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Psychology and Neuroscience of Art and Aesthetics

This course lies at the intersection of the arts and sciences and introduces students to the psychology and neuroscience of art and aesthetics. Across millennia and cultures, the aesthetic diversity of art is stunning.

How does art inform human nature?

How do humans come up with creative ideas?

How and why do we like art?

How are aesthetic decisions relevant in our day-to-day life?

The course will discuss these questions and more and introduce you to the psychology and neuroscience of how humans perceive art, form preferences, make aesthetic decisions, and appreciate beauty, and how these preferences and decisions impact your daily life. Neuroscientific methods and theories of aesthetic or creative science are not normally taught in other courses on, for example, consumer psychology, arts management, curating or arts-based therapy. Based on the combination of scientific methods with interdisciplinary knowledge in aesthetic practice, students will have a unique advantage in pursuing careers at the intersection of the arts and sciences.

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

By the end of the course, students will learn about:

What is psychology and neuroscience of art and aesthetic, and its importance
The Nature of beauty and creativity
What is going on in your brain when you are engaging with art
Theories of aesthetics and their application in products design, media, architecture and psychological well-being
Career options in psychology and neuroscience of arts and aesthetics

Course Delivery

The course will be delivered hybrid with 20 hours of in-person lectures and 10 hours of online lectures.

The in-person classes will also be made available online. Attendance in-person is recommended but not mandatory.
Content and reading list will be made available before the lesson, and we use a learning management system to upload materials.
Recordings of the sessions will be made available to the students for upto two weeks after the last course lecture. Lectures will be for 2 hours or 2.5 hours (5-7pm or 5-7:30pm) every Thursday.

This Course is ideal for:

The minimum eligibility for this course is completion of Standard 12th in any stream. For more details, please contact us.

Students

Bachelors (UG) and Master’s (PG) students in psychology, philosophy, social sciences, fine arts, art therapy, design, animation, architecture, and related fields.