is psychologically valuable, it can also be responsible for hate and violence. While we would all like to be happy, we are not very good at knowing what will make us happy.
While psychological research is unable to unlock all the secrets of life, it does indicate that finding identity, meaning, and happiness are crucial and uniquely human psychological processes.
In summary, Life's Big Questions: The Psychology of the Self introduces the field of psychology by addressing some of life's most interesting questions. In this workshop, students will engage in lively class discussions, watch interesting films, participate in class experiments, and explore their own interests in research projects with their classmates. Overall, this workshop provides students with a college-like experience on a topic intended to promote personal growth and understanding, as well as intellectual curiosity.