Hi. I'm Jamie Goldenberg. Welcome to Personality. I am a social psychologist. I got my Ph.D. At George Washington University in DC. Most recently before coming here, I was up at UC Davis in Northern California, and now I've been at USF since 2005. I do research on a theory called Terror Management Theory, and it's a theory about how, as humans, we're kind of in this unique existential situation, in that we know we're going to die one day, and this kind of haunts us and a lot of our behavior is aimed at managing the potential for anxiety associated with this awareness. 

The theory of Terror Management Theory really has its roots in Freud's ideas about the unconscious. So it's a theory about how we manage this unconscious fear associated with mortality. And so, one of the things I love about this course, is going back to those early roots, making those connections with the theories that started it all. 

What's cool about Personality is that it is so relevant. I hope that you will see the relevance of the theories that we talk about, and see how they apply to art, to films, to literature. We will have an assignment for you to find a film or television clip that illustrates one the psychological concepts that we talk about. This helps illustrate the relevance of it. It's also a lot of fun. We're also going to read a novel, in the course. And also, you will, hopefully, apply a lot of the theories that we talk about to getting more insight into you and your own personality. 

So, I am excited to have you in my class, and you can find my contact information on the syllabus. Feel free to get in touch, in addition to all the discussions that we're going to have in the discussion boards of the course.