Internationalizing the Teaching of Psychology and Recognizing the Diversity of the Human Experience

Craig, Kellina M.
Howard University,
USA

Today in colleges and universities throughout the US, long and short-term efforts are underway to incorporate issues of domestic and international diversity into undergraduate curricula. Teaching in psychology has been similarly affected by this zeitgeist, and as evidence of this at least one or two selections in the course listing catalogues at many secondary institutions reflect this. Initiated during the early 1980s, these efforts, collectively referred to here as internationalization of the curricula, have assumed various forms, which range from the incorporation of additional texts into existing courses to the development of entirely new courses. Though debate about the appropriateness of incorporating these new themes abound, less attention and discussion has focused on how best to do so particularly for courses in psychology. This paper reviews the rationale for internationalization of teaching in psychology and suggests specific steps for doing so. In addition, specific pitfalls encountered are highlighted and ideas for successful approaches in psychology courses are discussed.