| TERM: |
2020-21 Fall |
| COURSE NUMBER: |
PSYC 378 |
| COURSE TITLE: |
Biopsychology of Human Sexuality |
| NAME OF
INSTRUCTOR: |
Dr. Heather Looy |
| CREDIT WEIGHT
AND WEEKLY TIME DISTRIBUTION: |
credits 3 (hrs lect 3 - hrs sem 0 - hrs lab 0) |
| CALENDAR
DESCRIPTION: |
This course explores biopsychological perspectives on
human sexuality from within a historical, cultural, and relational
context. Topics include methods of studying sexuality, sexual
differentiation, the roles of genes and hormones in sexual experience
and expression, sexual diversity and sexual abnormalities. Human sexual
identities and experiences emerge from dynamic interactions among
biological, psychological, social, and cultural elements. The course
also critically considers what it means to be sexual beings in a
complex and changing world, and how we can be agents of sexual
reconciliation and transformation in our culture.
Prerequisites: One of PSYC 250, BIOL 200, or BIOL 210
|
| REQUIRED TEXTS: |
- Mills, A. (2018). Biology of Sex.
University of Toronto Press. ISBN: 9781487593377
- Other readings will be posted on Moodle
|
| MARK
DISTRIBUTION IN PERCENT: |
|
| Discussion Forum |
10% |
| Participation/Professionalism/Peer Review |
10% |
| Video/website/book reviews |
20% |
| Reading Assignments/Term Project |
20% |
| Tests |
40% |
|
|
|
100% |
The ranges are due to your choice to do one or two written assignments.
Each written assignment is worth 20%. If you do two written assignments
then the exams will be worth 25% each; if you do one written assignment
then the exams will be worth 35% each.
|
| COURSE
OBJECTIVES: |
Sexuality is a significant aspect of our human experience, and a source
of much delight and distress. Yet sexuality is minimally
addressed even in programs leading to careers in psychology or health
care. Sexuality also generates much controversy and
conversation. By the end of this course, you will:
- Be able to articulate the assumptions and values that
shape the scientific study of human sexuality historically and
currently.
- Have built an accurate foundation of knowledge
regarding research into the evolutionary and biological aspects of
sexuality, including attraction, sexual development, and sexual
function and dysfunction.
- Come to understand the ways in which biology
interacts with historical, cultural, and individual contexts and
experiences to shape sexual identities and responses.
- Have reflected on Christian, and other worldview,
perspectives on sexuality and how those perspectives interact with the
biopsychological research
- Have explored personally important questions
surrounding human sexuality.
- Learned to engage in respectful and fruitful debate
and dialogue, to listen well, to disagree effectively, to maintain a
constructive dialogue with those with whom you disagree.
- Begun to develop thoughtful, informed responses to
issues of sexuality, in ways that lead to reconciliation and
transformation.
|
| TOPIC OUTLINE: |
- 1. What is sex/sexuality and why is it so hard to talk about?
- Whitehead & Whitehead, Wisdom of the Body, chapter 1 (“Making Sense of Sexuality”)
- 2. How to study sexuality (research methods)
- Lips, chapter 3 (2008, Sex and Gender, “Researching Sex and Gender”)
- 3. What is sex for? (Biological and social perspectives)
- 4. Evolution of sex differences
- 5. Resolving conflicting reproductive needs: Mating systems and sexual conflict
- 6. Sexual differentiation (making female, male, and…?)
- 7. Sexual physiology and behavior
- Farley, chapter 6 (2008, Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics)
- Roach, chapter 11, on sex and disability (2008, Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex)
|
THE KING'S UNIVERSITY