Academic Team:
TBD (tbd@uoregon.edu)
First-Year Experience Seminar Instructor
Naivi Vargas Garcia (nvargas2@uoregon.edu)
FIG Assistant
9 credits
UGST 109 First-Year Experience Seminar - 1 credit
New Residence Hall 128: M 4 - 4:50 PM
CRN: 16216
PSY 202 Mind and Society - 4 credits
Lecture
STB 156: MW 2 - 3:50 PM
CRN: 14467
Discussion
MCK 349: R 4 - 4:50 PM
CRN: 14480
J 201 Media and Society - 4 credits
STB 156: MW 2 - 3:50 PM
CRN: 12537
About the FIG:
The Mental Health and Media FIG was created for child behavioral health pre-majors, or those interested in exploring the major or related majors.
The media teaches us about people with whom we do not routinely interact and gives us a constant flow of information about the nature of other groups of people, including those with mental health challenges. Studies consistently show that the media provides overwhelmingly dramatic and distorted images of mental illness that emphasize dangerousness and unpredictability. The consequences of negative media images for people with mental illness are profound at both the individual and societal levels. However, the media may also be an essential ally in promoting mental well-being, raising mental health awareness, and challenging negative stereotypes.
As the media has a complex interrelationship with mental health, this FIG aims to examine how media and mental health interact. In PSY 202 (Mind and Society), students will develop an understanding of typical human functioning and mental illness. They will also examine the many contextual factors that influence mental health and contribute to the onset of mental health problems. This course is supplemented by J 201 (Media and Society), in which FIG members will explore some of the ways that the media reflect and form our culture and be introduced to the basic skills necessary for critical knowledge and examination of the media. In this FIG, we will examine the media's role in creating and exacerbating misconceptions related to mental illness and treatment via in-class reviews and discussions of television shows, films, social media, and advertisements. FIG members will also examine the impact of positive portrayals of mental illness in the media and mental health campaigns via individual and group work. Students will become more informed and critical media consumers through this knowledge and practice.
*Potential media to be reviewed include Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV Show), Split (Film), A Beautiful Mind (Film), This is Us (TV Show), and social media platforms such as TikTok.
PSY 202 Mind and Society - CoreEd or major satisfying course
Psychology is the systematic study of experience and behavior -- how we think, feel, and act. This course introduces psychology by considering many sources of influence that produce the variations and commonalities we see in human psychology. The scope includes topics relevant to understanding "normal" human functioning and mental illness. Mental illness is an essential part of psychology, but many influences on the mind that produce mental illness are also at play in mentally healthy minds.
J 201 Media and Society - CoreEd or major satisfying course
This course introduces the history, nature, and issues of the various media of mass communication and their effects on society. From print, television, and film, among other media, students will explore how the media reflect and form our culture. This course will critically examine how audiences use media and, in turn, how the media industries use audiences. This course also provides an overview of professional fields, including print and electronic news, magazine journalism, advertising, and public relations.