Applications are now being taken for the Anthropology & Diversity Skills for Professionals Programme commencing January 2012.
The programme is designed for students who already have a social science background and for people in leadership positions whose professions includes working with people from diverse cultural backgrounds in a helping capacity,
The Certificate Programme in Peoples and Cultures of the World provides a comprehensive introduction to the fascinating subject Cultural Anthropology. The course comprises of lectures presented by Edward Fischer Ph.D, Professor Fischer is a recipient of grants awards from a number of not-for-profit Foundations and has received awards for Excellence in Teaching.
The programme conveys the excitement and relevance of the discipline to students by providing an understanding of racial, ethnic, linguistic and cultural differences which are encountered daily in the second decade of the 21st. century. It explores and investigates the ways different peoples live, behave and think and conveys the true complexity and breadth of human behaviour. It aims to reveal what we take for granted, to help students verbalise unstated presumptions and analyse their consequences. The key underlying aspect of the course is to encourage sensitivity to social and cultural contexts and to challenge ethnocentrism. By learning about other cultures students will gain an understanding of their own culture and a passion for the study and science of humanity.
For the professional, therapist and those in leadership roles working in a multicultural setting the programme will provide a useful lens with which to view behaviour. We are all affected by our cultural backgrounds, prejudices and experiences and the programme will provide a useful model for equality, compassion, open dialogue and understanding. The programme will provide an opportunity for extensive personalised learning without restrictions and narrowness from an over-prescriptive and inflexible curriculum and assessment.
The programme is based on reflective learning and involves contemplation and development of self. For this reason you will be required to keep a portfolio to comment on your experiences of learning and to detail areas that challenge your values, views or beliefs and promote critical thinking.