Previous J-Term Seminar: Peace & Conflict: Immigrants, Refugees & the Psychology of Diaspora

Morocco • Spain

The Psychology of Peace and Conflict: Immigrants, Refugees & the Psychology of Diaspora Seminar focuses on understanding violence and its impact on the Mediterranean region. Students are encouraged to imagine possible resolutions to conflict and to understand peace processes through the lens of interdisciplinary study. They learn to see communities that have previously remained erased or oppressed in Morocco and Spain and to understand the political, psychological, and sociological side effects of violence. By the end of the seminar, participants will more deeply understand the psychology of political decision-making as it applies to international relations and the legacy that is determined by peace efforts across cultures and their borders. 

Academics

• Psychology 370: Multicultural Psychology
• Psychology 385: Psychology of Peace and Violence
• Psychology 390: Psychology of Divided Societies
• Psychology 595: Special Topics in Psychology - Graduate Seminar
• Sociology 390: Sociology of Divided Societies
• Cross-Cultural Studies 390: Empires, Colonies, Hegemony

Itinerary 

• Morocco: Marrakesh, Casablanca, Rabat, and Tangier
  
• Spain: Barcelona, Seville, Granada, and Cordoba

View details of a past itinerary here.

About the Professor

Dr. Nahal Kaivan
PhD, Washington State University
MA, Pepperdine University

Dr. Nahal C. Kaivan is a psychologist at Sarah Lawrence College. In her clinical practice, she focuses her efforts on marginalized populations who feel othered or oppressed by dominant cultures and norms. Her research agenda widely focuses on identity exploration as it relates to history, politics, psychology and the interplay between these disciplines greatly impacts her clinical work. As an instructor, she also weaves in liberatory frameworks of understanding that cut across her clinical and teaching practices. Namely, she interrogates what is widely known or held to be true through the process of problematization and encourages students and clients alike to locate themselves within this process in an effort to conscientize, or critical consciousness making. Her goal as a psychologist, educator, and researcher is to encourage the cultivation of critical thinking so all students are able to challenge knowledge as it exists and create knowledge through critical inquiry.

Program Fees: $6,230

Program fees include tuition for three credits, lodging, daily breakfast, some group lunches and/or dinners, intra-program transportation (by plane, train, or bus), entrances/fees for all scheduled cultural activities and academic visits, orientation, and health, liability, and repatriation insurance. Additional student costs include roundtrip airfare, most lunches/dinners, textbooks, and personal expenses.

Students who enroll in a January Term Seminar and the spring semester in Aix-en-Provence or Barcelona consecutively are eligible to receive a $2,000 grant credited to their spring semester invoice. In order to be eligible to receive the grant, students must participate in the Early Start Program during the week between the end of the January Term Seminar and the start of the spring semester. The Early Start Program allows students to move in with their hosts a week before the semester begins, receive French or Spanish language instruction, and participate in local cultural activities! Visit IAU's Scholarship website for additional details.