The current debate on the existence of post-racial America implies that race relations are strongly influenced by political changes and symbolic statements of racial progress. Research on the unique stress that racial politics exacts on the emotional and intellectual well-being of individuals is growing and challenges this debate. It is proposed that the psychological and interpersonal contexts of race relations are better studied as proximal relationship interactions rather than as the processing of macro symbolic events. In this course, we will discuss advantages and disadvantages of managing racial anxiety in academic settings. We will examine the role of critical consciousness in deconstructing racial stereotypes and symbols as well as its implications for the education, social mobility, and mental health of youth. Using situations of racial conflict in popular culture, college life, and family, this course will propose how racial stress is appropriated and resolved in same- and cross-racial relationships.

Dr. Howard Stevenson is Associate Professor and Chair of the Applied Psychology and Human Development Division at the Graduate School of Education. His research interests include African-American psychology, effects of at-risk neighborhoods on youth, family and parental engagement, and racial/ethnic socialization and negotiation. His research and consultation work identify cultural strengths that exist within families and seeks to integrate those strengths into interventions to improve the psychological adjustment of children and adolescents and families. From 1998 to 2003, Dr. Stevenson directed two National Institute of Mental Health research projects: PLAAY (Preventing Long-term Anger and Aggression in Youth) and Success of African American Students (SAAS). Currently, he is conducting a classroom-based racial negotiation skills-building intervention for teachers and students, the goal of which is to reduce negative stress-related reactions in cross-racial student-teacher relationships. This project is called Can We Talk? (CWT). Dr. Stevenson has been the recipient of the W. T. Grant Foundation's Faculty Scholar Award, a national research award given to only five researchers per year. He has also been a Presidential Fellow at the Salzburg Seminar in American Studies, and has served on a 12-member academic panel to consult on the development of a National Strategic Action Plan for African-American Males, sponsored by the National Drug Control Policy Office in the Office of the President. Dr. Stevenson's work has appeared in Handbook of African American Psychology, Journal of Child and Family Studies, Developmental Psychology, Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Journal, Review of Research in Education, and Journal of Negro Education.