PL 6225

I. Course overview

This course is concerned with the various aspects of the psychology of coronary heart disease and interventions that can be used to reduce cardiac risk. As such we will be examining the physiology of the cardiovascular system, the nature of cardiovascular disease, research methods used in studying cardiovascular responses, the role of psychosocial factors in hypertension and CHD and interventions for reducing cardiac risk. Reading materials will be from professional books and journals and reading lists will be distributed periodically throughout the term. This course will be conducted as a seminar with students expected to take an active role in discussion and to take turns in leading class discussion.

II. Course objectives

By the end of this course you will have an understanding of the cardiovascular system and CHD as well as psychosocial factors involved in hypertension and CHD, research methods for studying these issues and interventions that may be useful in reducing cardiac risk

III. Course requirements

Assessment in this course will be through a combination of term project and class presentation. There will be no exam.

The term project can be on the topic of your choice as long as that topic fits within the scope of the subject matter for the course. You should begin now thinking about the topic you wish to pursue for your term project. During the next couple of weeks I will be discussing with each of you the topic of your project and directions you might take in pursuing it. This discussion can take place either face-to-face, by phone, or through e-mail, depending on what works best for you. The product of your project will be a paper to be handed at the last class (13 November). There are no hard and fast page limits for this paper although as a rough guide you should probably aim for somewhere in the 20 to 30 page range. The length of the paper should be determined by your topic and what is required to adequately address the issues concerned. As always, your paper should be double spaced, using a 12 point font, 2.5cm margins, etc. Papers will be marked on the basis of the content of your arguments and findings as well as the appropriateness of depth and breadth of coverage. The term project will count 75% of your grade.

In addition students will also be taking turns leading class discussion. I will be leading the first few classes. For the other classes we will be rotating the leadership. Thus your first assignment is to decide which of the sessions you would like to lead. The topics have been defined broadly enough to provide for a great deal of latitude in what is actually discussed. In selecting the session you may want to choose one that is related to your term project although that is not required. Also please have a second choice in mind just in case we have more than two people expressing interest in the same session and a choice needs to be made among those expressing interest. Once members of the class have been matched up with sessions then I will discuss with each concerning the reading materials, specific aspects of the topic to be covered, and so on. Your performance in leading the session will count the remaining 25% of your grade.

First Semester 2007-2008