PSY 3060

PSY 3060 Psychology and Racism

New ESSJ course!

I will be teaching a new course! Starting Fall 2026, Psychology and Racism will be the only PSY course with the Ethnic Studies and Social Justice (ESSJ) designation at MSU Denver.

(Please note that PSY 3030 and PSY 3700 still count as an ESSJ course if you took one of them before Fall 2026. Starting in Fall 2026, neither will have the ESSJ designation.) 

Fall 2026

In Fall 2026, I will be teaching this new course on Tuesday/Thursday, 2:00 – 3:15 pm. I will also be creating an online course that will be availalbe in a future semester, but I will be teaching only in-person sections during Fall 2026 and Spring 2027.

Course Description

In this course, students will examine theory and research in psychology to better understand how racism shapes people’s experiences. Students will do this while learning about how psychologists define and research concepts such as intersectionality, social justice, antiracism, privilege, and oppression. Students will also explore the racist history and current racist practices in the field of psychology. Additional topics will include acculturative strategies, health disparities, educational and career mobility, and antiracist activism and research.

Student Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, the student should be able to:

  1. Analyze how key psychological concepts, such as intersectionality, privilege, and oppression, interact to influence an individual’s experiences related to racism.
  2. Analyze and critique the historical and current role of racism in psychological research and practice, including examples such as eugenics, exclusionary research practices, and scientific racism.
  3. Apply social justice and antiracist frameworks to evaluate psychological theories, research designs, and interventions.
  4. Critically evaluate the historical and contemporary impact of racist research practices (including reliance on WEIRD samples, biased testing, and epistemic oppression) on psychological science, and apply antiracist research frameworks to propose inclusive and equitable research designs.
  5. Analyze how racism impacts the ways in which people engage in acculturative strategies, including racial and ethnic socialization.
  6. Analyze how systemic racism within U.S. institutions contributes to racial and ethnic disparities in physical health, mental health, education, and career outcomes, and apply a social justice framework to evaluate strategies for dismantling these inequities.

ESSJ Student Learning Objectives

  1. Define and understand key critical theories and concepts that inform discussions of racism and colonialism as they overlap with other systems of power as historically situated in the U.S.
  2. Define and apply concepts of social justice within specific curriculum and course content to demonstrate the impact of racial and ethnic inequality in the U.S.
  3. Identify and evaluate unequal power relationships between and/or among one or more marginalized groups in the U.S.
  4. Recognize and describe ways in which power and privilege are held and upheld by dominant groups in relation to marginalized groups and/or individuals.
  5. Analyze the effects of institutional oppression on marginalized groups in the U.S.

Course Outline

Please note that while the course will cover the following topics, the topics may not presented in exactly this order.

I. Foundational Concepts and Frameworks

A. Foundational Concepts

    1. Ethnicity
    2. Race
    3. Identity
      1. Ethnic Identity
      2. Racial Identity
    4. Positionality
    5. Intersectionality
    6. Stigma
    7. White Privilege
    8. Racism
      1. Systemic Racism
      2. Structural Racism
    9. Colorism
    10. Oppression
      1. Individual Oppression
      2. Institutional Oppression
      3. Systemic/Structural Oppression
    11. Colorblind Perspectives
      1. How Colorblind Perspectives Perpetuate Racism
    12. Antiracism
    13. Prejudice, Stereotypes, and Discrimination

B. Social Justice Framework

    1. Definitions of Social Justice
    2. Social Justice in Psychology
      1. Liberation Psychology
      2. Decolonial Psychology
      3. Other Areas of Psychology (Such as Community, Social, etc.)
    3. Social Justice Activism

II. Racist and Anti-Racist Research Practices in Psychological Sciences

  1. Racist Research Practices in Psychological Sciences
    1. Reliance on White, WEIRD Populations and Samples
    2. Racism in Testing, Including IQ Tests
    3. Epistemic Oppression
    4. Underrepresentation of BIPOC Populations
      1. Research Participants
      2. Journal Editors and Reviewers
    5. Problems with the Deficit Model
  2. Antiracist and Social Justice Research Frameworks
    1. Participatory Action Research (PAR)
    2. Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)

III. History of Racism in Psychological Science in the U.S.

  1. Eugenics and Scientific Racism
  2. White as the Standard
  3. Exclusion of People of Color

IV. Acculturative Strategies as a Response to Racism

  1. Ethnic and Racial Socialization
  2. Acculturative Strategies and Acculturative Stress

V. Health Psychology and Racism

  1. Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Mental Health Diagnoses
    1. Underdiagnosis, Overdiagnosis, and Misdiagnosis of People of Color
  2. Racial and Ethnic Inequalities in Mental Health Treatment
    1. Influences of Systemic Racism
    2. Therapists’ Racism and Discriminatory Actions

VI. How Racism Impacts Educational Attainment, Career Attainment, and Social Mobility

  1. Educational Attainment
    1. Racism in Educational Contexts
      1. Undergraduate Psychology Programs
      2. Graduate Psychology Programs
    2. Intersectionality and Educational Attainment
  2. Career Attainment of People of Color
    1. STEM Careers, Including Psychology
    2. Intersectionality and Career Attainment
  3. Social Mobility of People of Color

VII. Toward an Antiracist Psychology

  1. Antiracist Education
  2. Antiracist Training for Mental Health Professionals
  3. Antiracist, Liberation Research
  4. Therapeutic Practices
    1. Critical-Liberation Psychotherapy
    2. Anticolonial Psychotherapy
  5. Activism in Psychology
  6. Psychological Interventions to Reduce Racism

Questions? Contact Dr. Ropp