Emotions: An Interdisciplinary Perspective

About

In this one-week program, we examine emotion from different disciplines. Participants will come to understand the role emotions play in a wide range of individual and collective processes and behaviors in daily life. Special attention is given to understanding emotions as they appear in real life, outside of the lab. The program is appropriate for (research) master students, PhD students, and post-doctoral researchers interested in the study of emotion.

Participants will discuss relevant scientific articles in interactive lectures with faculty, and engage in practical exercises in the lab. Each day we will address a specific topic, from the measurement of emotion (e.g., ecological daily assessment, nonverbal behavior, physiological measures) to the role of emotion in societal issues, such as populism, prejudice, inequality, and collective action.

Throughout the program, participants will have a chance to interact with expert emotion researchers from different disciplines and fellow students from around the world. This will provide an opportunity to actively engage with diverse state-of-the-art theories and empirical research approaches on emotion. The program aim is to expand participants’ knowledge and understanding of emotion as a key motivator of human behavior.

Course leader

Dr. Disa Sauter is associate professor of psychology at the University of Amsterdam. Her work examines emotion with a particular focus on the communication of emotions via nonverbal expressions. She studies how factors such as preparedness, culture, and learning shape our emotions and the way they are communicated. She is the president of the International Society for Research on Emotion, associate editor of Emotion Review, and coordinator of the interdisciplinary research priority area Real Emotion. Dr. Milica Nikolic is an assistant professor of developmental psychopathology whose work examines emotional development with a particular focus on how, under which circumstances, and why social emotions emerge in human development. She studies how factors, such as genetics factors and environment (parenting practices) shape social emotions in childhood. She is a Board member of the International Society for Research on Emotion and the coordinator of the research priority area Real Emotion at the University of Amsterdam.

Target group

Master students, PhD students, and post-doctoral researchers with an interest in emotions.

Course aim

- summarize, explain, and reflect critically upon scientific evidence from state-of-the art literatures on emotion
- integrate theories and research on emotion from different disciplines
- understand and apply various research methods in the study of emotion
- articulate research questions and conduct a review of the literature on emotion

Fee info