SPCL 3850 (Elizalde-Utnick)

This course introduces and reviews the literature on cultural humility and multicultural competence, with a focus on intersectionality, privilege, and systemic oppression. This course interrogates the influence of racist, nativist, Eurocentric, individualist, heterosexual, patriarchal, cisgender, ableist, and sizeist dominant discourses on the emotional, social, and behavioral development of persons living within the United States. Experiential activities and assignments, e-journaling, discussions, and videos will foster development of cultural humility, critical consciousness, and ability to apply course constructs to case material.

This course is divided into seven modules delivered via asynchronous online modality:

Module 1: Cultural Humility, Implicit Bias, Privilege, Oppression, and Social Justice

Module 2: Cultural Humility, Religious Privilege and Oppression

Module 3: Cultural Humility, Racism, Racial Microaggressions, and White Privilege

Module 4: Cultural Humility, Ethnocentrism, Nativism, Immigration, Colorism, and Linguicism

Module 5: Cultural Humility, Gender, Cissexism, Sexism, and Heterosexism

Module 6: Cultural Humility and Classism

Module 7: Cultural Humility Applied

Students completing this course will be able to:

1. Demonstrate cultural humility and recognize this as a life-long developmental process

ASSESSED: Journal Entries; House We Live In Paper

2. Demonstrate knowledge of power, privilege, oppression, and intersectionality in society

ASSESSED: Journal Entries; Final Exam

3. Gather, interpret, and assess information from a variety of sources and points of view

ASSESSED:  Journal Entries; House We Live In Paper; Cultural Immersion Project; Advocacy Research Project

4. Evaluate evidence and arguments critically or analytically

ASSESSED: Journal Entries; House We Live In Paper

5. Produce well-reasoned written or oral arguments using evidence to support conclusions

ASSESSED: Journal Entries; House We Live In Paper

6. Identify and apply the fundamental concepts and methods of the multicultural counseling and cross-cultural psychology fields as they relate to the development of cultural humility and understanding privilege and oppression

ASSESSED: Final Exam

7. Examine how an individual's place in society affects experiences, values, or choices

ASSESSED: Journal Entries; Cultural Immersion Project

8. Identify and engage with local, national, or global trends or ideologies, and analyze their impact on individual or collective decision-making

ASSESSED: Advocacy Research Project

• Journal Entries (40%)
• House We Live In Film Paper (10%)
• Cultural Immersion Experience Paper (10%)
• Advocacy Research Project (10%)
• Final Exam (30%)

Students are expected to engage in a multi-level process of critical self-reflection, an important component of cultural humility development. One effective strategy is journaling which allows for a deeper level of processing the course topics. Asynchronous journal entries give students an opportunity to provide their thoughts, concerns, and opinions in a setting that they might feel more comfortable doing so. The professor will provide feedback and can address any concerns that arise during this self-reflection process. Students should refer to the course outline for deadlines for submitting on Brightspace. Students should reflect on each prompt and write their responses in clear language and fully supported with details and examples.

View this short student support video on how to get ready for this assignment:  https://youtu.be/TVLq_zoOn14

Watch Episode 3, The House We Live In of the film series, Race: The Power of An Illusion:

https://www-kanopy-com.brooklyn.ezproxy.cuny.edu/brooklyn/video/66397

Divide your paper into the following sections. In each section integrate the prompts listed into cohesive paragraphs. You should review the rubric before writing your paper. Your paper will be a 3- to 5-page typed document.

1. U.S. Citizenship
   1. Who was allowed to become a naturalized citizen before 1954 and who was not?
   2. What rights and privileges do citizens have that non-citizens do not have?
   3. What were the consequences for those denied citizenship?
   4. How did European “ethnics” become white, and what changes made this possible?
2. Government Policies & The Housing Market
   1. How did federal housing policies institutionalize segregation and wealth disparities?
   2. Why do property values go down when a neighborhood changes from white to nonwhite? Who plays a role in this?
   3. The film shows how government policies have created unfair advantages for whites in the past, resulting in a substantial wealth gap between whites and nonwhites. What examples of disparity exist in the community you grew up in and in the community that you live in today?
   4. Will the wealth gap go away if we ignore race?
3. The American Dream
   1. Central to the concept of the American Dream is the notion that anyone who works hard enough will be rewarded—that anyone can “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” How has this been made more difficult for people not defined as white? What is the long-term impact of that denial? What difference does access to financial resources make in terms of your life opportunities?
4. Critical Self-Reflection
   1. Critically reflect on this assignment. What were your thoughts and feelings as you watched the video?

​​​​​​​Submit Paper on Brightspace

 Source: http://newsreel.org/guides/race/race-guide-lores1.pdf

The purpose of this assignment is to help students fully understand a multicultural group of which they are not a member. Students will engage with a different multicultural group within or outside of their communities.

View this student support video to help plan your cultural experience: https://youtu.be/m753r48EMSs

Your task is to connect with a group that meets the following three criteria:

àThat constitutes a unique “culture” or clear value system,

àThat is or has been disenfranchised or oppressed, AND

àAbout which you have (potentially negative) preconceived ideas. This can include racial/cultural, sexual identity, religious/spiritual, economic, or ability diversity (formalized religious services different from your own; volunteer work at soup kitchens and homeless shelters, attending a religious ceremony (e.g, burial, rites of passage, social activity, etc.).

Paper Steps

1. Contact the group and interview a leader about how to interact with the group or find a “cultural guide” who can help you access the group appropriately. Interview that person about the group: why they gather, what it means to them.
2. You will attend at least 1 gathering of people in this group, observing and interacting as appropriate.
3. Submit this form to your professor regarding the event you have selected, your cultural guide, and the tentative date of the event: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfq29yOUOamjrV16M16Gb51aw_O1EWSWIS5CiTzmV0K3ixPZQ/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=111300018082509150710
4. After the experience, you will describe each of the following:

1. Your reactions to the experience,
2. What you learned about this cultural group,
3. Your thoughts and feelings about the group observed, and
4. Your thoughts and feelings about yourself in relation to the group observed.

 Your paper will be 3 to 5 typed pages. Your paper should be written in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Students should review the paper grading rubric prior to writing their paper.

Submit your paper on Brightspace.

The purpose of this assignment is to connect cultural humility development to advocacy.

1. View this short student support video on how to get ready for this assignment: https://youtu.be/RPI9MdYwusU
2. Select a local or national advocacy group devoted to rights-based activism and helping marginalized children and youth, along one or more of the diversity domains discussed in this course.
3. What is the advocacy group’s purpose? What is their mission statement?
4. What activities does the group/organization engage in? What services do they provide?
5. What impact have they had on children and youth? To answer this, you must research the group’s/organization’s reported outcomes.
6. What impact have they had on institutional and/or government policies?
7. Reflect on how the work of this advocacy group relates to your own cultural humility development.

Your paper will be 3 to 5 typed pages. Your paper should be written in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Students should review the paper grading rubric prior to writing their paper.

Submit Paper on Brightspace

The cumulative final exam will consist of multiple-choice questions and is taken on Brightspace. Students will have 2 hours to complete and submit the exam once they start

Timely submission of work is an important professional attribute. All assignments are due on the dates indicated on the course calendar. Work submitted late will be marked down accordingly at the discretion of the instructor. The only exception is when the student contacts the instructor before the assignment is due, and the instructor agrees to provide an exception to the due date based on the student’s extenuating circumstances. Assignments not submitted on the due date with no advance notice to the instructor will be penalized as specified in the assignment instructions (see individual rubrics). Grades on assignments will be lowered the designated number of points per week/day late, as measured by the beginning of the class period in which the assignment was due. If an assignment is not submitted by the end of the course, an additional five points will be deducted per assignment, on top of the late penalty.

Faculty Council has determined the following policy for Incomplete Grades: A grade of Incomplete (INC) may be given at the discretion of the instructor when 1) a student has satisfactorily completed most, but not all, course requirements, and 2) a student provides to the instructor evidence documenting the extenuating circumstances that prevent the completion of course requirements by the end of the semester. Candidates receive grades of incomplete (INC) only when a situation beyond their control prevents them from completing course work. It is important to note that grades of INC will only be given if the instructor determines the grade is appropriate given the unusual extenuating circumstances and such circumstances are documented by the student. An incomplete grade in a course that is a prerequisite for another course must be cleared before the candidate can enter the next course. Final assignments not submitted on the due date at the end of the semester are given a grade of zero.

The form as well as the content of your written work will be a part of your evaluation and grade. Correct grammar, punctuation, spelling and organization and clarity of thought will be assessed. Please contact the Brooklyn College Learning Center, 951-5821, located in 1300 Boylan Hall, for assistance with writing. The instructor is also available to consult with you about your writing. There will be no re-writes for any papers.

If you have any type of disability for which you require special accommodation to promote your learning in this class, please contact me as soon as possible to discuss your needs. To receive disability-related academic accommodations students must first be registered with the Center for Student Disability Services. Students who have a documented disability or suspect they may have a disability are invited to set up an appointment with the Director of the Center for Student Disability Services, Ms. Valerie Stewart-Lovell at 718-951-5538. If you have already registered with the Center for Student Disability Services, please provide me (and all your professors) with the course accommodation form and discuss your specific accommodation (e.g., extended exam time).

• The use of AI tools is not permitted for reflective exercises (such as reading reflections or any other experiential exercises) and for writing entire sentences/paragraphs for any of the assigned papers.
• The use of AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, etc.) is allowed for the following activities when writing course projects:
  • Brainstorming ideas and organizing thoughts for a project
  • Refining research questions
  • Exploratory research for a paper
  • Grammar/style/expository writing checks
• Any use of AI tools outside of the allowed parameters will be considered a violation of academic integrity and will be subject to penalties spelled out in the Policy on Academic Integrity.

Academic dishonesty in this course is grounds for disciplinary action which may include failure in the assignment and/or class.

Academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York. Penalties for academic dishonesty include academic sanctions, such as failing or otherwise reduced grades, and/or disciplinary sanctions, including suspension or expulsion.

Academic integrity is at the core of a college or university education. Faculty assign essays, exams, quizzes, projects, and so on both to extend the learning done in the classroom and as a means of assessing that learning. When students violate the academic integrity policy (i.e., “cheat”), they are committing an act of theft that can cause real harm to themselves and others including, but not limited to, their classmates, their faculty, and the caregivers who may be funding their education. Academic dishonesty confers an unfair advantage over others, which undermines educational equity and fairness. Students who cheat place their college’s accreditation and their own future prospects in jeopardy.

1. Definitions and Examples of Academic Dishonesty.

1.1 Cheating is the unauthorized use or attempted use of material, information, notes, study aids, devices, artificial intelligence (AI) systems, or communication during an academic exercise. Example of cheating include:

• Copying from another person or from a generative AI system or allowing others to copy work submitted for credit or a grade. This includes uploading work or submitting class assignments or exams to third party platforms and websites beyond those assigned for the class, such as commercial homework aggregators, without the proper authorization of a professor. Any use of generative AI tools must be in line with the usage policy for specific assignments as defined in the course of the syllabus and/or communicated by the course instructor.
• Using artificial intelligence tools to generate content for assignments or exams, including but not limited to language models or code generators, without written authorization from the instructor.
• Unauthorized collaboration on assignments or examinations.
• Taking an examination or completing an assignment for another person or asking or allowing someone else to take an examination or complete an assignment for you, including exams taken on a home computer.
• Submitting content generated by another person or an AI tool or any other source as solely your own work as your own, including, but not limited to, material obtained in whole or in part from commercial study or homework help websites, or content generated or altered by AI or digital paraphrasing tools without proper citation.
• Fabricating and/or falsifying data (in whole or in part).
• Giving assistance to acts of academic misconduct/dishonesty.
• Altering a response on a previously graded exam or assignment and then attempting to return it for more credit or a higher grade without permission from the instructor.
• Submitting substantial portions of a paper or assignment to more than one course for credit without permission from each instructor.
• Unauthorized use during an examination of notes, prepared answers, or any electronic devices such as cell phones, computers, smart watches, or other technologies to copy, retrieve, generate or send information.

1.2. Plagiarism is the act of presenting ideas, research or writing that is not your own as your own. Examples of plagiarism include:

• Copying another person’s or an AI tool’s actual words or images without the use of quotation marks and citations attributing the words to their source.
• Presenting another person’s ideas or theories in your own words without acknowledging the source.
• Failing to acknowledge collaborators on homework and laboratory assignments.
• Internet plagiarism, including submitting downloaded term papers or parts of term papers, paraphrasing or copying information from the internet without citing the source, or “cutting & pasting” from various sources without proper attribution.
• Unauthorized use of AI-generated content; or use of AI-generated content, whether in whole or in part, even when paraphrased, without citing the AI as the source. 

Please read the entire text: https://www.cuny.edu/about/administration/offices/legal-affairs/policies-resources/academic-integrity-policy/