Jeff wrote:
> Here's an end-of-the-semester question for you all. What would be the
> chapter headings for the ideal intro-psych textbook as conceived by our
> entering students? Here are some of my suggestions:
>
> "Recovering traumatic memories: Regain your past and jump start your
> future"
>
> "Building self-esteem: Becoming best friends with yourself"
>
> "Detoxifying your relationships"
>
> "Erecting boundaries: Not granite walls but gated communities"
>
> "How to stop pleasing others and start pleasing yourself"
>
> Of course, any good textbook also must discuss the most important
> theorists in the discipline. I have been negligent in my reading of the
> popular and new-age literature because I could think of only the
> following names: Carl Jung, Deepak Chopra, Andrew Weil, Laura
> Schlessinger. Who else would you add?
>
> Lest you think this is merely a frivolous post...well, it is. But I also
> am thinking of handing something like this out on the first day of class
> so that I can discuss what the course will NOT be about.
How about:
"What's WRONG with them?" Diagnosing your friends and family.
"Becoming slender, beautiful, handsome, and sexually desirable." Social
psychological tools for an active sex life.
"Psyching out testers." How test writers write tests, and how to psych out
the right answers without studying.
And, of course, we have to add a few names to the list such as Ken Wilber,
Stanislav Grof, Sigmund Freud, and (obviously) the Skinnerians (who believe
everyone can be manipulated as though s/he lived in a box.) Better add "The
Bell Curve" too, for the racist segment that seems to be appearing more
frequently on many campuses, Dworkin for those who want to better understand
that every male is a rapist, and Leonard Jefferies for those who view
melanin as a neurotransmitter involved in the control of violent behavior.
But leave out Chopra, Weil, and Schlessinger. Even a psychologist has _some_
pride!
That should do it.
Rick
--
Rick Adams
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Department of Social Sciences
Jackson Community College
2111 Emmons Rd.
Jackson, MI 49201
