Fall 2025 - PSYC 363 D100
Intergroup Relations (3)
Class Number: 6310
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
-
Course Times + Location:
Sep 3 – Dec 2, 2025: Fri, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
Burnaby -
Exam Times + Location:
Dec 4, 2025
Thu, 8:30–10:30 a.m.
Burnaby
-
Instructor:
Maitland Waddell
mwaddell@sfu.ca
Office: AQ 3126
Office Hours: Tuesdays 12 PM - 1:30 PM
-
Prerequisites:
PSYC 201 and 260.
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
Provides an overview of the social psychological study of intergroup relations, considering classic and contemporary theory and research in the field. It includes discussions of the application of these ideas and findings to important social contexts, and explores ways in which the social psychological study of intergroup relations can help us understand and inform efforts to influence relevant social change.
COURSE DETAILS:
In this course, you will gain an understanding of psychological group-based processes including stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. You will learn about how groups inform our sense of identity, and how the identities we take on are often dictated by our motivations and social context. You will learn that it is through these shared social identities that individuals are able to work together to achieve their collective goals, or to commit some humanity’s worst atrocities. And you will learn how these psychological processes relate to, and are manifest by, a sociohistorical context which has afforded (and continues to afford) certain groups privilege at the expense of others’ oppression. The lessons you learn in this course will allow you to intelligently discuss social movements and intergroup conflicts and to understand some of the psychological processes that motivate collective actors. To this end, we will spend time discussing several current real-world intergroup contexts, such as the climate movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, and North American political movements.
Grading
- Participation: 20%
- Mid-Term Exam: 20%
- Term Paper/Project: 30%
- Final Exam: 30%
NOTES:
Topics:
The self, identity, and social categorization; stereotypes and stereotype threat; prejudice, inclusion and exclusion; the social identity approach and collective action; poverty stigma and economic inequality; sexism and the #MeToo movement; institutionalized racism and the Black Lives Matter movement; specieism and environmental activism; political polarization, conspiracy theories, and extremism; the Contact Hypothesis and prejudice reduction
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
Eberhardt, Jennifer (2019). Biased: Uncovering the hidden prejudice that shapes what we see, think and do. Penguin.
ISBN: 9780735224957
REQUIRED READING NOTES:
Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.
Registrar Notes:
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS
At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.
To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit:
- SFU’s Academic Integrity Policy: S10-01 Policy
- SFU’s Academic Integrity website, which includes helpful videos and tips in plain language: Academic Integrity at SFU
RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION
Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.