Emotions – Summer Liberal Arts Institute

Thinking About Feelings | July 5–July 24, 2026

The Science of Emotions

Every minute of every day is experienced through emotions. For instance, mirth and pain alike, are not only featured prominently in philosophy and the arts, but are also at the heart of scientific research. Why do we laugh? How do we make others laugh? Why do we consume horror movies? How can the intersection of science and humanities inform our understanding of individual and collective emotions?

This course will introduce students to the compelling body of work surrounding emotions. The three week program introduces students to three fields that study emotions: neuroscience, cultural studies, and theater. Students will analyze how emotions are represented in literature, music and film, then they will investigate the cognitive causes and effects of emotions, learn about their biological processes and functions, and finally they will reflect on how we can manufacture emotions on stage.

This multidisciplinary approach to the field of affect theory will allow students to explore how STEM fields and humanities are connected and interdependent. Students will hone their analytical skills of cultural artifacts, and will experience how a college lab works, but most importantly they will learn the true value of a liberal arts education where academic disciplines constantly merge together in creative and stimulating ways.

A TA stands in front of a classroom of pre-college students while they raise their hands in response to a question asked

Two Pre-College students stand next to their poster at Symposium, explaining their research project

Academic Credit

Summer Carls can earn up to six Carleton course credits (typically transfers as three semester credits) for successfully meeting faculty expectations and completing course requirements. In addition to receiving written feedback about course performance from faculty, students will receive one of the following three possible grade designations: satisfactory (S), credit (Cr), or no credit (NC). Formal academic transcripts are available upon request for Summer Carl alumni and will reflect the name of the course and grade earned.

Want to experience Carleton without a graded outcome? Check out our 1-Week Non-Credit Programs!

Disciplines and Faculty

Click on each topic below to view the course description and faculty information.

Why so serious?

How do different cultures represent emotions? Are certain genres-literary or otherwise- better suited to express a particular feeling? In this section of the course, students will work on two major skills. First, we will analyze how emotions appear in works of literature, film, and stand-up comedy. Students will question what purpose these representations serve and how we can interpret them. Second, students will learn how to represent emotions both with their bodies and through academic writing.

Bringing together literary and cultural studies, this section of the course will demonstrate what humanists do with emotions.

Program Director: Sandra Rousseau, Associate Professor of French, Carleton College

Sandra Rousseau (Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University) teaches courses in contemporary French and Francophone culture, history, and memory. She has developed classes focused on visual media, pop culture, and more particularly on bandes dessinées. Her research interests include stand-up comedy as memory, humor and trauma, politics and ethics, and contemporary French pop culture.

She has recently published articles on francophone stand-up, on Algerian cartoons and censorship, and on Graphic novelist Nawel Louerrad. Sandra is interested in supporting all students on campus and loves to welcome you to her office for an intellectual or a casual chat.

When she is not reading or writing, she is cooking for friends while listening to her favorite podcast: La poudre.

The Psychology and Neuroscience of Emotions

This section of our course will examine how psychologists and neuroscientists study emotion
and think about emotion. In addition, we’ll look at structures, circuits, chemicals, and
hormones in the brain/body that are involved in our experience of emotion. We’ll also consider
disorders of emotion, dreams, sleep, drug use and abuse. Finally, we’ll consider how emotion
contributes to thinking and decision-making, at psychological and biological levels.

Please note: The Neuroscience section of the Thinking About Feelings program will involve interaction with the dissection of animal parts. All students in this program will need to participate in such activities to gain the full learning experience and receive credit.

Faculty: Larry Wichlinski, Professor of Psychology, Carleton College

Larry Wichlinski earned his B.A. from Earlham College in Biology-Psychology followed by an M.S. in Biopsychology from Syracuse University and a Ph.D. in Psychology from Southern Illinois University. He also did post-doctoral research in neuropharmacology at the Hines V.A. Hospital in Chicago.

Larry’s research interests include the effects of brain neuropeptides on learning and memory in rats and sleep & dreaming in humans. He teaches courses in behavioral neuroscience, psychopharmacology, and sleep and dreaming. He has published articles in a variety of scientific journals, as well as World Book Encyclopedia. He is currently working on a reference book on brain disorders. Professor Wichlinski is a member of the Society for Neuroscience.

The Theater of Emotions

How do actors do it? What makes an incredibly emotionally engaging performance where an audience hangs on every word. How do actors manufacture emotions on stage? How do theater directors create emotional tension through spatial awareness and dynamics?

Using the actors’ tools of body, voice, and imagination we will explore how we express emotions using those tools in improvised situations. We will also investigate how characters allow us to express a wide range of emotions through theatrical texts using classical and contemporary scenes.

Faculty: Taous Claire Khazem, Teaching Artist at The Blake School

Taous Claire Khazem is a Twin Cities–based actor, director, and teaching artist whose work has taken her around the world — from Algeria and Morocco to France and Cameroon. She teaches theatre at The Blake School and has performed with many Minnesota companies, including Mixed Blood, the Jungle Theater, and Pangea World Theater.

Taous loves helping young people find their creative voice through performance and storytelling. She trained at the Jacques Lecoq International Theatre School in Paris and holds a B.A. in Theatre and French from Macalester College.

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