In this course, students will learn to apply critical thinking to media coverage of health issues. They will visit local museums and exhibits in Washington, D.C., to explore the history of medical discoveries and how the media reported on these advancements. Through this exploration, students will gain insight into how media influences people's beliefs and behaviors regarding health.
About the instructor:
Dr. Narine Yegiyan, who began her career as a journalist, has expertise in cognitive information processing and communication, with a specific focus on emotion and memory interaction. She uses self-report, behavioral and physiological measures to understand how we can design effective media messages. Professor Yegiyan's research is primarily concerned with how people prioritize the intake of information in situations of cognitive and emotional overload. Her work is grounded in neurobiological theories of motivated cognition and is devoted to understanding how memory and emotion contribute to information processing. She oversees the Dynamic Interactions in Cognition and Emotion (D.I.C.E.) Lab at UC Davis.