Description
This course introduces cross-cultural, traditional, and psycho-spiritual views on human growth and development, wellness and illness, healing and belief, the ritual process, the roles of healers, altered states of consciousness, and comparative models of self-realization. Drawing from a wide range of cultures and perspectives, the course emphasizes the internal coherence of these views and how individuals experience and use them in their own lives and settings. Given recent trends in diversity and cross-cultural encounters, it has become critical to understand the views of those who embrace radically different ideas about the world we all share. Special emphasis is given to the practical implications of this understanding in a variety of human service, educational, and therapeutic settings.