MB529/629: Intercultural Attachment: Building Relationships Across Cultures (4 units)

Evelyne A. Reisacher, Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies and Intercultural Relations
Spring 2007 Pasadena

DESCRIPTION:

This course explores the dynamics involved when people from different cultures interact with one another, the changes they undergo and what facilitates and hinders attachment. Attention is given to nonverbal communication at levels beneath awareness, the importance of connecting emotionally as well as intellectually across cultures, and how interactively to regulate emotions to facilitate healthy attachment. Part of the course draws on the latest developments of attachment theory and uses Allan N. Schore’s developmental attachment theory as a framework to investigate intercultural attachment. It is designed for students with no previous psychological or neurobiological training to improve their understanding and skills in relating with people from other cultures.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

• Identifies theoretical and methodological horizons of intercultural interactions.
• Describes the theory of attachment and its importance for analyzing intercultural relationships.
• Names the principles of Schore’s developmental attachment theory as they are integrated into intercultural studies.
• Integrates conceptual tools and skills that will enhance one’s own intercultural attachment.

• Analyses attachment behaviors across cultures.

COURSE FORMAT:

This course meets twice a week for ten weeks. The course will be developed through lectures, audio-visual presentations, and class interactions. Students will have the opportunity to reflect on their own intercultural attachment experiences and engage in exercises and group work to apply attachment principles.

REQUIRED READING: If you have previously read any of the required texts, please select an alternative text from the recommended reading list or a book approved by the instructor.

Bretherton, Inge. “The Origin of Attachment Theory: John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth." Developmental Psychology 28:759-775, 1992 (article).
Brewster Thomas E., and Elizabeth S. Brewster. Bonding and the Missionary Task: Establishing a Sense of Belonging. Pasadena, CA: Lingua House, 1982.
Clinton, Tim, and Gary Sibcy Attachments: Why You Love, Feel and Act the Way You Do. Brentwood, TN: Integrity Pub., 2002.
Elmer, Duane H. Cross-Cultural Connections: Stepping Out and Fitting In Around the World. Downer Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Kitayama, Shinobu, and Hazel Rose Markus. Emotion and Culture: Empirical Studies of Mutual Influence. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, 1997.
Schore. Allan N. “Attachment and the Regulation of the Right Brain.” Attachment and Human Development 2 (1). 23-47, 2000 (article).

RECOMMENDED READING:

Finnegan, Ruth. Communicating: The Multiple Modes of Human Interconnection. New York: Routledge, 2002.
Harwood, Robin L., Joan G. Miller, and Nydia Lucca Irizarry. Culture and Attachment: Perceptions of the Child in Context. New York: The Guilford Press: 1995.
Lingenfelter, Sherwood G. and Marvin K. Mayers. Ministering Cross-Culturally: An Incarnational Model for Personal Relationships. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1996.
Reisacher, Evelyne Annick “The Processes of Attachment Between the Algerians and French within the Christian Community in France.” Ph. D. Dissertation. Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA: 1991.
Schore, Allan, N. Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self: The Neurobiology of Emotional Development. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: 1994.
Van Ijzendoorn, Marinus H., and Abraham Sagi. “Cross-Cultural Patterns of Attachment: Universal and Contextual Dimensions.” In Handbook of Attachment. Jude Cassidy and Phillip R. Shaver, eds. Pp. 713-734. New York: The Guilford Press, 1999.

ASSIGNMENTS:

• The student is required to read 1,500 pages from the required and recommended reading lists and write interaction papers, each 300 words long, on four books of the required reading list (15% of grade).

• Class attendance and participation (15% of grade).
• Interview with three persons from a cultural background different from student’s own and reflection on attachment issues (15 % of grade).
• 15 minute group presentation on intercultural attachment issues (15% of grace).
• A 2500 (10 page) word paper integrating emotion based attachment and personal living or working context (40% of grade).
• Th.M. Students will add 1,000 words to the integration paper.

PREREQUISITES: None.

RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM: Meets core competency requirement for MACCS degree.

FINAL EXAM: No written examination.

Last Date Edited: December 20, 2006