Whittier College has one of the most diverse student populations among all small Liberal Arts colleges in the nation.  But diversity in the student body is not enough – diversity needs to be reflected in the curriculum as well.

With the support of a grant from American Psychological Association, we have developed a program of Diversity Across the Curriculum in Psychology. The goals of the program are to increase each of the following:

a. Awareness of various forms of diversity

b. Knowledge about diversity across and within groups

c. Understanding of the causes and consequences of diversity

d. Acceptance and valuing of diversity beyond mere tolerance

e. Awareness of commonalties, and the fact the people have identities

in common beyond the one perceived to be different

f. Objectivity to reduce stereotypes and bias while not romanticizing or exoticizing

g. Ability to view diversity from multiple perspectives

We agreed that diversity includes individual differences beyond and within social categories such as ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, social class, religion, age, and disabilities.  Hence our diversity topics also include personality, cognitive differences, motivational differences, abnormal behavior, and developmental periods. We also felt that understanding the causes of diversity involved studying learning, biological differences, behavioral change/therapies, and research methods.

To achieve these goals we offer courses which emphasize diversity topics, including Abnormal Psychology, Fieldwork, Psychology of Women, Psychology of Exceptional Individuals, Psychological Assessment, Psychology of Aging, Diverse Identities, States of Consciousness, and Psychology of Personality. Courses emphasizing other topics always include discussions of diversity.

In addition, our research methods courses teach students how to study diversity. These courses include Experimental Psychology, Statistics, Literature Review Seminar, and Research Practicum. Hence our program of Diversity Across the Curriculum parallels and complements our programs of Research And Writing Across the Curriculum.