Teaching cross-cultural psychology: Insights from an internationalized on-campus course.

Abstract

When I began college in the early 1980s, the required courses were largely Western based (e.g., "Intellectual Traditions of the West"). In contrast, nontraditional, "radical" perspectives were found primarily within interdisciplinary programs, such as American studies and ethnic studies, as well as the relatively new field of cross-cultural psychology. These new fields forced a decentering and reexamination of the status quo and raised questions about disciplinary assumptions and traditions of the scholars who shape their fields: Are the scholars "insiders or outsiders" to their subject matter? Do their political views influence their conclusions? Do they assume universal applicability of Western views? I felt transformed by these questions and insights and was inspired to encourage a similar transformation among my students, who even today are introduced to psychology through texts that minimally incorporate non-Western perspectives.