Teaching an undergraduate course on ethnic diversity

in the United States, to illustrate possible issues to address within an ethnic diversity psychology course. The purpose of this course is to educate, sensitize, and stimulate critical thinking about the role of culture and ethnicity in human social behavior with an emphasis on 4 major ethnic groups in the United States: African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, and Hispanics–Latinos. Ba-sic concepts in ethnic psychology examined include the significance of race and ethnicity, racism and stereotyping, ethnic stratification, eth-nic identity, acculturation, and biculturalism as well as a variety of psychosocial conditions (e.g., risk behaviors, adaptive health behav-iors). Included are descriptions of in-class exercises, readings, and strategies that are helpful in teaching this type of course. Undergraduate and graduate programs in psychology face the need to introduce ethnic diversity in their curricula. Al-though some of the impetus to include diversity stems from external sources such as accrediting agencies, there is a grow-ing concern among psychology faculty and students that courses should reflect the changing demographic characteris-tics of the United States (Guzman, Schiavo, & Puente, 1992; Puente et al., 1993). In addition, the expectation exists that courses address the applicability of theories and interventions across cultures and ethnic groups and gender, thereby allow-ing a more appropriate and complete analysis of the huma