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In Treatment: The first day of class in "The Birth of Psychotherapy," taught by historian Dr. Robert Abzug, begins more like a group therapy session than a graduate seminar course. Seven graduate students from a variety of disciplines sit around a u-shaped arrangement of tables. After a round of introductions, Abzug, the Oliver H. Radkey Regents Professor of History and director of the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies, grabs a marker and invites the class to participate in a brainstorm about the cultural meanings of psychotherapy. Read more of this story >

Can't Help Falling in Love with You: For Dr. Tim Loving, Valentine's Day is more than just chocolates, flowers, a nice dinner, smooches and long, loving gazes at your partner. It's also a kind of laboratory of hormones, chemicals, cultural expectations and interpersonal dynamics that raises profound questions about the biological basis of our emotions. Read more of this story >

Crime on the Rise? Crime on the Rise?: When the FBI and Department of Justice release their annual reports on crime in the United States, Dr. Mark Warr's phone starts ringing. His voicemail fills with interview requests from reporters seeking the criminologist's expertise for stories on rising crime.

Try a Little Tenderness Try a Little Tenderness: This can be a touchy subject, especially for parents, but recent research cautions there's such a thing as too much self-esteem. Many child-rearing books now tentatively suggest it's not necessary for parents to lavish "good job, good job" on their five-year-old when he blows his nose on his sleeve. As it turns out, criminals, bullies and bigots often have high self-esteem.

Phantoms of the Deep Phantoms of the Deep: In the depths of the Black Sea lies a landscape of eternal darkness. With no light and no oxygen in the sea's anoxic layer, no life can survive, except perhaps the ghosts of ancient mariners whose ships foundered thousands of years ago.

Parentology Parentology: One of the most fascinating aspects of studying parenting, say professors Deborah Jacobvitz and Nancy Hazen-Swann, is observing how parents confront (or fail to confront) the legacies of their own childhoods.