Course Syllabus
Lifespan Psychology: Shaping the Self |
 |
| Semester & Location: |
Summer 2024 - Session 3 - DIS Stockholm |
| Type & Credits: |
Core Course - 3 credits |
| Major Disciplines: | Psychology, Human Development, Family Studies |
| Faculty Members: |
June Madsen Clausen (current students please use the Canvas Inbox) |
| Program Director: |
Suman Ambwani |
| Academic support: | |
| Time & Place: |
See calendar for meeting times each day; Classroom: 1D-409 |
Course Description
From a life-span approach, we will consider what influences an individual’s life choices and explore what remains consistent and what changes. How are we shaped by intergenerational transmission? How do we make decisions about friendships, love interests, and careers? This course will explore the psychosocial variables that contribute to selections in, for example, types of relationships, self-reflection, reproductive and psychological health choices, parenting skills and family structures across the lifespan. Both constructive and pathological consequences will be explored. Emphasis will be given to potential causative psychological variables such as phase of development, personality structure, familial dynamics and cultural influences. This class will also consider variations across cultures, using Scandinavia as a case example. We will also explore issues of self-determination vs genetic and cultural restraints as regards our choices.
Learning Objectives
- Learn about different theories of lifespan development and apply them to a cultural perspective. Discuss intercultural differences in developmental lifestyle milestones.
- Gain insight into how the self emerges from infancy and into late adulthood. Analyze the interplay of a multitude of factors that define the individual trajectory of the self.
- Understand how our environment, family dynamics, society, cultural values, and opportunities interplay with the development and concept of the self.
- Understand the concept of intergenerational transmission by making use of the unique Scandinavian environment as an experiential explorative opportunity.
- Explore how the environment can contribute to adaptive and maladaptive development of the self and how we can counteract maladaptive trajectory.
Faculty
June Madsen Clausen, Ph.D.
Dr. Madsen Clausen is a Professor in the Clinical Psychology PsyD Program within the School of Nursing and Health Professions (SONHP) at the University of San Francisco (USF). She is the former Senior Associate Dean for SONHP and also former Program Director for the Clinical Psychology PsyD Program. She also served as Chair of Psychology and as Associate Dean for Academic Effectiveness in USF’s College of Arts and Sciences. She is Consultant and past Director of the Foster Care Research Group and is a licensed psychologist with a clinical and forensic practice focused on trauma. Her published work focuses on the mental health of children in foster care and evaluations of interventions designed to support them. With DIS since 2023.
Required Course Readings
Fraiberg, S., Adelson, S., & Shapiro, V. (1975). Ghosts in the nursery: A psychoanalytic approach to the problems of impaired infant-mother relationships. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 14(3), 387-421. https:/doi.org/10.1016/s00027138(09)61442-4
Miller, A. (1990). Drama of the Gifted Child. Ballantine Books.
Minghetti, A., Donath, L., Zahner, L., Hanssen, H., & Faude, O. (2021). Beneficial effects of an intergenerational exercise intervention on health-related physical and psychosocial outcomes in Swiss preschool children and residential seniors: A clinical trial. PeerJ, 9: e11292. http://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.11292
Santrock, J.W. (2024). Lifespan Development, 19th Edition, International Student Edition. McGraw Hill.
Skimmed Course Readings (Required for Reading Facilitation Groups)
Andreasson, J., Tarrant, A., Johansson, T., & Ladlow, L. (2022). Perceptions of gender equality and engaged fatherhood among young fathers: parenthood and the welfare state in Sweden and the UK. Families, Relationships and Societies, XX(XX): 1–18, https://doi.org/10.1332/204674321X16520100466479
Lindberg, B. & Öhrling, K. (2008) Experiences of having a prematurely born infant from the perspective of mothers in northern Sweden. International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 67(5), 461-471. https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v67i5.18353
Hagquist, C. (2023). Worry and psychosomatic problems among adolescents in Sweden in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic: Unequal patterns among sociodemographic groups? Journal of Adolescent Health, 72, 688-695. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2022.12.013
Mezuk, B., Li, X, Dederin, K., Concha, J., Kendler, K.S., Sundquist, J., & Sundquist, K. (2015). Ethnic enclaves and risk of psychiatric disorders among first and second-generation immigrants in Sweden. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology: The International Journal for Research in Social and Genetic Epidemiology and Mental Health Services, 50(11), 1713-1722. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00127-015-1107-1
von Saenger, I., Dahlberg, L, Augustsson, E., Fritzell, J., & Lennartsoon, C. (2023). Will your child take care of you in your old age? Unequal caregiving received by older parents from adult children in Sweden. European Journal of Ageing, 20(8), 1 – 13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-023-00755-0
Field Studies
Field Study 1: Frya Elementen
Field Study 2: Spiritmuseum
Field Study 3: Aging Research Center at the Karolinska
Approach to Teaching
Class will include lectures, discussions, and small group activities, with time for integration of students' past research, clinical, and practical experiences as well as current reflections about life in Stockholm, field studies, and experiences and responses to class assignments and activities.
Expectations of the Students
Attendance, Promptness, and Participation
Students are expected to attend class, arriving on time and remaining until the class ends for the day, and participate in all aspects of the class meeting (lectures, discussions, in-class activities). Absences are problematic and will negatively impact the student’s grade in the course and, even more importantly, their progress toward achievement of course learning objectives. Anticipated absences should be discussed with the instructor in advance, and make-up work may be assigned on an individual basis with the instructor.
Timely Completion of Required and Skimmed Readings and Submission of Assignments
Students are expected to complete the assigned and skimmed readings and tasks by the indicated deadlines. Readings and assignments are carefully selected and constructed by the instructor to support student learning.
Appropriate Use of Electronic Devices
Cell phones should be turned off or to “silent mode” before meetings begin. If a student must receive or make an urgent call, they are expected to leave the room. Computers are encouraged for purposes of note-taking but should not be used for other purposes during class time unless requested by the instructor.
Communication
Course announcements, requirements, reminders, and assignments will be posted to the course Canvas site and/or sent to the student's DIS email account. All students enrolled in this course have been automatically registered in the course Canvas site, which is now available. At any point during the session, students who are unable to resolve technical problems should contact DIS’s Information Technology Department. If students do not regularly check their DIS email account, they must link their DIS email address to their preferred email address.
Evaluation
To be eligible for a passing grade in this class you must complete all of the assigned work.
You will be evaluated based on your performance on the course assignments as outlined below. Additional details will be provided in class.
Class Attendance and Participation
Optimal learning happens when students read the assigned and skimmed materials in advance and are present and engaged for class meetings. Course points are awarded for on-time and complete class attendance and for engagement with lectures, discussions, and activities during each of 14 class meetings.
Learning Quizzes (5)
In order to support students’ learning from assigned readings, 6 open-book, open-note, online quizzes will be posted, each after approximately two days of class meetings (and not during the Study Tour week). Each quiz will include 15 to 20 multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and short answer questions and must be completed within 30 minutes. Each student’s lowest quiz score will be dropped (i.e., the 5 top quiz scores will be counted towards the final grade in the course). Quiz submission deadlines are reflected in the course calendar.
In-Class Reading and Small Group Reflection (3)
Students will read Alice Miller’s Drama of the Gifted Child over the course of the 3-week session and, at three different points in the class (dates listed in the course calendar), will convene in assigned small groups, to discuss the text and, using discussion prompts, reflect on the content in light of what they are learning about human development. Following these small group discussions, students will make a brief post to canvas about their experience of the text and their small group discussion. Students who are absent from class will miss this assignment (i.e., there is no opportunity to “make up” this exercise outside of class).
Reading Summary and Discussion Facilitation
In order to manage the volume of reading in this compressed summer session, when more than one chapter and journal article is assigned for a class meeting, a small group of students will serve as reading discussion facilitators. When assigned to lead the reading discussion, students will read the assigned and optional chapters and/or journal articles carefully and comprehensively. Students not assigned as reading facilitation group for that day are expected to skim the readings and materials for that day, as the material will be covered on the learning quizzes. In collaboration with their small group, each student facilitator will be responsible for summarizing and presenting key concepts from the assigned and optional chapters and/or articles to their peers during class. Sharing of these key concepts will occur in small groups, with students not assigned as reading facilitators on that day rotating through 4 to 5 reading stations, in each of which one reading facilitator will lead a discussion of key concepts. Students will be assigned to small groups by the 2nd day of class.
Field Study Reflections (3)
Following each of three field studies (Frya Elementen, Spiritmuseum, and Aging Research Center at the Karolinska Institute), students will post a brief reflection (minimum 200 words), responding to instructor prompt(s) which ask the student to integrate the field study with assigned readings, class lectures, and discussions. Due dates for each of these reflections are reflected in the course calendar.
Mini-Developmental Interview and Paper
Students will conduct a brief interview of another individual who is not a DIS student, staff, or faculty member and who is older than 35 years of age. Using what they have learned about the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional aspects of human development that likely applies to the individual they are interviewing, the student will ask questions and engage in conversation for 30 minutes to better understand the individual’s experience of their culture and their perspective and understanding of their world. Students will write a 3- to 4-page, double-spaced paper summarizing this interview, integrating their findings into what they have learned from course readings, class lectures, field students, and class discussions. This paper may be submitted at any time during the summer session but is due no later than the last day of class, Friday, 07/26/2024.
End of Session Reflection Paper
Students will submit a 4- to 6-page (double-spaced) reflection paper, utilizing all course materials (readings, lectures, student presentations, class discussions) and experiences (field studies, study tour academic visits and cultural activities), about their own development. Using lecture notes, study tour notes (in response to thought questions), and notes on required and optional readings and other course materials, students will integrate what they have learned in the course about human development to reflect on their understanding of their own infancy, childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood, as well as their thoughts about their future developmental trajectories into middle and older adulthood. This paper is due on the last day of class, Friday, 07/26/2024.
Grading
Course Requirement Possible Points
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attendance and Participation (14 class meetings at 5 points each) 70 (23%)
Learning Quizzes (top 5 of 6 at 20 points each) 100 (32%)
In-Class Reading and Small Group Reflections (3 at 5 points each) 15 (5%)
Reading Summary and Discussion Facilitation 20 (6%)
Field Study Reflection Posts (3 at 10 points each) 30 (10%)
Mini-Developmental Interview 25 (8%)
End of Session Reflection Paper 50 (16%)
Total possible points: 310 (100%)
Course Grading Scale
|
Percentage points |
Letter grade |
|
93 to 100 |
A |
|
90 to <93 |
A- |
|
87 to <90 |
B+ |
|
83 to <87 |
B |
|
80 to <83 |
B- |
|
77 to <80 |
C+ |
|
73 to <77 |
C |
|
70 to <73 |
C- |
|
67 to <70 |
D+ |
|
63 to <67 |
D |
|
60 to <63 |
D- |
|
0 to <60 |
F |
Disability and Resource Statement
Any student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the Office of Academic Support (email) to coordinate this. In order to receive accommodations, students should inform the instructor of approved DIS accommodations within the first two weeks of classes.
Academic Accommodations
Your learning experience in this class is important to me. If you have approved academic accommodations with DIS, please make sure I receive your DIS accommodations letter on the first days of class. If you can think of other ways I can support your learning, please don't hesitate to talk to me. If you have any further questions about your academic accommodations, contact Academic Support acadsupport@disstockholm.se
Academic Regulations
Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on:
DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|