Seminar in Psychology: Love & Sex
PSY 440, section
01; 3 credits
Thursdays; 3:30 - 6:20 ; Spring 2008
Humanities 110
Alice Andrews
Office hrs: Mondays; 9:15-11:15 AM . College Hall. EvoS office, room 113-A, & by appointment.
Voicemail: 257.2374; EvoS: 257.2379
"The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know." - Blaise Pascal
Love is "one's ability, through
demonstrative acts, to confer survival benefits
on others in a creatively enlarging manner." - Ashley Montegue
Love is "a wonderful example of long-term focused attention." - Lucy Brown
"How can I love you if you won't lay down?" - Mullah Nasrudin
By reading writing, thinking, and talking about the psychology, science, and sociocultural aspects of love and sex (on such topics as: infidelity, robots, spirituality, "mating intelligence," pornography, "cardiac psychology," paraphilias, pheromones, cross-cultural studies, and more), you will no doubt gain a deeper and broader understanding of the two things that make the world go 'round; you might even gain more insight into yourself and others. But learning about love and sex and gaining more self-knowledge is just a part of this writing intensive seminar. One of my goals for the class is to activate the "knowledge-seeking" tendency in you—the part of you that feels good engaged in the quest “to know." In other words, this class should help further your way towards critical thinking and individuation; ignite in you (if not already present) a passion for writing; challenge you; provide opportunities and an environment for you to feel safe to stretch your mind and to question and re-think some of your assumptions and beliefs; make your synapses grow and connect.
Determining Your Final Grade:
Paper: 30 points
10-15 pages
This paper should integrate and synthesize the works we've been reading and
studying. It should also try to answer a question or respond to an issue in a
(hopefully) novel and fresh way. You will develop a topic or question about
some aspect of love or sex—or love and
sex—using at least 3 of the readings as references. Aim to give a real
point of view while adhering to academic conventions (i.e., APA-style
references).
The topic's natural fascination for all us, along with the readings and discussions, should spark something in you—a question that intrigues you, a connection and/or point you think should be made. If not, I'm more than happy to talk with you and help you develop your paper topic.
The paper should be 10-15 pages, Times-New Roman, double-spaced; APA style references and title page.
You should turn in a draft on April 17. The final paper is due May 1.
Fiction or creative nonfiction: 30 points
5-12 pages
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Someone on an e-listserv I belong to wrote: “I am abandoning reality for fiction and will stop reading non-fiction books. I think I know pretty much, at least in outline form, what is actually known about human nature from the biological and social sciences. Novelists have a way of getting at the complexities of the human condition that scientists have not.” There's
much truth to this romantic view of fiction. Cognitive psychologists and
evolutionary psychologists tell us that stories are an ancient
heuristic—they’re how we learn best. Our brains actually have story
algorithms (or modules, if you will) because the narrative format probably
helped our ancestors to remember invaluable information—information that was
necessary for our survival. Your creative writing piece/story should try to do some (but not necessarily all) of the following: It might include a character explaining something(s) that you have learned in this class. For an example of what it looks like when a character in a story explains a concept, see my novel Trine Erotic: pp. 138-143. [For more on writing this way (with behavioral science themes, etc.) see my article “An Evolutionary Mind,” particularly the section called “A Mind for Evolutionary Fiction.” http://www.metanexus.net/magazine. (Go to Authors and scroll down to Andrews.) The whole essay/article is also a decent example of the style I'm looking for when writing your academic paper.] It might reflect various issues, ideas, and concepts from the class. It might use the language of the various issues, ideas, and concepts from class. For more on that, see: http://www.entelechyjournal.com/biofiction.html. My hope for both papers: that your academic paper is inspired and infused with creativity and that your creative paper is inspired by and infused with “'the academic.” |
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Love Journal: 20 points
At least 35 pages
Beginning on the first evening of our first class until Wednesday, March 12, you should write every night, Monday through Friday. You should write at least one page, but please feel free to write more. I would like you to write this on the computer in a document called “Love Journal.” Every weekday you will open this Love Journal and write. You should date each entry and make sure to save a copy, back it up, etc. You might consider printing it out each time you write it and saving it in a folder.
Things
you should have in your Love Journal:
-love letters
Write a letter to:
a current lover
a past lover
a current crush
a past crush
a parent or other family member
your possible, future lover
someone who is not living
-ideas about love
-reaction to/notes on: readings, class discussions, films
-personal stuff/ “free writing” on love
10 points for just having 35 pages or more
5 points each for 2 graded selections of your choice
On March 13, you will turn in your Love Journal. You'll decide which 2 entries you feel are
the most interesting, novel, and well-written (my criteria for grading) and indicate (with a star, etc.) that they are the 2 you would like graded. You can place them on the top of the others. There are many, many benefits to this assignment—one especially good one is that it can be a source for both your paper and your fiction!
Take-home written final (3 pages) 20 points
I will give the assignment out on April 24; it is due on the day of your final exam: May 15.
Readings for Course:
All of your readings will be on Blackboard (Bb)—either in the Course Documents section or the e-Reserves section. All entries in Bb are by author name and title, unless underlined here; for example “BBC Love Site” will appear in Bb as BBC Love Site. Readings and links on Bb not specified here are optional.
The readings will be due on the day where they are listed. So, for example, when we talk about 'ideas about love'
on January 31, you will have read Levy, Sternberg, Ackerman, and Fisher.
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Jan 24 |
Introduction. What is love?
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Jan 31 |
Ideas about love. David Levy; Robert J. Sternberg; Diane Ackerman; Helen Fisher
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Feb 7 |
The science of love and sex Helen Fisher; James Vaughn Kohl & Robert T. Francouer, Kohl; Jeffrey Kluger; BBC Love Site
optional: Alice Andrews, letter |
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Feb 14 |
The evolutionary psychology of love and sex Geoffrey Miller; Martie G. Haselton & Gian C. Gonzaga; John Delamater & Janet Shibley Hyde |
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Feb 21 |
The sociocultural/feminist perspective: Pornography and other issues. Feminist Perspectives on Sex |
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Feb 28 |
Sexualities: Heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, transgenderism. Elaine Hatfield; J. Micheal Bailey; Letitia Anne Peplau, Adam Fingerhut, Kristin P. Beals
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Mar 6 |
Monogamy, polyamory, infidelity, jealousy, unrequited love, the dark side of passion, break-ups. David Buss; Helen Fisher; Steven Pinker; *Alice Andrews; Polyamory
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Mar 13 |
Modern love and sex: speed-dating, e-date sites, hooking up and casual sex; medicalization. Megan Daum; David Buss. Stephanie Rosenbloom; Benoit Denizet-Lewis, The New View Campaign
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Journal due. |
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Mar 27 |
Cardiac Psychology.
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Apr 3 |
Mating Intelligence; Mate selection. Glenn Geher; Geoffrey Miller; Susan Sprecher ; Norman P. Li, J. Michael Bailey, Douglas T. Kenrick, & Joan A. W. Linsenmeier. |
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Apr 10 |
Religion and spirituality: love of god; religion on love and sex; spiritual love and sex. Marnia Robinson; David Deida; Mark Michaels & Patricia Johnson
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Creative Writing due. |
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Apr 17 |
Animal love and sex. Helen Fisher, Frans deWaal
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Draft (paper) due. Give out final. |
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Apr 24 |
Otherly Love and Sex (Robots, Objectophilia, paraphilias). David Levy; Frank Thadeusz; Paraphilias
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May 1
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The Self: Self-love, narcissism, self-esteem, self-expansion theory, self-pleasuring.Aron & Aron; W. Keith Campbell, Craig A. Foster & Eli J. Finkel; Sam Vaknin
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Paper due.
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May 15 |
Final
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Final due. |
N.B. These readings and course schedule are not set in stone. Please check Blackboard (and I'll also mention in class) to see if there has been an update in either reading or schedule. A change in the readings is likely, because
this is, naturally, a dynamic process — e.g., I may read some new and interesting text and want to share it with you, or I may decide that, after a particular class we might be better off reading something else...
2008 Evolutionary Studies Seminar Series
We
have the opportunity to go to two very relevant and fascinating talks on our
topic (with an evolutionary lens) — right here at SUNY.
Also, Lionel Tiger, the preeminent scholar who coined the term 'male bonding'
will be giving a talk (and a pre-talk) on Darwin Day about something
quasi-related to our topic.
Free
and open to the public.
How Seminal Fluid Has Evolved to Affect Female Psychology and Physiology
Monday,
March 3 at 5pm, Lecture Center 102 -Rebecca Burch, SUNY Oswego,
Psychology Department
Sex Differences in Romantic Kissing
Monday,
April 14 at 5pm, Lecture Center 102 - Susan Hughes, Albright College,
Psychology Department
The Evolution of Behavioral Sex Differences in Humans: A Public Discussion.
Wednesday, February 6 at 3:00-4:30 pm, in Honors Center (in College Hall).- Lionel Tiger, Charles Darwin Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University.
Later at 6:00 pm Professor Tiger will give a lecture titled "What Would Darwin Say?" in LC 102.
Communication with me:
I'll send important updates via Blackboard. Things I may put up there: additional or optional readings, cancellation of class and/or office hours, etc. I'm a lover of email, so you will reach me fastest that way. If my office hours conflict with your schedule, I’m happy to coordinate another time to meet with you – just see me after class or email me about it.
Missing classes:
Although I don’t exactly penalize for absences, missing class could affect your grade: assignments are sometimes given out and changes are made in the schedule/syllabus; etc. As well, we only have 14 classes!!!
Being late to class:
Please make every effort to be on time.
Cell phones:
Please turn your cell to silence mode. If you’re a caregiver and you need to be in touch with a child or parent, etc., please turn to vibrate mode and answer phone outside of class.
Academic Integrity:
From the SUNY New Paltz statement on academic integrity: “Students are expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty in their college work. Cheating, forgery, and plagiarism are serious offenses, and students found guilty of any form of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary action.”
For more information regarding the policy of academic integrity here at the college, you can go to: http://www.newpaltz.edu/studentaffairs/regulations/campus_rules.html#academic.
Also, please see me if you're unsure about what violates this policy.
Late assignments:
Four points off for every day late; I will not accept emailed papers. If you are going to turn something in late, please bring it to the Psychology office (Humanities 3rd floor) and hand it in to Barbara Novick, the dept. secretary, who will date it and put it in my mailbox.
Inclement weather:
Even if the college has not closed, please check Blackboard when snow or ice appear dangerous for driving; I will post any class cancellation there.
Mental Health:
Finally, sometimes college life can be very stressful. Fortunately SUNY New Paltz offers a “variety of services to the campus community ranging from individual and group counseling to campus-wide educational programs that contribute not only to the growth of individual students, but also to the benefit of academic programs in related disciplines, to campus life, and to the educational/cultural life of the region.”
http://www.newpaltz.edu/counseling/
Student Health & Counseling Building
SUNY New Paltz
1 Hawk Drive.
New Paltz, NY 12561
Phone: (845) 257-2920
Fax: (845) 257-3162
Hours: Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Directions to the
Psychological Counseling Center
The Psychological Counseling Center is located in the Student Health and
Counseling Building, first door to the right. This building can be found
between Esopus Hall and Gage Hall, facing the pond and just off Southside Loop
Road. Parking is provided for our clients in front of our building.
There are times when students in distress feel more comfortable talking to a fellow student rather than approaching one of the professional staff at the Psychological Counseling Center (PCC). Recognizing the campus community's need for student-helpers, the PCC has created two peer crisis intervention organizations: OASIS and HAVEN.
OASIS
OASIS is a student-staffed, counseling and crisis intervention center and telephone hot-line. OASIS volunteers are trained and supervised by the hotline Coordinator, shift supervisors and the PCC staff to respond to students' telephone calls and walk-in requests for support, information, and referral.
· OASIS Office Location: Deyo Hall G13c
· Office Hours: 8 p.m. - 1 a.m. (Closed during all breaks.)
· Phone: 257-4945
OASIS offers confidential peer counseling and crisis intervention to help students deal with difficulties in life areas such as:
· loneliness
· depression
· relationships
· roommate hassles
· academic problems
· suicidal thoughts.
Students can also call the OASIS Center for information and referrals on:
· drugs and drug identification
· sexual issues and related diseases
· medical emergencies
· campus and community services.
HAVEN
HAVEN is a peer counseling program that offers confidential telephone and walk-in counseling and education to students who are survivors of, or who are concerned about rape and other unwanted sexual experiences. HAVEN volunteers are trained and supervised by the PCC staff. HAVEN also maintains a 24-hour emergency beeper service for emergencies. HAVEN and the Beeper Service are closed during all breaks.
· HAVEN Office Location: Deyo Hall G13c
· Office Hours: Office Hours: 8 p.m. - 1 a.m. (Closed during all breaks).
· Phone: 257-4930 Emergency Beeper Service: 879-0067 (Closed during all breaks).
Readings:
Ideas About Love
David Levy, Love and
Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships, 2007. pp.
25-45
Robert J. Sternberg, Cupid's
Arrow: The Course of Love Through Time; 1998. pp. 3-15
Diane Ackerman, A
Natural History of Love; 1994. pp. 123-136
Helen Fisher, Why We
Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love; 2004. pp.94-96
The Science of Love and Sex
Helen Fisher, Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love; 2004. pp.51-94
James Vaughn Kohl & Robert T. Francouer, The Scent of Eros: Mysteries of
Odor in Human Sexuality; 2002. pp. 128-140
Jeffrey Kluger, “Why We Love,” Time Magazine; 2008
Optional: "A Letter in Response to Jason Stern's
Esteemed Reader Column," 2004.
<"http://www.entelechyjournal.com/my_letter_responding_to_jason.htm>
The Evolutionary Psychology of Love and Sex
Geoffrey Miller; The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Mating, 2000. pp. 224-241
Martie G. Haselton & Gian C. Gonzaga; Draft: April 10, 2007. To appear in J. Forgas and J. Fitness, Social Relationships: Cognitive, Affective, and Motivational Processes (The 10th Sydney Symposium on Social Psychology).
John Delamater & Janet Shibley Hyde, “Conceptual and Theoretical Issues in Studying Sexuality in Close Relationships” in The Handbook of Sexuality in Close Relationships, eds Harvey, Wenzel, & Sprecher, 2004. pp. 16-18
Todd K. Shackelford; Nicholas Pound; and Aaron T. Goetz, "Psychological and Physiological Adaptations to Sperm Competition in Humans" Review of General Psychology, 2005. pp. 228-244
The
Sociocultural/Feminist Perspective: Pornography and Other Issues
Laurie Shrage, "Feminist Perspectives on Sex Markets," The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2007 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2007/entries/feminist-sex-markets/>.
Sexualities: Heterosexuality, Homosexuality, Bisexuality, Transgenderism
Elaine Hatfield & Richard L. Rapson, Love and Sex: Cross-cultural Perspectives, 2005. pp. 111-122
Meredith L.Chivers, M. C Seto, & Ray Blanchard, “Gender and sexual orientation differences in sexual response to the sexual activities versus the gender of actors in sexual films.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2007. 93, pp. 1108-1121.
J. Michael Bailey, The Man Who Would Be Queen: The Science of Gender-Bending and Transsexualism, 2003.
Letitia Anne Peplau, Adam Fingerhut, Kristin P. Beals, “Sexuality in the Relationships of Lesbians and Gay Men” in The Handbook of Sexuality in Close Relationships, 2004. pp. 349-367
Monogamy, Polyamory, Infidelity, Jealousy, Unrequited Love, the Dark Side of
Passion, Break-ups
David Buss, The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating,1994. pp. 125-141.
Helen Fisher, Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love; 2004. pp., 2002 pp. 153-180.
Steven Pinker “Crazy Love” Time Magazine; 2008.
Alice Andrews “soft kill” in Trine Erotic, 2002. pp5-47.
Optional: Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of Love pp.279-285.
Alain de Botton, “Consolation for a Broken Heart” in The Consolations of Philosophy, 2000. pp.183-202.
Cardiac Psychology
Rollin McCraty, “The Energetic Heart: Bioelectromagnetic Interactions Within and Between People”
Paul Pearsall, The Heart's Code: Tapping the Wisdom and Power of Our Heart Energy, 1998. pp.1-20, but maybe more...
Institute of HeartMath: <http://www.heartmath.org/>
Susanna & Puran Bair: <http://www.appliedmeditation.org/heart_rhythm_practice.shtml>
Modern Love and Sex: Speed-dating, E-date Sites, Hooking Up, Medicalization
Megan Daum, “Virtual Love” The New Yorker, 1997 in Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, 2003. pp.254-261
David Buss, The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating,1994. pp. 125-141.
pp. 73-96.
Stephanie Rosenbloom, “A
Disconnect on Hooking Up” NYT, 2007.
Benoit Denizet-Lewis, “Friends, Friends with Benefits, and the Benefits of the Local Mall” NYT, 2004.
The New View Campaign: <http://www.fsd-alert.org/>
Optional: Laura Kipnis; Dan Savage. To be determined.
Mating Intelligence; Mate Selection
Glenn Geher, Geoffrey F. Miller, Jeremy W. Murphy, “Mating Intelligence: Toward an Evolutionarily Informed Construct” in Mating Intelligence: Sex, Relationships, and the Mind's Reproductive System, 2008.
Geoffrey F. Miller, “Mating Intelligence: Frequently Asked Questions”in Mating Intelligence: Sex, Relationships, and the Mind's Reproductive System, 2008.
Susan Sprecher, “Social Exchange Theories and Sexuality” The Journal of Sex Research, pp. 32-43.
Norman P. Li; J. Michael Bailey; Douglas T. Kenrick; Joan A. W. Linsenmeier, “The Necessities and Luxuries of Mate Preferences: Testing the Tradeoffs,”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2002 pp. 947-955.
Religion and Spirituality
Marnia Robinson, Peace Between the Sheets: Healing with Sexual Relationships, 2004. pp. 81-97
David Deida, Dear Lover: A Woman's Guide to Men, Sex, and Love's Deepest Bliss, 2005. pp. 1-41
Mark Michaels & Patricia Johnson – to be determined...
Animal Love and Sex
Helen Fisher, Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love; 2004. pp.26-50
Frans deWaal, <http://www.skeptic.com/eskeptic/07-08-08.html>
Otherly Love and Sex (Robots, Objectophilia, Paraphilias)
David Levy, Love and Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships, 2007. pp. 64-74; 127-136
Frank Thadeusz, “Falling in Love with Things,” Spiegel Online International, 2007. <http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,482192,00.html?
Paraphilias from: <http://www.psychologistanywhereanytime.com/sexual_problems_pyschologist/psychologist_paraphilias_list.htm>
The Self: Self-love, Narcissism, Self-esteem, Self-expansion Theory, Self-pleasuring
W. Keith Campbell & Craig A. Foster; Eli J. Finkel, “Does Self-Love Lead to Love for Others?: A Story of Narcissistic Game Playing”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology pp.340-354
Aron & Aron, “Love and Sexuality” in Sexuality in Close Relationships, Kathleen McKinney and Susan Sprecher, eds; 1991. pp. 41-44.
David Levy, Love and Sex with Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships, 2007. pp.282-289
Sam Vaknin: <http://www.narcissistic-abuse.com/>