We are excited to announce that CYA will begin offering Psychology courses starting this fall.

The Biology of Consciousness, a Neuroscience/Psychology course, will be offered in the Fall of 2019, taught by visiting faculty  Nicholas G. Hatsopoulos, Ph.D., a Professor at the Dept. of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago. Dr. Hatsopoulos is a CYA alumnus (Spring ’83).
Consciousness has been considered one of the great mysteries in human existence. Historically, psychologists and neuroscientists have largely ignored the problem of conscious awareness because it was considered subjective falling outside the realm of scientific inquiry. However, over the past several decades scientists have begun to try to tackle the problem using modern scientific tools. In fact, several years ago, a new journal was established entitled Neuroscience of Consciousness.
The course will begin by trying to define the term and consider the so-called “hard” and “easy” problems of consciousness. A brief history of ancient civilizations’ views on mental experience will be discussed with particular attention to Greek thinkers from the classical period. The class will then go over basic neuroscientific concepts and methods that are being used to study the neural correlates of consciousness. Different states of consciousness and disruptions of consciousness in human patients will be explored. The course will touch on the related problems of intentionality and free will and finally discuss prevailing scientific theories of consciousness.

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Trauma and the Remaking of the Self  will be added to CYA’s course offerings in the Spring of 2020. This course will be taught by Eleni Koukouna, professional psychologist with extensive practice with refugees, migrants, and unaccompanied minors.
This module provides an overview of current psychological theories and research in the understanding of human responses to psychological trauma and life adversities. Topics include acute stress reactions, and post-traumatic stress disorders resulting from interpersonal and family violence, sexual victimization, traumatic loss and death, disaster, and other critical life events. Resilience and post-traumatic growth in the face of life challenges will be discussed in the second part of the module. There will be a special focus on cultural and gender issues in relation to human traumatic stress reactions and resilient functioning.