[1.1]

The Three Acts. This course typically registers 400 undergraduates, of which half attend Section 2 (Tue/Thu). This Workbook, and the program of studies it engenders through the lectures, applies only to Section 2. It is somewhat unusual in its structure and the student is advised to read the whole of this Workbook, early in the semester. The course, as given in the Spring of 1978, will emphasize the self-reflexive aspects of the study of social psychology, as announced in the Foreword-- (please be sure to read it). (For a quick overview, you may wish to read Sections: [1. 1], [1. 2. 1], [1. 2. 2], [2. 1], [3. 1], [4. 1], [5. 1], [5. 2.3], [5. 3.4], [7.4], [8.2], [8.2.2.3], [8.3], [8.5.1], [9.3.III], [10.2], [11.2].)

The course is organized along participatory lines and therefore, presence at lectures is required. Attendance is mandatory but absences can be excused through listening to a recording of the missed lecture. Thus, the student should be prepared to supplement the Workbook contents through lecture notes, class discussions, and peer interactions.

Each lecture is divided into three unequal parts, which we may call Acts in recognition of the audience nature of large classes. Act I is intended to be the major portion of each class period and consists of the instructor's topical presentation. At the end of Act I, there is a three-minute intermission during which opportunity is afforded for stretching to relieve the cramped quarters as well as to wake up. Act II consists of a class discussion period: questions addressed to the instructor and student Monitors, declarations, public statements. Act III is devoted to filling out the Daily Feedback Sheet (as will be explained below).

Note that each Act has its own theme in the study of social psychology:

Act I: THEORY & METHOD IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Act II: THE COURSE SEEN AS A COMMUNITY LABORATORY

Act III: THE LECTURE SETTING AS A COMMUNICATION PROCESS

Students should realize that these are three vehicles for the study of social psychology, each of them important in their own right and having a contribution to make to such study. Students of social psychology are fortunate in that the object of study is the individual in relation to other individuals in the social world of ethnodynamics. Since this is their focus, it is fairly easy to create conditions for studying social phenomena: all that is needed is to put three or more individuals together in a relationship called "the group." As long as the group exists through the joint purposes or involvements, it exists, lives, provides the source of social psychological data. In this course, the emphasis is placed on the daily round as laboratory. This approach is communal, cyclical, and holistic, and requires a challenging readjustment on the part of the student. At the same time, student responses show that there are also important rewards involved. Give it a try!