Cross-cultural Psychology: Psych 165
Fall 2012, St. Mary’s College
Instructor: Elena Andrea Escalera, PhD
Office: Brousseau 124 Office Hours: TTh 1:45-2:45pm and 5-6pm
e-mail: Phone: X4435, emergency only (510) 541-5967
Facilitator: Jenny Tolcher e-mail:
Texts: Human Behavior in Global Perspective, by Segall, Dasen, Berry and Poortinga
Selected readings in Cross-cultural Psychology (on Moodle)
Course Description
Welcome to Cross-cultural Psychology. In this course we will explore the meaning of culture and how it affects our thoughts and behavior. Culture is a powerful influence, and often an invisible one. If we can learn to see this invisible force in our own lives, we can come to better understand the role culture plays in our interactions with those who have different cultural expectations.
This will not be your average lecture course. It is an experiment, designed around learning experiences and opportunities instead of a textbook. The only way to learn is to participate and observe both the behavior of others and your own behavior and thoughts. There is a lot of reading required for this course. In addition, for at least ten weeks out of the semester you will be doing a service learning assignment in the field. If you cannot give the 9 outside hours per week required, it is not advisable for you to attempt this course.
I ask two things from students in this course. The first is to treat each other with respect. We will be covering many hot and emotionally charged topics over the course of the semester. If we work together, we can create a space where any viewpoint can be heard. You’ll have to give your fellow classmates the benefit of the doubt that they are not trying to hurt you. Your experiences may be outside the experience of others, especially if you are from a culture other than the dominant culture. It is generous to share your experience, but you are not obligated to teach others about it.
The second thing I ask is that you be willing to sit with uncertainty and be aware of what you do not know. We are all affected by stereotypes and this will become evident very quickly. The more we can see what we take for granted, the more we can understand about how culture works psychologically. Right and wrong is culturally determined. Be ready to accept that for some questions there simply are no real answers. Admitting that we don’t know will come closer to the truth than just accepting a position to avoid saying, “I don’t know.”
As the instructor for this course, I do not have all the answers. Because cross-cultural psychology challenges many of our existing research paradigms, and even moral belief systems, it is a struggle to be open and curious. This takes practice, and no one is perfect, and that definitely includes me. I simply ask that you try to be compassionate with yourselves and each other.
Core Curriculum Learning Outcomes
Cross-cultural Psychology fulfills three different requirements of the Core Curriculum at Saint Mary’s College: Social, Historical and Cultural Understanding, American Diversity and Community Engagement. Listed below are the learning outcomes for each of these areas as they are fulfilled by this course.
Social, Historical and Cultural Understanding
Students will:
1. Examine human activity in particular periods or places, from a social, cultural, or historical perspective
Cross-cultural Psychology explores the role of culture in human thought and behavior. Students will learn about particular aspects of culture, such as independent and interdependent constructions of the self, and how that impacts perception, cognition, motivation and other psychological variables. This will be the content of the course, taught through textbook and original source readings, lectures and videos.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of theories of human behavior, relations, culture or institutions; or interpretations of historical causation and change
Cross-cultural psychology will directly explore all these aspects of social context. We will explore how culture may impact the developing child, or group behavior. Culture also impacts human relationships, such as parenting style and cooperation. Students will also learn how our cultural perspectives impact institutions, such as the Westsern Therapeutic Tradition, which is based in independent ideas of causation, and how other cultures may have different perspectives of mental health and illness. Finally, we will also explore ideas such as Cultural Frame of Reference, which influences how a person acculturates to a new culture based on the social, historical, and political relationship between their culture of origin and the dominant culture. This learning goal will be met through course content as well.
3. Employ social science or historical methodology to collect and interpret evidence about the social world
Students will be participant observers in an off-campus setting that will involve an unfamiliar culture. Observations and self-reflection will be recorded in a journal. At the end of the semester, students will do an analysis of their own cognitive development toward cultural relativity using this journal.
American Diversity
Students will:
1. Analyze aspects of social diversity and how they affect society in the United States of America
Much of the course content of Cross-cultural Psychology deals with cultural diversity, both globally, and how that is reflected within subcultural groups within the United States. For example, the paradigm we use to study attachment is only applicable to cultures with nuclear families. When it was discovered that this did not work in Senegal, a new paradigm had to be created. This is applicable for measuring attachment in both Senegal, where extended families are the norm, and in African American Communities, where that cultural tradition remains intact in the United States.
2. Explain how social categories and structures of power may affect the human person
Students will directly study the processes of structures of power and the social outcomes of those processes through experiential learning. For example, before entering their service placement, students will be instructed in the concepts of stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination and the common outcomes of these phenomena. Students will be then learn effective ways to use their stereotypes, acknowledging that they are part of our human cognition. Students will then experience a live-time cultural contact experience followed by discussion. Finally, students will be asked to apply these new skills to their service placement setting, where they will have to enter a new and unfamiliar culture context.
Community Engagement
Students will:
1. Apply academic methods and/or theories in a way that promotes collaboration and mutual benefit in a community setting
Cross-cultural Psychology includes a ten week service-learning placement of 2-4 hours per visit. Through CILSA, we will be working with Community Partners who serve the homeless or extremely low income populations. Students will be engaged in placements where they are not in a position of authority, so the clients and supervisors of the organizations they serve will also be their teachers. The Community Partners get needed help to serve their population through volunteer hours. The students get to experience the humanity of people who are at first perceived to be different from them through repeated contact, and learn about acculturative stress and other cultural factors as they learn the rules of their new setting.
2. Demonstrate critical reflection throughout their experience
Students will keep an observational and reflective journal throughout the semester. Six journal entries of 1-2 pages, double-spaced, will be due every two weeks. In these journals, students are asked to reflect on their service-learning and integrate their experience with the course content from the readings. At the end of the semester, students will analyze the journal to evaluate their progress in developing a culturally relevant cognitive perspective.
3. Express their understanding of the interconnections between their experience and their responsibilities as members of their social or professional communities
Cross-cultural psychology includes a shared inquiry component, using seminar style reading and discussion. During these discussions, students are encouraged to integrate their experiences with concepts from the readings. In addition, the students will also have periodic reflection sessions, led by the engaged learning facilitator and community partners. In these sessions, students will reflect not only on what they have learned, but also on the acculturative process in which they are participating. Are they learning the rules from clients and supervisors? Are they learning the values behind those rules? And most importantly, are they becoming an active member of their new context. This is often signified by clients giving the students nicknames, or the students establishing relationships with the clients that facilitate a common understanding.
Educational Goals for this Course
It is my goal for the student to acquire certain skills and perspectives during the semester. These goals are assessed through the course requirements; each requirement is a way to express your skill in these fields. The goals of this course are as follows:
1) To develop a perspective of cultural relativity through experience and introspection, and to be willing to evaluate one’s own cultural assumptions from that perspective.
2) To gain a working knowledge of the major theoretical and methodological concepts and controversies in the field of cross-cultural psychology.
3) To be able to integrate these ideas and apply them creatively to real world situations and experiences.
4) To be able to sit with uncertainly and take intellectual risks in discussion with one’s peers and in service to others.
The Intellectual Community
This course is about learning in community. This is a cultural challenge for most American students. We spend most of our academic lives in competition with each other, working alone. Many of the activities we will be doing will be group-oriented. Your group is the key to your success in this course. This course will be a chance for you to learn to operate in an interdependent setting. All quizzes will be collective, and you will be active in the grading process of your peers.
Discussion and communication are crucial to using community as a resource. To this end, I will be setting up a Moodle website for this class. Through Moodle you will be able to have online discussions with other class members in a more immediate way. I will also be posting study guides and the syllabus online so you will always have access to them. You can also get your readings online.
For some of you, discussion in class is very difficult. This may, or may not, be a cultural difference. The discussion board is one way to ease into participating in class. If you are shy about trying out your ideas in class discussion, you can talk about them on Moodle ahead of time. This can give you some good feedback and more confidence in discussions. Although the online discussion is not mandatory, you can earn discussion credit for participating in Moodle discussions.
You will also be learning through service to the wider community. Each of you will have a service placement throughout the course of the semester. You will be placed in a subculture in which you do not know the rules and will have to learn to interpret behavior and communicate with people who may at first seem very unlike yourself. They are your teachers as much as I am. In class we will be discussing ideas such as stereotypes, social identity and acculturation. But in the placement, you will be living it. You will be keeping a reflective journal about your experiences where you will tie your experience in the field to the lessons being learned in class.
Question yourself at every step. How does culture impact my behavior? Why do I believe as I do? What is the value and meaning of this particular behavior? You will learn more about culture by observing yourself than you will by observing others.
Course Requirements
1) Quizzes: 15%
Quizzes will occur the last day of a topic section, to encourage you to read the material before discussion. Quizzes will be done cooperatively in small groups. Each group will discuss the questions posed and decide on a single answer for the group. You will all receive the same score, unless you are absent, in which case you will receive a zero for that day. You will get immediate feedback on how your group did on the quiz and we will discuss any ideas that people had difficulty understanding. Periodically throughout the semester, your group will give you a participation review. If you are social loafing and not pulling your share of the reading, your group will not give you a very good grade. Your group members will also give you some suggestions on how to improve your performance. Your final quiz grade will be a percentage of the total points based on your peer reviews. Quizzes fulfill goals #2 and #4.
2) Discussion: 15%
On the last day of each topic we will have a discussion on the original source reading, tying it to your service-learning experience. Although there are no attendance penalties, absence can make a significant impact on your discussion grade.
Students are graded on both the quality and quantity of their contributions. Contributions will fall into several categories as follows:
Q- Questions: questions based on experience only, not text-based