Intercultural Psychology and Education Eötvös Loránd University

Overview

Cultural awareness has thus become an essential part of being a professional in most fields but it is truly indispensable in community work and education. To meet the need for experts in these fields, the Institute of Intercultural Psychology and Education (IIPE) of the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest launched its first MA Program of Intercultural Psychology and Education in 2009. This is a 4-semester program with 120 credits. From September, 2013, the Program has been offered in English as well for students from various regions of the world. From September 2017, the program has been renamed to MA program in Social Integration.

The Program provides students with knowledge about the multifaceted nature of intercultural issues and multi/interculturalism by means of a multidisciplinary approach, which includes anthropology, sociology, psychology and education. The Program is both theory-based and practice oriented. Courses are based on latest researches in relevant fields, and students are given opportunities to test and apply their theoretical knowledge in practical situations. Approximately half of the Program consists of trainings, seminars, and field work. The Program prepares students to understand, and effectively work with, culturally diverse populations in different institutions and in different settings, ranging from small communities to multinational corporations. With their sound knowledge and competences in intercultural psychology and education, graduates from the Program will be able to consciously treat the diversity of values in different societies, helping to promote social equity, human rights, social integration and cooperation of different minority and majority groups. Graduates with intercultural knowledge and skills will support the integration of minorities – particularly that of Roma, disadvantaged groups, migrants and refugees. They will also help the training and the mobility of people in the international labor market and promote equality of opportunities for members of disadvantaged groups. Completing the Program, the students will be prepared to pursue doctoral studies.

Strength of program

The Program, which is one of the few of its kind in Europe, is strongly committed to interdisciplinary studies with a focus on psychological and educational issues. Focusing on the human dimensions of intercultural issues and interactions while giving ample consideration to their global context distinguishes the Program from macro-historical, macro-political or macro-sociological approaches.