GWSS/Psychology 487: Advanced Psychobiology of Women
Winter 2012
Entry Code Required - E-mail nkenney@uw.edu
Course Description and Goals:
This course builds on the basic knowledge that the students acquire in Psychology/GWSS 357. Its goal are to expand knowledge of psychobiology of women while providing an opportunity for each student to develop specific expertise in a self-selected area of study. I strongly believe that the ultimate way to learn a topic is to teach it to others. In order to effectively communicate information to another person, you must understand it in a way that no test can possibly assess. While it may be possible to memorize a fact for future testing, a much more solid understanding of the concept is required to teach that fact to others. After all, the person(s) being taught might ask the question you were afraid to ask - "What does that mean?" This course is limited to no more than 14 students at a time in order to allow each student to teach a topic of their choice. Skills related to library research, oral presentation and written communication are used to learn and teach about your topic. Each student begins by conducting in-depth library research on the topic of her/his choosing. After reading the research uncovered in the library search, the student selects that information she/he feels is critical to understanding the topic and organizes it into a detailed written outline and an extended oral presentation. A single article on the topic is selected for the remaining students to read prior to the presentation. Then, in an exercise designed to point out the differences in effective oral vs. written communication, the student prepares a formal 10 page review paper on their topic. Finally, since all students read at least one article and take part in extended lecture-discussions on each topic, all students are exposed to all topics (except their own) in the same way they would be in a traditional class setting.
Overview of GWSS/ Psychology 357
The medical and biological
sciences have made phenomenal progress in their understanding of the human
body. Scientists now know more about how our bodies function than at any time in history. This knowledge
has increased the ability to cure and to avoid disease. It has also created
many ethical questions about the right to life, the economics of curing
the sick versus maintaining the healthy, and the relationship between
quality and length of life.
Some of the greatest advances of medical science
have had a direct impact on the lives of women. Options for contraception
have increased in number and accessibility, allowing more women the opportunity
to plan their childbearing. Our understanding of genetically-transmitted
diseases and our ability to diagnose them prenatally have given women
options to determine which problems they can best cope with in their children.
Modern reproductive technology has made it possible for women to
have healthier babies later in life and for some infertile women to bear
children. Numerous other examples could be described.
While medical options and biological understanding of women's bodies
have increased dramatically, for the general population, knowledge about
women’s bodies and of the options made available by medicine and science
has lagged far behind. Traditionally, women have not been expected to
understand the biological underpinnings of the major life events they
commonly experience. Women today experience the monthly menstrual cycle,
practice contraception, get pregnant or undergo infertility treatment,
have children, experience menopause, and/or counsel their children in these
events having little more information than did women one, two and even
three generations ago.
Psychobiology of women is the study of the way in which physiology
and behavior interact in women's lives. This course concentrates on those
aspects of physiology which delineate female from male (mostly reproductive
endocrinology) and which play a major role in women's lives. It deals
not only with the ways in which physiology affects behavior but also with
the often less thought about ways in which behavior affects physiology.
The first section of this course is designed to establish a basic
foundation of understanding of female anatomy and physiology. Heavy emphasis
is placed on the role of hormones in women’s lives. The course assumes
that the students have limited or no background in biology at the outset
but progresses in its discussion to include complex interactions between
various hormonal systems important to female functioning.
The second section of this course is an exploration of the physiological
and behavioral changes associated with major events or experiences in
women's lives. Some of these events are ones which most women experience
like puberty (Why does it happen? When does it happen? and How do girls
react to the changes in their bodies?), the monthly cycle and its relationship
to behavior (We live it, we have a love-hate relationship with it, it's
blamed for all women's problems, why?), and menopause (It has an even
worse image than the monthly cycle because it combines being a woman with
getting older - two strikes). Other events discussed are optional, i.
e., they may or may not be experienced by a given woman. These include
pregnancy (a major secretive cult of womanhood), contraceptive use (How
do those things work?, What's available? and What do they do to a woman's
body and behavior?), abortion (what are the physical and psychological
aftereffects?). Additional issues are ones experienced by some individuals
but should be understood by all people. These include intersexuality (a topic totally overlooked in most courses on reproductive biology), infertility (a growing
problem), and PMS (lots of press but what is it really and do most women really
have it).
In each of these cases, the course concentrates on the physiological
causes or effects of the event and examines, as much as possible, the
behavioral implications of the event. Interestingly, in some cases, the
biology will be well understood but the behavioral effects not well understood.
In other cases, the behavior will be better understood than the physiology
and in some really amazing cases, neither the behavior nor the physiology
will be well understood.
My goals in teaching this course are threefold: 1. To provide a strong understanding of the wondrous workings of the female body. 2. To provide
a foundation from which students can evaluate future findings in biology,
psychobiology and medicine. and 3. To convince students who might be leery
of the study of science that science is great fun and readily understandable.
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