In our everyday life, we usually assume that we are in charge of our own actions and can thus deliberately influence our environment. This feeling of mastery over our own actions is often referred to as agency and is a central and widely discussed concept in psychology. This course will explore the idea of agency from multiple perspectives, investigating how to understand humans as creatures that initiate, modify, and reflect on their actions (or do not do so), with a special focus on human agency in the context of the climate crisis. Students will review relevant research from different fields of psychology, while drawing insights from other fields, emphasizing the interconnectedness of psychology with other disciplines and its relevance in addressing complex societal issues. Students will get to practice research-based strategies for learning basic academic skills and cultivate their own sense of being meaningful agents in relation to their natural and technological environments and issues such as climate change. Ultimately, this First Year Seminar lays the foundation for excelling in academic coursework.
- Teacher: Arminta Ruch
- Teacher: Heidi Kristiina Toivonen