SYLLABUS

Course Number:        COUN 509

Course Title:              CULTURALLY AWARE COUNSELING

Course Time:             Tuesday, 6-9pm

Course Location:       E636

Semester:                   SPRING 2008

Credits:                       3 credits

Instructor:                  Dr. Mike Cutler

                                    (208)426-1307

                                    martincutler@boisestate.edu

                                    Office Hours: T & W 1-4pm or by appointment

Course Description:

Examine the impact of cultural diversity among races, ethnic groups, genders, and social classes on personality, value systems and the counseling relationship with an understanding of societal changes and trends, human roles in societal subgroups, social mores, and differing lifestyles with special attention to the influence of cultural and social change on family relationships, gender equity, and individual adjustment. Examine one’s own attitudes, behaviors, perceptions, and biases to develop a culturally aware approach to teaching, counseling and/or administration.

PREREQ: COUN 502 or PERM/INST

Course Objectives:

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to

·        Articulate a reflective, culturally aware approach to working with other that is compatible with the student’s identified nature of people, world view, experiences, and value systems;

·        Describe her/his ethnic/cultural and racial heritage, including an awareness of personal assumptions;

·        Define and/or explain the terminology in current multicultural research;

·        Identify her/his stage(s) of racial and ethnic development

·        Apply world view, identity stage, and cultural minority clients’ beliefs about how change occurs in individual, group, family, and organizational systems;

·        Exhibit culturally sensitive, intentional counseling techniques and intervention strategies;

·        Incorporate an understanding of the influences of U.S. sociopolitical climates (historical and present) on helping profession services, providers, and client groups; and

·        Integrate an awareness of individual and institutional racism into her/his repertoire of counseling knowledge and skills, including social justice advocacy.

This course is on parallel tracks. Track one encompasses multiculturalism – the TOPIC (its history, terminology, present, future, competencies, and expectations). Track two encompasses you – the SELF (its history, racial identity, present future, competencies, and expectations). Track one emphasizes research while track two emphasizes self-in-awareness. We move at different speeds along each, but one does not exist or progress without the other. We will discuss and reflect on both as course content forges self-awareness into topical knowledge to provide the philosophical and research base of the third component, the skills you develop as a culturally aware person and increasingly culturally competent counseling.

You are reminded to take care of yourself – to be conscious about deciding your level of disclosure while taking risks to learn. This is a class, not a process group, It is, however, important that you take responsibility for obtaining the support, counseling, or debriefing you need to effectively participate in the activities of this learning community and to acquire the requisite dispositions and knowledge.

Methods of Practice

·        Lecture

·        Guest Speakers

·        Group Activities/Cooperative Learning (exercises, video discussions, etc.)

·        Visual Media (video/DVD/power point)

·        Student Presentation

·        Out-of-class activities (community events/lectures, books, movies)

Required Text(s):

Lee, C.L. (2006). Multicultural issues in counseling: New approaches to diversity. (3^rd

            Ed.). American Counseling Association Publishing, Alexandria, VA.

Thomas, A.J. & Schwarzbaum, S. (2006). Culture and identity: Life stories for

            counselors and therapists. Sage Publications, Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA.

Additional readings as provided by the instructor.

1.      Read the contents of this syllabus and complete the required assignments.

2.      Ask necessary question the first part of class.

3.      Participate – your voice is important and your input is valuable.

Readings:  It is expected that you will come to class having read the chapters assigned in order to facilitate discussion. Your opinions are important to both the class and your experience in the program, so please bring to the class discussions your comments and reactions to the reading.

Attendance and Participation:  A rich and healthy exchange of ideas, reading, and feedback is essential to your growth as a counselor in terms of your theoretical thinking, conceptualization skills, and actual counseling skills.  You are expected to be an active speaker as well as an active listener, contributing usefully to class discussions.  Learning to be an effective counselor involves assessing one’s personal values and assumptions and learning to understand the values and assumptions of others.  Therefore, students will be expected to discuss their personal values and assumptions in class.  Wise students will avoid missing class; participation is an opportunity to gain additional insight into concepts and to share ideas.  Absences will be detrimental to the understanding of the course and, therefore, detrimental to the student’s grade.  It is the student’s responsibility to notify the instructor prior to an absence you know will occur.  Cell phones are to be left off during class time. 

Assignments:

All written assignments need to be professional in appearance and in APA format.

1. Cultural Genogram (20%): This exercise is to draw a family genogram to your grandparents’ generation, and to gather some racial cultural information. Specifically, you are asked to interview one or more of your family members to gather information about 5 of the following pieces of information: 1) race, 2) ethnicity, 3) religion, 4) social class, 5) occupations, 6) ability/disability statuses, 7) sexual orientation, 8) age, and 9) immigration status of each family member. Students will gather some information about their family members’ racial and cultural backgrounds. Assignment guidelines will be provided. Due March 18.

2. Nature of People/World View Paper (30%): A major work in which you conceptualize and analyze your “nature of people” and your “world view” (at this moment in time). The COUN 502/505 assignment Outline helps govern this paper. The text body is to be bracketed with an intriguing introduction and a concise closure, connecting the parts (i.e., graduate writing = 12-15 pages + APA reference page). COUN 502/505 information, awareness, theory, and applications meaningful to you are to be integrated with information, awareness, and applications gained in COUN 509, including but not limited to: locus of control/responsibility, cultural value orientations, class diversity exercises, assigned out-of-class experiences, extra class readings, and the role of social justice/advocacy in your world. You may include gender, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic background, family, abilities, etc. as fits you. It is important to convey reflection on how you perceive your world and the beings populating it, describing the ethnocultural and racial heritage value system you own and speculating on how that value system might both inhibit and assist your work with clients. Due: April 29.

3. Multicultural Counseling Research Project/Presentation (20%): In teams of no more than four (4) individuals, research and develop a 45-minute conference-grade presentation on a topic pertinent to course content. Presentations need to demonstrate PowerPoint competence, handouts for class members, and an in-class activity. Groups are encouraged to present on issues with which they are not already familiar – in other words, let’s expand our horizons a bit here. Presentations will be graded by your group, by the class, and the instructor. Presentations will be given the final two weeks of class. Topics could include, but are not limited to:

• Affirmative Action
• Influence of school diversity (or lack of diversity)
• GLBTQ issues in schools
• Influence of SES on mental health/school performance
• Influence of oppression on mental health/school performance
• Hate groups in Idaho and around the country and the influence of groups like this on education/mental health
• Influence of historical/multigenerational trauma on mental health/school performance
• Immigration issues in schools/mental health
• Resilience among stressed populations  

4. Culture and Identity Chapter Reports (20%): Compose reactions (minimum of two pages) to four of the narratives (one from each Section) provided in the Culture and Identity: Life Stores for Counselors and Therapists text. Responses need to include explorations of each of the following four areas using the questions to guide your response.

1. Name the themes in the story:
   1. What themes do you see emerging in the story?
   2. What is the relationship between the themes?
   3. Do different students come up with different themes or are most students

 describing similar themes?

4. How are those themes similar/different from the other life stories read in

                  class?

2. Elicit assessment questions:
   1. What questions would a counselor ask following the themes of the story?
   2. Might other counselors ask different questions based on the same content

themes?

3. If there are differences in the assessment questions, to what can those

                  differences be attributed?

4. How are these assessment questions similar to or different from the

                  questions asked about another life story or by another student?

3. Clinical Interventions:
   1. What interventions could have been used in this case?
   2. What interventions could have been used at different ages of the

                  storyteller (childhood, adolescence, early adulthood)?

3. What interventions could have been used at different stages of identity

                  development of the storyteller?

4. What interventions would not be warranted in a case like this based on the

                  age, the stage of identity development or the acculturation process

                  of the storyteller, and why?

5. Can the author of her/his life story give examples of what would have

                  been helpful to her/him at the time of the events described?

6. What interventions would not have been helpful?
3. Countertransference:
   1. What countertransferential reactions are you aware of that are being

                  elicited by the story?

2. Are there differences among you and your peers with respect to your

                  reactions to the story?

3. To what can those differences be attributed?
4. What are the differences in terms of reactions to this particular story and

                  how they reacted to other stores?

5. To what can those differences be attributed?

·        Section One due Feb. 12.

·        Section Two due March 11.

·        Section Three due April 1

·        Section Four due April 22

5. Cultural Activity Report (10%): Attend one or more events of cultural significance and report on what you learned from the experience (minimum of two pages in APA format). What, in your opinion, was helpful about the event/presentation? What, in your opinion, was not? How will the information gained in the event/presentations inform your work as a counselor? Again, students are encouraged to present on issues with which they are not already familiar. Due April 22, 2008. Events can include, but are not limited to:

• BSU Martin Luther Kind, Jr. Week Activities, Jan 23-Feb. 1
• International Food, Song, and Dance Festival, February 2
• First Nations Conference, March 17-21
• Intertribal Native Council 15^th Annual Powwow, March 22 & 23
• Black Student Alliance Unity 2008, Feb. 16
• Hui-O-Aloha Lua’u TBA
• Organización de Estudiantes Latino-Americanos (OELA) Cinco de Mayo TBA

Making a visit (if you haven’t already done so) to any one or more of the following also counts for this assignment:

• Hispanic Cultural Center of Idaho, 315 Stampede Drive, Nampa, ID 83687
• Basque Museum & Cultural Center, 611 Grove Street, Boise, Idaho 83702
• Idaho Black History Museum, 508 Julia Davis Dr. Boise, ID 83702

(Other open-to-the-public cultural events are also OK with the instructors consent. Students may also JOIN a BSU Cultural/Ethnic Student Organization - please note that JOINING means regularly attending meetings and being involved in organization activities, and not showing up for a single meeting. )

OR

6. Book/Movie Review (10%): Select a minimum of two books and/or movies with themes especially relevant to the course (all selections must be approved by the instructor). Prepare a short (minimum of three pages in APA format) to the work. Prepare a reaction paper to each book/movie, responding to the following questions:

• Who would you identify as the “identified client”?
• What factors contributed to or prohibited change?
• How do the issues of culture and diversity impact the process of change?
• How do the circumstances change/improve clinically?
• What are the ethical considerations that must be taken into account as you address the case?

Due April 22, 2008.

Performance Evaluation:

            Cultural Genogram                                            20 points         

Nature of People/World View Paper                30 points

Multicultural Counseling Presentation     20 points

            Culture and Identity Chapter Reports                20 points

            Cultural Activity/Book/Movie Review   10 points         

                                                            Total               100 points

            91-100 = A

             81-90  = B

             71-80  = C

Disability Statement:

If there is someone in the class who has a special need that may be the result of a disability or alternative learning style, I would appreciate hearing from you.  I am reasonably certain that we can make the appropriate arrangements if necessary to assist you.  The accommodations can take many forms, whether it is seating, testing, or the like.  Please see me after class, or during my office hours.

Academic Integrity Statement:

Academic misconduct or dishonesty such as cheating and plagiarism is unacceptable and appropriate penalties will be imposed.  This includes referencing material that has not been read by you, such as secondary references.