Instructor:
Chuck Kalish Office:
1067 Edsciences Ph:
262-0840 cwkalish@wisc.edu
This
course will explore children's developing understanding of the social
world. There are many aspects to
thinking about social content, we'll focus on three main topics: explaining
people's behavior, understanding social institutions, and conceptions of human
groups and types. These topics will
be discussed within the overall framework of children's developing theories of
mind. We will consider the origins
of social cognition in infancy and explore how this cognition changes into
adulthood. Within this
developmental approach, we will focus on the preschool years as the time when
most of the crucial elements of social cognition appear.
Seminar
Papers:
Each student will be responsible for writing a seminar paper once during the
semester. There will be 1-2 papers
for each class period and students will sign-up for particular topics. The seminar paper is a short (about 2
pages single-spaced) analysis of one of the papers we will be discussing in
class. The seminar paper is an
analysis of the argument in the target reading. What is the author claiming?
Why does s/he think this is an important claim? Finally, and not most
importantly, did s/he make the case? The second point: Why should we care?
is the most important focus of the seminar paper. This paper will form part
of the basis for our in-class discussion of the question and will be
distributed to all the participants.
Since the seminar paper is part of the required reading for the class
period it must be available no later than 7:00 pm of the Wednesday before
class. The paper will be
distributed using the Discussion section of the Learn@UW. Authors will make brief presentations of
their papers to the class.
Weekly
Questions:
Participants who are not presenting a project or seminar paper will contribute
a question/comment each week; Although the content of the question is up to
you, I would prefer a question or comment on the significance of the readings
or topic. Like the seminar paper, some question or suggestion about the
implication of what we are reading would be best. The purpose is to ensure that
everyone does the reading and to provide me with some feedback. These questions
should be posted to the weekly Discussion topic on Learn@UW.
3-Credit
Presentation:
Students taking the class for three credits will have the additional
responsibility of an in-class presentation. Students should work individually or in
groups of 2-3. This assignment
involves making a presentation on a topic related to the class. I have a list
of topics. If you would like to choose something else, you must check with me.
You will assign a short reading, and distribute a seminar paper outlining the
issues involved.. These
presentations will be scheduled for the final classes of the semester. Plan on about 10-15 minutes of
presentation and 20-30 minutes of
discussion.
Final
paper: (due
the Weds. after the last day of class).
This paper should take the form of a brief discussion relating some
aspect of the class (broadly defined) to your own research interests/program of
study (also broadly defined). In this paper I am looking for evidence
that you have gotten something useful out of the class. How might you approach your research
differently in light of this class.
Have the readings generated any new questions or answered any old ones
for you? You might choose to write
this paper in the form of a proposal for a research project. For 2-credit students this paper may be
fairly brief (5-7 pages double-spaced).
For 3-credit students I would like a more substantial paper (10-15 pages
double-spaced). Ideally this final
paper would include material from your presentation.
Last, but most importantly: All students are expected to
be active participants in in-class discussions. Class participation is the primary
requirement for the class. See me if you have any questions or concerns about your grade or your
ability to participate in class discussions.
All
readings are available on the learn@uw site. If you
have difficulty accessing or printing, please let me know.
What
is our commonsense understanding of the mind like?
What
do infants know about the behavior of animate (social?) and inanimate
(physical?) objects
Why
are false-belief and pretense so interesting?
Why
do children listen to what others tell them? Who do they believe?
What
do people want?
How
might theory of mind relate to stereotyping?
Is
TOM all there is to understanding people?
What
are the supra-personal social structures that children need to learn about?
Construction
of social reality: What allows children to inhabit a world built of social
conventions?
Topics:
ChildrenÕs
understanding of emotions
ChildrenÕs
conceptions of race/ethnicity
ChildrenÕs
conceptions of gender and gender roles
ChildrenÕs
understanding of ownership and property
ChildrenÕs
understanding of economics
Development
of critical thinking and relativism
ChildrenÕs
conceptions of authority