Throughout this course, you will focus on 3 main questions: 1) What is the interplay between cultural meanings and practices that constitute 'culture in the world' and people's psychological functioning that constitutes 'culture in the head'? 2) What are the different processes that instigate and maintain these cycles of mutual constitution? and 3) What are the implications of these insights for both our understanding of 'human nature' and the ways in which we engage in intercultural interaction?

The central theme throughout this course is the application of cultural psychological understanding to real-world domains. You will apply knowledge about cultural psychology to societal issues such as discrimination and radicalization. You will also focus on other domain such as physical health, education and work. We will also discuss some (successful) interventions within each domain, which will be critically assessed and/or tried out by the students in hands-on exercises.

The internship can be applied or research-oriented, and you may use the possibility to go abroad as long as your internship meets the internship requirements.

For the master’s thesis, you will conduct research and demonstrate your ability to conduct empirical research in Cultural Psychology under the supervision of one of the staff members. 

The course will address basic research methods that are common when carrying out social and cultural psychology research, both fundamental and in the field. The topics are (quasi-)experimental research methods, surveys & questionnaire research methods, research across social and cultural contexts, Big Data research, and qualitative research methods.

You will practice scientific thinking, by, for example, analyzing existing acculturation research, identifying underlying assumptions and models, and engaging in discussions about the used design and methods. Additionally, you will consistently apply acquired theoretical knowledge to ongoing social debates and issues.