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Multicultural Competence Requirement

Students earning a graduate degree in the Psychology Department should acquire and be able to demonstrate multicultural competence in all of the following areas:

  1. Didactic Component:

    Consistent with the Department’s goal of curricular flexibility, all graduate students will fulfill one of the following requirements:

    1. Complete PSY 600, "Multicultural Psychology;"
    2. Complete another graduate course that the student’s graduate committee or the Psychology Department’s Graduate Curriculum Committee has approved as dealing primarily with issues in multicultural psychology; or
    3. Complete a didactic learning experience in multicultural psychology in the context of an independent study.

  2. Research Component:

    In keeping with Institutional Review Board requirements, all graduate students will include a section in their thesis/dissertation proposals that articulates how the issue of multiculturalism has been considered with respect to the choice of topic, methodological approach, participants, measures, procedures, and the interpretation of the research. This is not intended to limit the student’s choice of topic, participants, or method, but to assure that the student expresses the ways in which various choices are made and the implications of those choices for the subsequent interpretation of results.


  3. Applied Component:

    In order to allow students to demonstrate multicultural competence, all graduate students will complete one of the following activities:


    1. A practicum dealing with a multicultural client group or setting;
    2. Teaching a course on multicultural psychology or teaching a course in psychology (or a related discipline) in which multicultural issues are infused throughout course content;
    3. A comprehensive examination question about an issue in multicultural psychology, or written from a multicultural perspective; or
    4. A research study primarily addressing a multicultural question or involving diverse participants.

All students must complete and submit the "URI Psychology Department Verification of Multicultural Competence" form to their major professor, program director, and the department chair prior to graduation.