(African-centred) Psychology 101

Welcome to Psychology 101. In this class you will begin the journey towards self-awareness and understanding others psychologically, through an immersion in psychological theory and studies. Most students in South Africa have a vague idea about their own continent and the location of the continent in global psychology. I have designed this course so that you can start to cultivate in yourself what it means to live in Africa and see the world from here. The course will help you to cultivate your consciousness of your own emotions, motivation and thinking. You will learn to analyse your experiences in the world, in your family, among your friends and in your neighbourhood.

While the course covers the common topics of an introductory course in psychology – such as biology, the brain, sensation, perception, research methods in psychology, learning and memory, emotion and motivation, language and cognition, human development, personality, psychological assessment, psychopathology, psychological treatment, social psychology and health psychology – in this class you will be encouraged to critically weigh the topics, studies and theories you will learn about.

Four of the most common questions you will learn to ask are: why was this research considered important; who did the study; how was this conclusion reached; and are there alternative ways to interpret the conclusions? These questions will not only start to develop your ability to think psychologically, but hopefully will also awaken aspects of yourself and the world that you may have taken for granted until now, and contribute towards making you a critical thinker and critical citizen.

The prescribed book for the course is Psychology by Okon Tleare Pa.