Fortunato Medrano

The course covers the key developmental theories, findings, methods and issues that help us understand adolescence. Adolescence begins with the onset of puberty and ends with relative independence from parents. This period of life is a transition that poses unique developmental challenges for adolescents, families, teachers and friends, and how well teenagers negotiate this transition has important implications for later outcomes across the lifecourse. Some of the topics that we will address include: puberty and neurophysiology of adolescence, cognitive and social-personality development, the struggle for self-identity and autonomy; the role of peers, schools, and the
media on sculpting the contours of adolescence, and the nature of adolescent risk behavior and what to do about it.

This course is a blend between a survey course and a seminar. It is more focused than a pure survey, but it will cover a broader array of topics than a pure seminar. Roughly half of class meetings will be lecture and half will be discussion, and assessments are roughly half quizzes and half writing assignments. There are no tests, only weekly (hard) open-book quizzes, held at the beginning of class on Mondays. All students will be required to complete a “portfolio” of shorter writing assignments, due at the end of the term.