PSY3503 EMOTION
| Course Code: | 2333503 |
| METU Credit (Theoretical-Laboratory hours/week): | 3 (3.00 - 0.00) |
| ECTS Credit: | 7.0 |
| Department: | Psychology |
| Language of Instruction: | English |
| Level of Study: | Undergraduate |
| Course Coordinator: | |
| Offered Semester: | Fall Semesters. |
Course Objectives
This course is designed to explore the concept of emotion within the framework of Lacanian psychoanalysis, using visual art as a primary point of entry. Each week, a selected painting will serve as the basis for discussion, opening up questions about the artist’s life, the socio-historical context, and the affective resonances evoked by the work. Rather than treating emotions as fixed psychological states, the course emphasizes their relational, symbolic, and cultural dimensions. The aim of the course is to develop a perspective on how emotions emerge, circulate, and transform within the field of the Other, and to cultivate students’ capacity to think critically and creatively about the intersections of psychoanalysis, art, and affect.
Course Content
The course aims at introducing complementary nature of theoretical and empirical approaches to emotions. Philosophical, cultural, evolutionary, developmental, neurological and clinical issues on emotion research will be elaborated to orient the students to initiate a complete research project on affective states.
Course Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, it can be expected to:
- Understand how emotions are approached in Lacanian psychoanalysis,
- Recognize the role of art and cultural context in shaping affective experience,
- Develop the ability to read visual artworks through a Lacanian lens,
- Apply Lacanian concepts to discussions of emotion in both clinical and cultural contexts.