Science of Empathy

Catalog description

How do people understand each other – or think they do? How is it that we can slip into the shoes of someone else, even though we may not know them at all? When we slip into the shoes of a character in a novel or movie, is this the same as empathizing with “real people”? What abilities does one need to understand someone else – and who lacks them? Are women more empathetic? Democrats or Republicans? When do we have more empathy and when do we block empathy? What are the positive and negative effects of empathy? Evidence shows empathy use is fluctuating in the U.S. – but why? Are modern media to blame? The course will introduce you to the current state of research on empathy and “mindreading”, as well as core studies on cooperation in a wide range of fields, such as cultural theory, anthropology, media studies, phenomenology, psychology, literary criticism, and cognitive science. However, the most important aspect of the course is that you will conduct the research to find answers to these and more questions. We will introduce methods of “experimental arts and humanities” to develop new knowledge about empathy. The course culminates in a research project where you will collect empirical data on your own and run an experiment of your own design to test a hypothesis. You will try out what triggers specific forms of empathy, for example by writing different narratives and then comparing how different people react to these narratives; or by using artworks that are meaningful to you and we will try to understand why. The course aims to provide you with a meaningful research opportunity and to familiarize you with various standards of conducting and sharing research in the humanities.