San Antonio College Library

"Is freedom our most essential belonging, the intimate source of self-mastery, an inalienable right? Or is it something foreign, an other that constitutes subjectivity, a challenge to our notion of autonomy? To Basterra, the subjectivity we call free embodies a relationship with an irreducible otherness that at once exceeds it and animates its core. Tracing Kant's concept of freedom from the Critique of Pure Reason to his practical works, Basterra...

Can modern psychology move beyond a focus on disease? How can it help us better understand what we are to become? Martin Seligman is the founder of positive psychology, a field of study that examines healthy states - such as happiness, optimism, and strength of character. In this TEDTalk, he characterizes psychology both as a field of study and as an approach to the human experience, in which a "patient" is actually a practitioner who develops skills...

Mary Ainsworth's 'Strange Situation' is now basic to understandings of infant-parent interactions and, thus, later emotional development. This program details the developmental course of attachment behaviors and the different patterns that are captured by the controlled observational techniques of the 'Strange Situation.' Using archival footage (including the Harlow primate studies) and newer film sequences, the video also gives students a sense of...

When it comes to the face we present to the world, what choices to we have? In selecting a car, clothes, hairstyle, and other outward signals, do we display our true selves or is it simply human nature to hold up a mask? No one should find it surprising that the process by which an individual shapes his or her persona-and negotiates its appearance with society-changes vastly depending on geography. This program journeys around the world to examine...

Overall well-being requires not only physical health, but psychosocial health as well. What exactly is psychosocial health, and how is it achieved? This program explains the elements that compose psychosocial health, the internal and external factors that influence it, and methods to enhance it. The importance of taking responsibility for one's own psychosocial well-being through self-recognition of problems and identification of barriers to meaningful...

Like it or not, humans are adept at the art of lying. Drawing upon the fields of psychology, sociology, technology, philosophy, and criminology, this program sheds light on the complex realities of untruthfulness through the work of researchers who have made lying a subject of profound study: Professor Bella DePaulo, an expert on the communication of deception; Professor Maureen O'Sullivan, an authority on social-emotional intelligence, lie detection,...

For those who have never faced deep-rooted emotional or psychological problems, it can be difficult to see why maintaining mental health requires more than the capabilities of any one individual. While personal accountability remains an important step toward wellness, the complex demands of society do contribute to mental illness and create obstacles to healing. This program examines mental health at the personal level and in a social context. It...

Ads targeting girls between the ages of 8 and 12 employ an increasing level of sexuality. Are advertisers responding to neo-feminist notions of "girl power" or are they leading girls toward harmful self-images? This program examines the trend by following a group of tween girls through their daily lives, recording their perceptions of fashion, celebrities, boys, and themselves. Interviews with both concerned and clueless parents-as well as a behind-the-scenes...