The program

You will be able to choose two virtual streams from the ones listed below. There will be two streams on July 12-14 and two streams on July 15-17. Each stream will be three hours each day (over three days) and they will be synchronous. The streams will also be recorded for those who miss a session.
More information about the platform and specific times of each stream will be announced later.

STREAM 1- Localizing and addressing problems in communities. Adjustment of Immigrants: Processes, Challenges, and Solutions
Eugene Tartakovsky, Tel-Aviv University, Israel

This concentrated course discusses the psychosocial processes of the immigrants’ integration in the receiving country. The course focuses on the practical issues relevant to the immigrant experiences: the new language acquisition and preservation of a mother tongue, physical and mental health of immigrants, integration of immigrant children in school and at home, and adjustment of adult immigrants at work. Students will learn about the psychosocial processes related to integration of immigrants in the new country and the methods of helping immigrants to adjust at the individual, family, and community levels. Students will acquire theoretical knowledge and practical tools that will permit them to understand the immigration experience
and to help immigrants better adjust to the new country.

STREAM 2- European culture- Values, identity in European context
Cláudio V. Torres – University of Brasilia, Brazil

This workshop will provide students with an opportunity to broaden their understanding of how the theories of values and identity are linked or related to their research. Students will review a broad understanding of the major theoretical underpinnings to the study of values and identity in Europe. We will
examine a general mapping of values in European nations, discuss the most endorsed values across Europe and how they compare among themselves, and explore these differences as a result of different socio-political and historical events. We also will explore how values interact with attitudes and behaviors (such as political choice, perception of positive or negative consequences of immigration, marketing, and other applications). While values and identity will be discussed within the European context— where much of the research lies— an international, contextual, and multicultural perspective will be assumed and maintained throughout the course. The workshop will integrate lectures and discussion, and most importantly, students will engage in a critical analysis of the ways in which research on basic human values can be applied to or deepened into their research topic. A significant component of our meeting will be the group discussion of pre-assigned texts; students should come prepared to engage in meaningful discussions and seminar-style teaching.

STREAM 3: Equivalence and Bias - Design and Analysis of Culture-comparative Studies
Michael Bender – Tilburg University, Netherlands, & Jia He – German Institute for International
Educational Research, Germany

Many researchers have consistently advocated to attend to issues of equivalence and bias, including testing for invariance of measures. However, such methods are rarely employed- even in the field of cross-cultural psychology. First, we will focus on ten of the most common issues in designing, administrating, analyzing, and interpreting studies and their data, also covering the role of mixed-methods approaches. We will include various approaches to the study of culture, including some difficult topics such as the definitions of culture (What is culture/not culture? Where does culture come from? What creates cultural differences?), data selection (Which participants should we choose? Which items work?), levels of analysis (individuals and societies), etic versus emic approaches (one single tool, specific research tools per context). Second, we will provide an accessible basic template to understand the principle of how you can test for bias and equivalence yourself – without prior knowledge in this area. We will provide data sets to the registered participants, and walk you through how to test the data for bias. We will provide a perspective on how to use these basic means of testing for bias also with further, more sophisticated statistical tools.

STREAM 4: Examining Mechanisms of Acculturation Using the Theory of Sociocultural Models
Dr. Valery Chirkov – University of Saskatchewan, Canada, & with Dr. Jin Li – Brown University, USA

This workshop will introduce students to an approach to understand the nature and challenges of acculturation based on the theory of sociocultural models (TSCM). The workshop will consist of several modules. First, students will be asked to reflect on the existing research on acculturation and its weaknesses. Second, the general logic of understanding the mechanisms of acculturation based on the TSCM will be introduced. Students will be involved in a discussion of this approach in comparison to the existing studies of acculturation. The third module will include an examination of the main propositions of the TSCM, its historical and conceptual roots, and the analysis of the primary components of sociocultural models relevant for acculturation researchers. The fourth module, which will be delivered by the guest lecturer Dr. Jin Li, will focus on her program research of sociocultural learning models of Chinese, Euro-American, and Chinese American students, the historical analysis of these models and methodological approaches to their investigation.

Note: You will be also encouraged to do some preparatory work before the classes. The stream leaders will provide reading lists and specific tasks for you to realize before C&P School.