523 Multicultural Counseling

This course provides a comprehensive overview of the psychology of multicultural counseling.  Developmental, social and cultural contributions on ethnic and minority groups are explored.  Ethnocentrism, acculturation, communication patterns, and racial conditioning are discussed.  Emphasis is placed on implications for counseling in a culturally diverse society.  The cultural and clinical examples presented in this course are intended to widen the lens through which students view other ethnic cultures and to provide each student with a series of hypotheses to accept or discard according to his/her own experience.  Teaching methods used in the course will include lectures and discussions, viewing of culturally specific media, examination of cultural patterns and social relationships, and appearances by guest speakers.  The course is designed to increase students’: cultural awareness, by challenging culturally biased assumptions; knowledge, by presenting factual information about a particular method, population or problem; and skill, by identifying acceptable actions, based on appropriate awareness and accurate knowledge.