COU-730 Social and Cultural Diversity Foundations & Multicultural Counseling

Course Overview

This course is designed for students’ personal and professional development in the area of social and cultural diversity awareness development and multicultural counseling. Effective and meaningful multicultural work with culturally diverse clients, groups, and communities requires helping professionals to develop a continuing awareness of self; increased knowledge and practical understanding of others’ worldviews; and an ever changing and evolving skill set for effective  engagement with diverse individuals/populations. Throughout the course, students will engage in activities and experiences in and outside of the classroom setting designed to draw out personal reflections, self-evaluation, and interpersonal dialogue on related issues of cultural relevance and social justice work as a helping professional. This course will facilitate deeper awareness, broader knowledge and understanding, and provide a framework to developing multicultural competence as a counselor all the while addressing the impact of culture and power on an individual, his/her family, community, organizational structures and systems of power that reflect culture.