| |
Meera Komarraju, Ph.D.
Meera Komarraju comes to SIUC with a multicultural background.
She has traveled to several countries in Asia and Europe and has
taught in India, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and the United
States. She has earned two Ph.D. degrees in Psychology (Osmania
University, India and University of Concinnati, U.S.).
At Southern Illinois University she has taught in the Departments
of Psychology and Management covering at least twelve different
courses over the years. She has been teaching and managing the
Introduction to Psychology course for the past three years and
this has proven to be one of her favorites. This is a large class
with over nine hundred students enrolled in it each semester!
Meera loves to teach and is passionate about getting her students
involved in the course material. She enjoys classroom interactions
with students, especially the spontaneous responses of freshmen
students!
What is taught in the class? Psyc 102 provides a broad overview
of the field of psychology. Students learn concepts and theories
about human behavior that apply to everyday life. For example:
- How does the brain influence behavior? Why do famous athletes
succumb to drug addiction? Is there a genetic explanation for
differences in our behavior? Is it true that men are more aggressive
than wormen just because they have higher levels of testosterone?
- What impact does our environmnet have on us? Does watching
violent television programs reinforce aggressive behavior? Is
watching pronography harmful?
- How can we improve how we think? What influences whom we vote
for? Why do we forget to send an email, return a video or call
back a friend? Can memory be improved? Is eyewitness testimony
reliable?
- How does our social and cultural environment influence human
behavior? Why do college students give in to peer pressure and
binge drink? Why are the Israelis and Palestinians prejudiced
against each other? How can prejudice be reduced?
- What is the nature of anxiety, depression, or schizophrenia?
How can on deal with these? How can these be treated? What did
Freud have to say about the id, ego and superego?
|
