Cultural Awareness and Knowledge, Minor

Program Learning Outcomes

This minor provides students with a well-grounded and interdisciplinary approach to the methods, processes, and practices associated with working across cultural contexts and in communities locally and globally.

A minor in Cultural Awareness and Knowledge is intended to enhance the curriculum for students who intend to pursue research careers in psychology, anthropology, or ethnic studies as well as students who intend to engage in careers in health, education, human services, public service, or social justice.

This minor consists of 20 credits consisting of 12 credits from Psychology and an additional 8 credits from Anthropology, International Studies, and Public Health. Students who complete this minor will:  

1.  Identify the differences between cultural humility and cultural competence as approaches to engaging with persons, groups, or communities. Demonstrate through self-reflection, intergroup activity, and/or work outside of their own cultural context the ability to engage in the practice of self-critique and self-examination central to cultural humility including examination of their own identities and positions in their societies.

2. Identify culturally-informed variations in human psychological processes at the individual and group level.

3.  Identify research sources for a variety of methodologies and participants outside of the dominant culture research literature (e.g., North American college students).

4.  Identify designs and methods for research that account for culture context (e.g., reflexivity, ethnographic research, back translation methods, ethical considerations when working across cultures).

5.   Provide critiques of research findings while identifying those theories and practices that can improve the interpretive power of social science assertions about human behaviors.

6.  Demonstrate through self-reflection, intergroup activity, and/or work outside of their own cultural context the ability to engage in perspective taking, empathic communication, and ethical practice with persons across global and local cultural contexts.

Minor Requirements: 20 credits

Students are encouraged to enroll in relevant coursework prior to declaring. Students interested in pursuing the minor must have declared a major inside or outside of psychology, completed at least 48 credits, and earned a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher. All approved minor courses taken prior to declaration will be transferred towards the minor after the declaration. Any student interested in declaring this minor should consult with Dr. Alyson Burns-Glover to serve as their minor advisor. Courses are offered on a space-available basis and approval into the minor does not guarantee enrollment or completion. Minors must complete: