Social Psychology

PSYC 121 Social Psychology | Syllabus

PSYC 406 Social Cognition | Syllabus

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Social psychology is one of the major social science fields that uses scientific methods to discover psychology mechanisms underlying social phenomena. These courses cover in-depth examination of specific topics in social psychology. Topics includes key concepts, theories, methods, and findings in social psychology, with particular attention to attitudes, social influence, group dynamics, intergroup relations, identity, as well as recent research on computational approaches to cognition, behaviors, groups, and culture. 

Minority Influence on Social Change

PSYC 398 Psychology of Social Change | Syllabus

SPI 502 Psychology for Policy Analysis & Implementation

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Throughout history, minority voices have significantly influenced the course of nations, shaping social movements, policies, and collective identities. This seminar examines the psychological mechanisms through which minority influence contributes to social change. Drawing on social psychological theories, students will analyze historical and contemporary cases, including the U.S. civil rights movement, decolonization struggles, and ongoing debates about national identity in the United States and beyond. Through discussion and projects, students will explore when minority influence promotes social progress, when it generates backlash, whether polarization threatens democracy or reflects a transitional stage of social change, and how societies can navigate these tensions to build more inclusive futures.

Computational Social Psychology

PSYC 396 Computational Social Psychology

PSYC 469/800 Computational Social Science

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Computational social psychology is a new frontier in the field of social psychology. Computational social psychology has two pillars: (a) computational modeling for theory building and hypothesis generation and (b) computational analysis for hypothesis testing. This course is a seminar-format survey of computational approaches to social psychological research, with emphasis on methods, tools, software frameworks, and complex systems theory as these apply to the investigation of social phenomena.

(a) Computational Modeling

PSYC 469 Agent-Based Modeling (undergrad credit)

PSYC 800 Agent-Based Modeling (grad credit)

Mini Conferences | 2020 Spring, 2021 Spring

Agent-based modeling is a computer modeling technique that simulates the interactions of agents to gain insights into system behaviors. This stochastic model is built from the bottom up and validates generative causality. It has established itself as a powerful research method in the formal, physical, and especially the social sciences. This is a 3-unit one-semester elective that offers students a hands-on introduction to some landmark models, the core concepts, and the techniques of agent-based modeling.

(b) Computational Analysis

PSYC 500 Data Science (undergrad credit) | Course website

Mini Conferences | 2020 Fall, 2021 Spring

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With Dr. Tim Pleskac, Dr. Marsha McCartney, and Xiaohong Cai, we redesign PSYC 500 (formerly, Intermediate Statistics for Psychological Research) to Introduction to Data Science. This course offers computational and statistical thinking, mathematical foundations, model building and software foundation, data curation, and knowledge transference, as well as a hands-on introduction to Python and Google Colab. This is funded by the course transformation grant from KU center for teaching excellence.