Internationalizing Psychology Courses: A Small-Scale Primer
Posted April 6, 2016
By Ken Abrams
Though much of the world is focused on and affected by the glut of international oil and warring factions in the Middle East, the trend toward “globalization” is not happening at just the corporate and political levels. It’s occurring in education as well – undergraduates in many countries are increasingly sitting among and interacting with fellow students from around the world.
Psychology has an important role to play in an increasingly connected world. Today psychologists are more frequently contributing to conversations on globally-focused topics ranging from environmental degradation to epidemic prevention to international development. In line with this trend, the APA recently endorsed “sociocultural and international awareness” as a major goal for undergraduate education.
With that in mind, one might reasonably expect international perspectives to be regularly incorporated into psychology courses. But are they?
Behind the Curve
Unfortunately, the psychology curriculum remains dominated by Western values, assumptions, and theories. Around 96% of samples in studies published in top APA journals are from Western industrialized countries, whose populations combined comprise only 12% of the world’s. As a result most textbooks and articles assigned in psychology courses (outside of cross-cultural psychology) only infrequently cover international or comparative research, if at all.
This is problematic on many fronts. A more culturally diverse presentation of psychology offers many benefits that most current students don’t receive. The infusion of international perspectives can, for example, enhance self-awareness, reduce stereotyping and prejudice, and produce more competent researchers and teachers.
An internationalized curriculum can also be valuable for students who choose to study abroad or travel independently. Students exposed to international perspectives in their coursework are more likely to act with greater sensitivity and openness while abroad and are better prepared to respond to the cultural challenges that await them. Upon return, they benefit when courses allow them to reflect upon and integrate their international experiences.
Inching Forward
So, how can faculty make their courses and curricula more global in nature? Below I list four ideas – consider it a starter list.
1. Assign articles from journals that have an international focus and high percentage of foreign contributors, such as The International Journal of Psychology, The International Journal of Social Psychiatry, The Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, The Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development, and Transcultural Psychiatry.
2. Ask students to watch and write reflection papers on relevant international films. For example, in my Health Psychology course, the students watch the South African film Yesterday, which revolves around a Zulu woman who simultaneously takes care of her daughter, her dying husband, and her own bout with HIV and AIDS.
3. Require students to write a paper in which they apply principles from the course to social, political, or health problems specific to a particular geographic region or cultural group. For example, in a learning and behavior course, students might be tasked with identifying, in a culturally-appropriate way, how the Thai government could employ principles of operant conditioning to decrease the spread of STIs among sex workers.
4. Consistently challenge students to consider the extent to which psychological theories and research findings are likely to apply to other cultures. In my psychopathology course, we discuss common theories of depression and consider whether they would apply equally to cultures that are more collectivistic in nature.
Looking for additional tips? Many can be found in a book recently published by the APA that I co-edited titled Internationalizing the Undergraduate Psychology Curriculum: Practical Lessons Learned at Home and Abroad.
Bio
Ken Abrams is an associate professor of psychology at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. He taught in the Czech Republic for two years in the mid 1990s, speaks Czech, and has directed six cross-cultural psychology study abroad programs in the Czech Republic. He regularly presents on the topic of internationalizing the undergraduate psychology curriculum and can be contacted at [email protected]
