Students entering the College under the 02-03 catalog or later must meet the Diversity Requirement, as described herein, as part of the Psychology Major.

The Role of Diversity in Psychology

Psychology is a relatively young discipline with a largely androcentric, Westernized focus.
The perspectives of certain traditionally displaced minority groups (i.e., women, racial minorities, and international groups) have generally not been included in theories that purport to describe, understand, explain,
predict and control behavior and mental processes. More recently, however, feminist, ethnic, international and cross-cultural perspectives on psychological science have emerged to address psychology's "culture boundedness" (Lonner & Malpass, 1994). Because of these changes in the field of psychology, it is important to both examine diversity issues as well as define what is meant by "diversity and multiculturalism." For the purposes of the Diversity Requirement in Psychology, diversity and multiculturalism are defined as essential differences in social identities based on race/ethnicity, gender, class, age, sexual orientation, religion, ability, and language or international differences (Reynolds, 2001). The Diversity Requirement is based on the importance of becoming "culturally competent" (Sue et al., 1992) in the use and understanding of psychological principles.