University of Helsinki
The study unit provides students with a nuanced understanding of different perspectives on intergroup inequalities in socially diverse contexts, using both the social identity and social constructionist approach. The unit covers and deepens the understanding of key concepts and issue related to social psychology and inequalities such as social identity theory, intergroup emotions, or collective action. Additionally, the unit also introduces the relevant theories and topics related to political psychology, such as nationalism and intersectionality, which will help the students to broadly interpret and analyze current social and political phenomena.
Upon completion of the study unit, the students will have gained a comprehensive understanding of the social psychological mechanism that create and sustain inequalities and are able to apply these theoretical models to analyse the state and dynamics of social (in)equalities in Finnish and international contexts. Students will also be familiar with central research traditions in social and political psychology to study, for example, the identity negotiations in conflictual contexts, divergent perspectives of minorities and majorities, intersectionality, societal divisions and inequalities, multiculturalism and immigrant integration, collective action and political polarization. They have learned about socio-cognitive and social constructionist theoretical perspectives, and about related quantitative and qualitative methodologies to study intergroup relations, and are able to relate different research traditions to each other. They can also critically evaluate theoretical and empirical literature on intergroup relations, and scientifically motivate and express opinions on the topic.
The students will specifically introduce themselves with recent Finnish and international research on social identities and acculturation, nationalism and the boundaries of national identities, multiple identities and intersectionality, collective action and intergroup helping, intergroup (in)equality in online contexts, and prejudice reduction. This unit utilizes online lectures given by experts, research insight videos and podcasts by eminent researchers, and a diverse array of research articles and other scientific texts on the subject. Coupled with versatile learning tasks, the course materials help students to understand and apply the knowledge gained during this study unit. Along with mastering relevant theoretical concepts and recent empirical examples, the students also learn how to apply research-based knowledge in interventions and actions aimed to challenge intergroup inequalities in different spheres of social life.