This course introduces students to the area of cultural psychology, a subdiscipline of psychology that focuses on how culture influences how people think and behave.  We will examine the ways in which culture influences cognition, development, emotion, the self, personality, cultural values and psychological orientations, morality, concepts of gender, and mental health.  In addition, the course will focus on the processes of globalization, immigration, and intergroup conflict and social change and how they pertain to our understanding of culture.

We will explore these issues through the use of non-fictional accounts as well as a book of readings.  The non-fictional accounts will serve as a “springboard” from which we will engage more deeply the topics through lectures and additional readings from psychological research journals. 

 

Over the course of this semester, you will have the opportunity to gain the following knowledge and skills.  You will be expected to be able to:

 

• Characterize the nature of psychology as a discipline.

• Compare and contrast the assumptions of cultural and cross-cultural psychology
• Compare and contrast the assumptions and methods of psychology of cultural and cross-cultural psychology with those of mainsteam psychology
• Understand the history of cultural and cross-cultural psychology, including the evolution of methods of psychology, its theoretical conflicts, and its sociocultural contexts
• Examine overarching themes, persistent questions, or enduring conflicts in psychology, such as

(1) The interaction of heredity and environment

(2) Variability and continuity of behavior and mental processes within and across species

(3) Subjective versus objective perspective

(4) Applicability of theories and measures across societal and cultural groups

• Use the concepts, language, and major theories of the subdiscipline to account for psychological phenomena.
• Use critical thinking effectively in order to identify and evaluate the source, context, and credibility of behavioral claims

·         Recognize the necessity of ethical behavior in all aspects of the science and practice of psychology.

• Demonstrate reasonable skepticism and intellectual curiosity by asking questions about causes of behavior.
• Tolerate ambiguity and realize that psychological explanations are often complex and tentative.
• Recognize and respect human diversity.

 

This course will be both reading and writing intensive.  The purpose of this is for you to master your written expression through your exposure to certain areas of psychology.  In addition, emphasis is also placed on verbal expression, your ability to articulate your thoughts, feelings and interpretations of the lecture material and reading assignments.  Through your verbal and written work, it is my hope that you will deeply engage the material so that it becomes meaningful to you.  I also hope that the material will engage you!

 

Required Texts:

 

Fadiman, A. (1999).  The spirit catches you and you fall down: A Hmong child, her American doctors and the collision of two cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.

Lonner, W. J., & Malpass, R. S. (1994).  Psychology and culture. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Shachtman, T. (2007). Rumspringa: To be or not to be Amish. North Point Press.

 

Course Requirements:

 

Attendance and Participation: Attendance is required at all class meetings.  This is for a number of reasons.  First, this course will be discussion based (this is the participation part!).  Therefore, your interpretations, insights, experiences, and point of view will be an integral and necessary part of the class.  Because of this, it is expected that you come to class prepared to discuss in detail the reading assignments.  Second, additional information will be presented in the form of lecture.  This information will be needed for future exams and papers.  Finally, there will be a lot of group work completed within the class (this is also part of your participation).  Groups rely on the equal participation of each of its members.

To encourage regular class attendance, an attendance sheet will be passed around at the beginning of each class period.  Attendance sheet sign-in will be given in the beginning of class.  If more than one class is missed, this will be reflected in your final grade. 

 

            Reading Assignments: Reading assignments are listed at the end of this syllabus.   Reading assignments must be read prior to the class meeting under which they are listed. These reading assignments must be read before the class as they will provide you with a foundation for the lecture and discussion.  In addition, the readings will prepare you for any in-class exercises.

 

            Exams: There will be two essay exams.  There will be one midterm and a final exam.  Both exams will only cover the material since the previous exam (i.e., not cumulative).  The exams will include short answer and essay questions regarding topics covered in class lectures as well as the readings.  Exams must be taken during the scheduled class time and no make-ups will be given except in extreme circumstances such as a significant illness documented by a letter from a physician (or doctor’s office), an extremely serious family problem (e.g., death of a family member), or another very serious impediment (e.g., jury duty, delivery of a baby, National Guard call-up, etc.). If there are extreme circumstances, you must notify me within 24 hours of the exam time in order to be allowed to take a make-up. If I am properly contacted within 24 hours of the exam and the excuse is a legitimate one, you must take the make-up exam prior to the next class period. After that time, no make-ups will be given.

 

            Papers: You will be required to write one paper over the course of the semester.  You will choose one of two paper topics.  One paper option will be an in-depth examination of your developmental niche. In class, we will be discussing the different influences and components of the developmental niche.  For this paper, you will need to use the existing developmental niche theory to guide your own examination and description of your developmental niche.  A handout fully explaining the requirements for this paper and my expectations can be found on our Blackboard site.  This paper is due on October 9, 2008.

            The second paper option will be slightly different.  This will be a cultural comparison paper focusing on the process of acculturation.  Following from our discussion of acculturation in class, you will need to interview a recent immigrant to this country and examine their experience within the context of acculturation theory.  A handout fully explaining the requirements for this paper and my expectations can be found on our Blackboard site. This paper is due on December 1, 2008.

 

            Journals: Because this course emphasizes personal reflection on the topics discussed in class, you will be required to make biweekly journal entries.  The purpose of these journal entries is to reflect on the information given in class and the reading assignments and explore how the information affects you personally.  Have you experienced similar situations as the characters in the books we will read? Has the specific topic that we are discussing in class made you think differently about friends or family members?  Has the material helped you to think in a different way than you have before? These are examples of ways in which I hope you will explore the reading assignments and class lectures in terms of your own personal experiences, emotions and feelings.  In general, I will give you a topic or a question that will guide your journal entry for that particular week.  For example, if we have viewed a film, I will ask you to write about your impressions of the film and how the film has made you reflect on a certain aspect of culture. These journal entries are confidential and I will be the only one who reads them.

            Journals will be on-line journals.  You will be able to access your journals through the blackboard.mville.edu coursesite described below.  Once logged into the website and on the course page (click on the course name under “Courses you are taking”), you will click on the “Groups” button.  On the next page, you will see a long list of journals, one for each person in the class.  Find your journal and click on it.  Please note that you will not be able to access other people’s journals (and they cannot access yours!).  From there you will need to click on “Group Discussion Board.”  Next click on “Journal.”  Once in the journal, you will be able to create new threads or entries.  You should create a new thread for each week’s entry.  I will be able to reply to your thread or journal entry with comments, etc.

            Because journals are supposed to be a reflection of the material discussed in class during the course of the week, journal questions will be posted on Thursdays after class and you need to have submitted your journal entry by Monday before class.

 

Global Citizenship Program Events:  One of the main goals of this course is to encourage and facilitate your awareness and exposure to issues of culture.  To this end, you will be required to attend five (5) events on campus sponsored by the Global Citizenship Program in the Duchesne Center here at Manhattanville.  This should be an easy and fun requirement to fulfill as there are many events to choose from.  Each day, I will announce in class opportunities available on campus that will fulfill this requirement.  Other events on campus, not sponsored by the Global Citizenship Program in the Duchesne Center will also be considered for credit if approved by me.   At each event, you will be asked to sign in as evidence that you were there.  In addition, with each event that you attend, I will ask you to submit via your journal a brief description of the event, your reactions to the events and some thoughts on how the content of the event relates to the concepts learned in class.  Please note that this is all very much related to the Global Awareness Competency in your Portfolio.  The Global Citizenship Program in the Duchesne Center calendar can be accessed at this website: http://www.mville.edu/Duchesne/Index.htm

 

            Blackboard.com: I have created a course site for this course on the website Blackboard.com.  To access this site, go to: http:// blackboard.mville.edu.  In order to enroll in the course you will need to follow these directions:

·        Without logging in, click on the “Course Catalog” button

·        Without logging in, click on the “Preview” button

·        Click on “Psychology” under the list of subjects in the Course Catalog

·        Find the name of our course and course number “Psychology and Culture (PSY2042)” and click on the “Enroll” button to the right of the course name.

·        If you have already created an account on Blackboard, you can sign-in directly. If you do not already have a Blackboard account, please using the following directions to create yourself an account. 

·        Click on “Create” to create an account.  Please fill in all of the information with a red asterisk.  Please include an e-mail address that you use on a regular basis and a contact telephone number. Then click on “Submit.”

·        You will receive a confirmation that you have created an account with a particular username.  Click on “OK.”

·        On the next page you will enroll in the course.  Click on “Submit.”

·        You will receive a confirmation that you have created an account with a particular username.  Click on “OK”.

·        You will then be taken to the homepage of our coursesite. 

·        In the future, simply login using your username and password.

 

On this site, you will find any class announcements, the course syllabus and there is also a discussion board.  The discussion board allows you to posts questions or comments regarding the material we are learning about and other students can then post answers and responses. I will also use the Blackboard.com site to post announcements and important handouts so please check this site regularly.

 

e-Reserve: 

In addition to your text readings, some additional readings will be placed on e-Reserve.  This is an electronic reserve that allows you to download the reading via computer.  You can access this site via the Manhattanville Library homepage or via the “External Links” on our course page in blackboard.mville.edu.  Once on the E-Res homepage, please follow these directions to access the readings:

·        Go to the “Select an instructor” pop-up menu and scroll down to my name (Alison Carson).  Click on “Go.”

·        Then click on the name of our course “Psychology and Culture (PSY2042)”.

·        Here you will be prompted to enter a password.  The password is our course number: 2042 and then scroll down and click on “Accept.”

·        The next page will list all of the readings for our class.  The readings are listed in order and there is also a link to a copy of our syllabus if you forget the assignment. Click on the link to the reading and be patient as it opens up.  Adobe Acrobat Reader will open and then the paper will open in a separate web-browser window. If you are downloading the paper via a modem connection, it can take up to ten minutes to download.  Downloading will be much fasted via a networked computer.

 

Grading:

 

Exam 1                         20%

Exam 2                         20%

Paper                                       20%

Attendance & Participation       15%

Journals                                    15%

Events                                      10%

 

Grades will be determined as follows:

A         90-100             Excellent

B          80-89               Good

C         70-79               Satisfactory

D         60-69               Pass but unsatisfactory

F          Below 60         Failure