Freshman Seminar 71U The Psychological Roots of Oppression

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2019
Why are people so willing to humiliate, oppress and even massacre people from other social groups? What are the obstacles impeding the construction of truly multi-ethnic societies in which people from all ethnic groups function as equal partners in the pursuit of the national project? What are the factors responsible for the horrors of the holocaust and similar acts of genocide in places such as Rwanda, Cambodia and Myanmar. In this seminar we will explore those aspects of human nature which lie at the root of the seemingly intractable problem of social exclusion and oppression. We will explore the cognitive, affective and motivational components of intergroup brutality by taking an excursion through both classical and contemporary approaches used by social scientists to come to grips with the psychology of social exclusion. This seminar will provide students with an overview of the major theoretical and methodological perspectives informing our understanding of the psychology of prejudice and oppression in modern society.  These various theoretical perspectives will span disciplines such as social, political and evolutionary psychology, sociology, political science, and anthropology.