FCS 1500: Human Development in Context Across the Lifespan

How do people change as they move through their lives? How do they stay the same? And what are the factors that influence our development over time? Are personalities a matter of genetics? What role does experience play in shaping our lives? Is it ever too late to change? And is there life after adolescence?

FCS 1500 provides students with an introduction to the study of human development across the lifespan, beginning with a consideration of research and theory, genetics and heredity, and moving through multiple stages of life ranging from pregnancy to late adulthood, death and dying. Stages of infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, and late adulthood are examined in terms of the characteristics of physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development common to each. In the process, students gain insight into their own lives--their past, their current stage of development, and their interactions and relationships with the people in their worlds.

Among the questions addressed by this course:

- What roles do nature and nurture play in development?
- How can human development be studied in an objective manner?
- What is the normal course of prenatal development?
- How and why do things go wrong during pregnancy?
- Why do infants cry?
- Are babies totally helpless and dependent?
- How do children learn to communicate?
- How old should a child be before parents expect the child to follow rules?
- How is cognitive development related to a child's readiness for school?
- Why do adolescents spend so much time thinking about themselves?
- Is it natural for conflict to increase between parents and children when the children reach adolescence?
- Why do adolescents exhibit high-risk behavior?
- Why do young adults feel pressure to reach certain milestones, such as marriage and parenthood?
- Is there a connection between how one was parented and how one parents?
- Is there such a thing as mid-life crisis?
- What is menopause?
- Why are men more likely to play with their grandchildren than they were to play with their own children?
- Does intelligence decline during adulthood?

Fulfill social science general-education requirements by taking a class that will be with you for a lifetime. Hope to see you there.

R. Isabella, Ph.D.