Psychology and Popular Music

I’m lookin’ for a mind at work!
-- from "The Schuyler Sisters" in the musical Hamilton, 2015

Both psychology and popular music explore the complexity of the human experience. What are the overlaps and differences in those approaches? How can one discipline shed light on the meanings and range of the human experience in a way that the other can’t? Activities will include lectures, seminars, and workshops in social science research methods and public speaking. 

We'll study empirical methods, learning to separate facts from fictions in studies of the human experience, but also the arts of psychologically informed persuasion so prevalent in contemporary media. In the psychology portion of this program we will develop a better understanding of people’s behavior and mental processes using social science methods. We will also focus on the social and psychological uses of popular music—how diverse American musicals, popular songs, and the ways we share them on social media inspire and shape our emotions, memories, and identities. 

In fall quarter, we will examine how people learn, think, and remember, as well as the biological bases of human behavior, in a grand overview of the field of psychology. We will explore what motivates people and how emotions, personality, and social interactions affect us. We'll focus on vital social issues of the day including the ongoing struggle for trans rights and the presidential election, and examine how advertisers manipulate minds via psychologically informed slogans, images, and underscoring. Through shared, safe vocal exercises and recitations, we'll develop our public speaking skills.

In winter quarter, we will focus on human development: how people both change and stay the same over the course of a lifetime. We'll analyze songs that reveal the inner life of a character on stage or screen, and what our own musical choices can reveal about our minds and emotions, from childhood to old age. Students will deliver research presentations in small groups, practicing public speaking while also becoming acquainted with library and archival research methods.

This program is coordinated with Greener Foundations for first-year students. Greener Foundations is Evergreen’s in-person 2-quarter introductory student success course sequence, which provides first-year students with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive at Evergreen. Students expected to take Greener Foundations should use CRN 10162 to register for a 2-credit Greener Foundations course in addition to this 14-credit program. 

First-year students who are not expected to take Greener Foundations or have been granted an exemption should use CRN 10038 to register for this program. Find more details about who isn't expected to take Greener Foundations on the Greener Foundations website.

Anticipated Credit Equivalencies: