A few First-Year Seminars give preference during the first round of enrolment to students with membership in the college offering the course - if this is the case, the college name will be listed beside the course title. During the second round of enrolment, first-year students at any college may enroll if space is available.
TBB 199Y1Y: Thought, Belief, and Behaviour (2)
Section |
Title | College | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| L0041 | Great Ideas in Social and Political Thought | Trinity | Timetable |
| L5051 | Christianity: A Religion? | St. Michael's | Timetable |
| L0361 | The Nature of Psychological Enquiry | - | Timetable |
| L0362 | The Nature of Psychological Enquiry | - | Timetable |
| L5392 | Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad: Sociology of the Monotheistic Religions | - | Timetable |
TBB 199Y1 Thought, Belief, and Behaviour: Category 2
TBB 199Y1Y
Section L0041
Trinity College Course
Timetable
Great Ideas in Social and Political Thought
There is a tradition in social and political thought that has come to be called “classical” because the ideas constituting that tradition have stood the test of time. Among those ideas, some have acquired a timeless status and may be regarded as valid, trans-historical insights. Other ideas in the tradition have not necessarily proved themselves to be valid, but they too have stood the test of time, proving fruitful as perspectives and conceptual tools with which to approach significant questions, problems, and issues. With this in mind, we will read and discuss selected excerpts from the works of Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Marx and Neitzsche.
Instructor: I. M. Zeitlin, Sociology and Trinity College
Breadth category: 2 Thought, Belief, and Behaviour
TBB 199Y1Y
Section L5051
St. Michael’s College Course
Timetable
Christianity: A Religion?
It is a relatively common assumption among our contemporaries that Christianity is a religion like any other. The assumption is usually unexamined. On the premise that human beings share a common religious sense, the course would first address the question of such a sense and of its manifestations in religions which precede Christ. Then, by a close examination of Christ's claims and the reports of his encounters with his first followers as expressed in the Gospels, the course will explore the extent to which the features of these claims and encounters differ from or are similar to those of the other religions. Such a study may put in doubt the notion that religions can easily be said to be equivalent to each other.
Instructor: G. Silano, St. Michael’s College
Breadth Category: 2 Thought, Belief, and Behaviour
TBB 199Y1Y
Section L0361
Timetable
Section L0362
Timetable
The Nature of Psychological Enquiry
Humans have always been curious about what causes our behaviour. Not surprisingly, there are diverse views about behavioural causality as well as how we should determine the validity of those views. This seminar deals with how to critically evaluate information about behaviour and its causes. What exactly is a “science of behaviour” and how does it differ from the layperson's notion of psychology? We will explore broad systems of thought such as psychoanalysis and behaviourism; the experimental analysis of behaviour; various topics illustrative of theory and empirical research in psychology, such as attachment theory and learned helplessness theory; and consider the application of theory and research in the area of parenting and child abuse. You will conduct some hands on research projects and offer class presentations. Twelve critical analysis papers based on course readings and internet searches are posted throughout the year on a public course web site. You will offer public critiques and comments on your colleagues’ posted essays on site. Weekly journals describing your academic transition to university are posted and subjected to a narrative analysis in a final paper. There are two additional in-class essays. Basic computer communications skills are required and you are strongly encouraged to view the course web site prior to registering. It may be found at: http://psych.utoronto.ca/~courses/sci199/
Instructor: G. Walters, Psychology
Breadth category: 2 Thought, Belief, and Behaviour
TBB 199Y1Y
Section L5392
Timetable
Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad: Sociology of the Monotheistic Religions
Max Weber has been described as the greatest social scientist of the 20th century. That he is fully deserving of that accolade for both his substantive and methodological contributions there can be no doubt. In one of his most famous works, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, he was the first writer to document the impact of ascetic Protestantism on the early development of capitalism. He was also among the first to analyze the fundamental differences between Eastern and Western religions and to assess their consequences for the social, cultural and economic development of Asian and European societies. According to Weber, the world-historical importance of Judaism lies primarily in the fact that it was the mother of Christianity and Islam. His essays on world religions were published under the following titles: The Sociology of Religion, The Religion of China, The Religion of India, and Ancient Judaism. In this seminar, we shall study the social origins of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Seminar participants will learn to distinguish between legendary narrative and historically plausible material as we treat Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad as historical personalities. Students will gain a first-hand acquaintance with primary sources by reading selections from Genesis, Exodus and Deuteronomy of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament); the Gospels, Paul's Letters and The Book of Acts of The New Testament; the Koran; and the biography of Muhammad by Ibn Hisham. In addition, students will read selections from the writings of Muslim and Western scholars, including the writings of Irving M. Zeitlin on the subject.
Instructor: I. M. Zeitlin, Sociology
Breadth category: 2 Thought, Belief, and Behaviour