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Kies de Nederlandse taal
Course module: UCSSCPSY31
UCSSCPSY31
The Psychology of Ethnic Relations
Course info
Course codeUCSSCPSY31
EC7.5
Course goals
After completion of this course students are able to: 
  • describe the complex ways in which cognitions, behaviour, and social factors influence ethnic relations
  • critically reflect on and evaluate research and public media claims as they relate to ethnic relations
  • apply the knowledge on ethnic relations to a concrete intergroup situation by designing and conducting a research project in which a particular research question can be answered
Content
This course provides an in-depth study of the social psychological aspects of intergroup relations, particularly between majority and minority ethnic groups, although some time will be reserved for studying the relationships between religious groups. The literature focuses on theories and research that deal with factors determining mutual perceptions of ethnic groups and the consequences of these perceptions. Whereas ethnic groups define themselves as different from others in terms of real and imagined cultural and historical factors, real as well as imagined factors play a role in the nature and dynamics of ethnic relations. Although the course focuses on general psychological processes, we will use concrete examples of intergroup conflicts to facilitate the understanding of the theory. We read literature about self-categorisation processes, group belonging and identification, ethnic threat, stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination. We consider the main theoretical explanations of negative reactions between ethnic groups and evaluate the empirical evidence supporting them. Next to searching for causes of prejudice in the characteristics and perceptions of individuals, we also examine the role of the wider social context. For instance, does prejudice increase with an actual increase in the inflow of immigrants, and is it true that ethnic diversity in neighbourhoods generally erodes social trust while inter-ethnic contact may improve the relations.
 
Format
There are two meetings each week; the first meeting will usually include a lecture, and the rest of the time will be spent on presentations by students and group discussions. All students are expected to complete the weekly readings and actively participate in the class discussions. Students read the literature and prepare it in a critical way. There are student presentations and student critiques of the articles/chapters, as well as a general class discussion about the main issues. Starting from week 4, students work in small groups on a research project. From week 10 they work on an individual paper. The last two weeks of the course are reserved for the presentations of the individual papers and the results of the group projects.
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Kies de Nederlandse taal