This project will take a ‘students-as-partners’ approach to support the development of a new second-year breadth course titled “Psychology in Context”. Guided by principles of equity, inclusion, and diverse ways of knowing, this course will take a critical lens to the field of Psychology itself. This course is novel in several ways. It is designed at the second year to provide students with a critical foundation early in their studies; this approach is directly informed by recommendations from the UTSC Campus Curriculum Review Working Circle. An overarching aim of this course will be to help students engage in critical reflection and conversation about 1) key assumptions, norms, and contextual factors that have shaped/continue to shape the field of psychology in its present form, and 2) current debates, challenges, and controversies shaping the field. Further, the course has an approved CR/NCR grading scale, to help students feel safe and comfortable in sharing their opinions and perspectives on a range of complex and potentially fraught topics and areas of debate. Therefore, the development of both course content and structure, including evaluative components, is particularly suitable for direct student input.
Outcomes
Plan to share the curricular resources we develop with other psychology, STEM, and additional U of T units seeking to integrate inclusive excellence into the curriculum.