Delhi University is empowering students to build healthier connections with a new elective, ‘Negotiating Intimate Relationships.’ Launching this term, the four-credit course arms undergraduates with practical insights on spotting red flags, nurturing emotional resilience, and navigating today’s app-driven dating landscape, turning potential heartaches into opportunities for growth.
Administered by the Department of Psychology, the course responds directly to a worrying surge in relationship-linked crimes among teenagers. Undergraduates who have cleared Class 12 and hold basic psychology knowledge can opt in alongside their main subjects. Each week, they will attend three lectures and one tutorial aimed at opening discussions often left out of formal education.
The syllabus spans four units:
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Unit 1: The Psychology of Friendships & Intimacy – How friendships evolve into romantic bonds
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Unit 2: Theories of Love & Sexuality – Includes models like Sternberg’s triangular theory and the two-factor theory
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Unit 3: Recognizing Toxic Patterns – Identifying jealousy, red flags, break-up cues, and signs of intimate partner violence
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Unit 4: Building Healthy Relationships – Promoting emotional support, communication, and emotional resilience
Interactive teaching methods will blend social-media habit analyses, breakup scenario workshops, pop-culture deconstructions (from Kabir Singh to Titanic), and boundary-setting exercises. The programme arrives in the wake of several recent tragedies in Delhi—where jealousy and online surveillance led to student deaths—underscoring the urgency of frank conversations about intimacy.