Getting students interested at the outset transcript

If you’ve ever gone to pick someone up at the airport you may have also paid attention to the reunions going on around you – I certainly have. Especially from an international flight, where you have people re-uniting that have been separated for significant periods of time. I’m always struck by the way people’s faces light up, the genuine joy they seem to exude, when being re-united with a loved one. In particular I’m struck by the reunion of romantic couples, who seem to be satisfying some deep physical yearning when they embrace once again. What is it about intimate relationships that makes them desirable and delightful – but at times also difficult and demanding?

In this course on interpersonal relations we will focus on intimate or romantic relationships, from the initial stages of attraction and relationship formation, to the development of commitment and intimacy. We will examine the processes that help us maintain, or lead to the dissolution, of these relationships. Though we’ll be primarily concerned with intimate relationships, we will touch on other close relationships, such as with family and friends, as they inform our study of intimate relations. For example, how does your relationship with your parents influence your own mate choices? How does having children change a couple’s relationship? Additionally, some of what we discuss in the context of intimate relationships can be applied to other close relationships. For example, some of the things that attract us to romantic partners, like similarity, also play a role in friendship formation. The behaviors that escalate a conflict with a romantic partner may be the same ones that escalate a conflict with a sibling.