PSY 373: MULTICULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY

TR 9:30-10:45

FALL 2011

I. Instructor: Jay Castaneda, PhD Phone: 863-8164, Cell: (859)797-3991

Office: 15 Anderson Hall Email:

Office hours:MWF 11:00am-12:00pm

TR 8:00-9:30am

By appointment

II. Course Description & Objectives: This course is an introductory level survey of the subject of multicultural psychology as well as research in this area. Students should learn to apply the theories to specific examples and critically evaluate professionals in the field.

III. Required Text:

Shiraev, E.B. & Levy, D.A (2007). Cross-Cultural Psychology: Critical Thinking and Contemporary Applications (4th Ed.). Pearson.

ISBN-13: 978-0-205-66569-3

Supplemental readings may be made available by the professor throughout the semester.

Course Description & Objectives: This course is an introductory level survey of the subject of multicultural psychology as well as research in this area. Students should learn to apply the theories to specific examples and critically evaluate professionals in the field.

Course Format: This class will consist of lectures, class discussion, speakers both at Georgetown College and on site. Material from the textbook as well as new material will be presented in each class, and question/answer time will also be allowed. Remember, this is your class. You should feel free to ask questions at any time. If you have a question, it is likely that others will have exactly the same question.

Attendance to class is strongly recommended. You will realize significant benefits to your course grade if you attend the lectures. The text is vitally important because it provides a strong basis for understanding the material. However, the lectures will expand and elaborate on the material and will tell you what you really need to know. Reading the assigned text material before each class period is encouraged so that you can understand the terminology being used in lecture. Effective note-taking will also be facilitated by this. If you miss a class, you are responsible for obtaining notes from a classmate.

During some class periods, there will be in-class activities designed to help you gain a better understanding of critical concepts and to monitor your mastery of the lecture/reading material. You are also encouraged to come by my office during the hours listed above or to schedule an appointment with me at any point during the semester to discuss course material, study strategies, exam preparation, and other related issues. E-mail is another good way of contacting me for such questions or concerns.

IV. Course Requirements/Grading Policy: There will be a maximum of 600 points for this class which can be earned through completing the course requirements including exams and case application papers as well as class attendance and active participation. Specific details about these course requirements follow.

  • Exams (300 points): You are required to complete three non-cumulativeexaminations during the semester. The exams will be based on material from both the lecture and the assigned texts and may consist of multiple choice, matching, short answer, and/or essay questions. The exams will each be worth 100 points. If you must miss an exam due to a school-sponsored activity, it is your responsibility to arrange to take the exam early. Make-up exams will only be allowed in cases of illness or emergency verified by a physician or the student life office.
  • Guns, Germs, and Steel Reaction Paper (50 points): I will give some specific sections of the movie Guns, Germs, and Steel for you to watch. Write a 3-page reaction paper to the movie describing what the main points are of the movie and what your reactions to them are. What parts do you agree with, what parts do you disagree with, any ties you can make from some of the information we learned in class to the views in the movie?
  • Research Articles (50 points): At five points during the semester I will assign and hand out a research article from a Multicultural Psychology Peer-Reviewed Journal. You will need to write a 1-2 page summary of the article is about and come to class prepared to offer 1 question concerning the article. We will then have a 20-30 minute discussion of the article and possibly relate it to the material. You will be graded on the summary (3 points), the question (3 points) and discussion (4 points). The point of this assignment is to be like a graduate school lab meeting so make sure you come with the article read and with good questions (not “what was this article about”) because they will be graded with regard to complexity and understanding.
  • Choose 5 of the following 6 projects to do for 40 points each (totaling 200).
  • Therapy around the world presentation: There will be a presentation day to discuss how therapy is handled around the world. Pick a non-western country and research what therapy looks like in that part of the world. You will need to write a 3-4 page paper as well as give a short presentation of your findings to the class. I will be looking for the following: description of the culture being examined (demographics, general SES, unique factors), therapy descriptions (number of therapists, specific problems in area, alternate treatment strategies), reference to the information you used to get the above data, your opinion and reaction to the above data.
  • Kentucky Psychology Multicultural Resources: It is important to understand some of the lacking resources that are in our area. For this assignment you are to pretend you are from a minority group that is different from reality. You then must try to find a similar therapist in the Lexington/Georgetown area. You will then write a 3-4 page paper describing your experiences and reactions as well as give a short presentation of findings to the class. I will be looking for the following: What race/ethnicity you are looking for, what you tried in order to find a therapist, what you found as far as services, how easy/difficult was it to find these services if they exist, if they do not how far would you have to travel to get them, overall reaction to the assignment and the services offered.
  • Creativity multicultural project: I am assigning this project to get away from the usual presentation model and to reward students for using their strengths and being creative. My goal for this assignment will be for you to choose some art of some other non-western culture. Write a short report describing this art and then re-create it using your own talents and show this to the class. This project is a bit unique in what I will be looking for. Since it involves a creativity component the paper will only be expected to be 2-3 pages. Bring in your creativity example, discuss the culture you were inspired by, explain what you did, tie that in with the culture, react to the project.
  • Discrimination in the workplace: My goal here is to allow you to explore and empirically seek out discrimination in the workplace. There are some different strategies that I have in mind (Mall clothing store security detectors, applying for jobs applications) and I’ll be open to others you might have. You will then need to write a 3-4 page paper describing your project and what you found and give a short presentation of your findings to the class. This project will also be a bit different and could be done in pairs or even in a group of three if the study is big enough (each member would have to write a paper). The key in this project is to test out discrimination practices and report back to the class on what you found. I will be looking for a clear description of what your test and hypotheses were, what you did, how it went, what you found, and overall reactions.
  • Health Care Presentation: Since health care is such a hot topic currently I thought it would be good to look at how this issue might affect different groups in our country differently. Try to find how the uninsured rate is different for different groups and describe how different plans being proposed would help them or hurt them. You can also look at how research money is spent on treating diseases and see if the diseases that are more related to minority groups receive as much funding. You will need to write a 3-4 page paper and do a short presentation on this topic. I will be looking for the following: clear description of your question concerning health care, basic demographic information relating to health care or health care research or prevention data, if you are presenting on specific health care options then give a description of alternate plans and how those impact different minority groups, overall reaction.
  • Prisons for Profit presentation: Something our class learned about last time I did this class was Prisons for Profit and why it is a big concern. For this paper and presentation I want you to research what is meant by this phrase and both the pro’s and con’s of Prisons for Profit. You will need to write a 4-5 page paper describing the issues involved and also write about what things that people can do to help with this problem. Additionally you may suggest what Georgetown College students may wish to do to help confront this issue and give your thoughts on if our college community would have the motivation and resources to combat Prisons for Profit and how? If you do not think that it is a big problem you can describe what the benefits are and maybe ways to minimize the con’s while keeping the beneficial aspects.
  • The above 6 presentations and papers will be due in 5 regular intervals in the class. You may do them in any order that you wish as long as you do 5 of them.
  • VI.

DATE / LECTURE TOPIC / READING ASSIGNMENT
Tues. 8/30 / Overview, hand out syllabi, Introduction
Thurs. 9/1 / Introduction and Viewpoints / Chapter 1
Tues. 9/6 / Methodology / Chapter 2
Thurs. 9/8 / Methodology / Chapter 2
Tues. 9/13 / Critical Thinking and Project round 1 / Chapter 3
Thurs. 9/15 / Critical Thinking / Chapter 3
Tues. 9/20 / Critical Thinking and Cognition / Chapters 3 and 4 Topics 1
Thurs. 9/22 / Cognition / Chapter 4
Tues. 9/27 / Cognition and review / Chapter 4
Thurs. 9/29 / Exam 1
Tues. 10/4 / Intelligence / Chapter 5
Thurs. 10/6 / Intelligence and Project round 2 / Chapter 5 Topics 2
Tues. 10/11 / Intelligence / Chapter 5
Tues. 10/18 / Emotion / Chapter 6
Thurs. 10/20 / Emotion / Chapter 6
Tues. 10/25 / Motivation / Chapter 6
Thurs. 10/27 / Motivation Project round 3 / Chapter 7
Tues. 11/1 / Development / Chapter 8 Topics 3
Thurs. 11/3 / Development and review / Chapter 8
Tues. 11/8 / Exam 2
Thurs. 11/10 / Psychological Disorders / Chapter 9
Tues. 11/15 / Disorders / Chapter 9 12 Topics 4
Thurs. 11/17 / Disorders and Project round 4 / Chapter 9
Tues. 11/22 / Social / Chapters 9 and 10
Tues. 11/29 / Social / Chapter 10
Thurs. 12/1 / Social Interaction / Chapter 11
Tues. 12/6 / Social Interaction / Chapter 11
Thurs. 12/8 / Applied / Chapter 12 Topics 5
Tues. 12/13 / Applied and Project round 5 / Chapters 12
Fri. 12/16
9-11 am / Exam 3 (final exam; NOT cumulative)
  • *This is a proposed schedule of topics, but is subject to change as deemed necessary by the professor

VII. Grades will be assigned according to the following “total points earned” cutoffs. Please note that these point totals do not “round up” for partial percentage points.

A:92-100%(552-600 points)

AB:88-91.9%(528-551.9 points)

B:82-87.9%(492-527.9 points)

BC:78-81.9%(468-491.9 points)

C:70-77.9%(420-467.9 points)

D:60-69.9%(360-419.9 points)

E:359.9 points and below

Graduating seniors withat least 465 points (93%) are exempt from the final exam. (This point total does not include the final)

VIII. Attendance Policy:

Class lectures. There is no formal attendance policy. However, it is unlikely that you can do well in this course if you do not attend lectures. Many exam questions will be taken from material covered in lectures that is not necessarily discussed in the text, as well as from videos and demonstrations in class. Therefore, it is in your best interest to attend class lectures regularly. You are also responsible for announcements made in class whether you attend or not. I hope that you will want to attend class regularly and will do my best to make classes enjoyable and informative.

Academic Honesty: Students are expected to follow Georgetown College’s Honor System. Infractions of the Honor System will be handled according to school policy (see Student Handbook).

Special Needs: Any student with a documented learning disability or other condition requiring accommodations should contact the professor the first week of classes to discuss this issue.

PSY 373Multicultural Course Objectives: The student who successfully completes this course will:

-Demonstrate a core knowledge of major theories in multicultural and cross-cultural psychology as evidenced by exams, presentations and papers.

-Understand and apply multicultural and cross-cultural approaches both in regard to theory and methodological issues as evidenced by exams, presentations, papers, and article discussions.

-Communicate the above knowledge in written form as evidenced by exams and papers.

-Communicate the above knowledge in verbal form as evidenced by a presentations and article discussions.