This model involves an inter-regional educational cooperative effort between institutions of higher education in the northeast and the southwest. Plymouth State College (PSC), Located in Plymouth, New Hampshire, is the parent institution for the northeast drawing students from PSC, the University of New Hampshire, Keene State College, Saint Anselm College and the New Hampshire Tech System. These students tend to represent the racial and ethnic composition of the region – mainly Caucasians of English/Irish/Scottish or French Canadian backgrounds. The WNMU participants are also representative of their region that is comprised of Mexican-Americans, American Indians, Mexicans and Anglo Americans (local non-Hispanic Caucasian population).

The project shares a parallel development between PSC and WNMU. In January 1990, WNMU initiated the "Hands-Across-The-Border" Project with the Mexican school, across the border in Chihuahua, Mexico, forging an international educational effort whose mandate included primary, secondary, post-secondary education, and mental health service needs. Similarly, efforts were being made to better liaison with the American Indian communities in the southwest, notably those reservations whose students attended WNMU (Navajo and Pueblo groups). In New Hampshire, Scott Meyer was developing his "Comparative Social Services" curriculum that was designed to provide a southwestern experiential field experience for the northeastern students. This joint effort between PSC and WNMU has led to three annual shared excursions involving northeastern and southwestern students groups. (Each campus offers a related, but independent, course for their respective students, However, the intense week-long field interactive component is a common element of both courses regardless of which campus the students takes the course).

The overall instructional focus of the model is twofold: First, and foremost, it is designed to address the nature of group differences, Cross-cultural empathy and tolerance (Axelson, 1993; Atkinson, Morten & Sue, 1993; Lee, 1995; Pincus & Ehrlich, 1994; Moghaddam, Taylor & Wright, 1993; Vargas & Koss-Chioino, 1992). Toward this end an understanding of the process of group cohesiveness, stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination provides the foundations for an understanding of diversity. (A glossary of terms is attached). Indeed, an understanding of these processes as they relate to diversity is a prerequisite for the other focus of the model – an exploration of the cultural-specific social needs of Mexicans, Mexican-Americans and American Indians within the southwest (Brehmn & Kassin, 1993; Sabini, 1995). Four objectives are associated with the course:

1. A discussion of the similarities and differences between the service delivery systems of the cultures studied (Mexican, Mexican-American, Navajo and Pueblo Indians) vis-à-vis that of the dominant U.S. Culture; and
2. An understanding of some of the historical, economic, political and socio-cultural factors which shape the differences between cultures is explore.
3. The course is designed to enable students to understand how differences in delivery systems influence health, education and social service out comes; and
4. Understand how cultural relativism produces variation in approaches to the delivery systems studied.

Principles of Cooperative learning and Cooperative Education, as they apply to cultural diversity, are integrated into the course by the instructors (Dr. Meyer at PSC and Dr. French at WNMU).

Geopolitical and cultural comparisons are drawn between northern New England and the southwest. While the southwestern states border Mexico, New England borders on Quebec (French Canadians). Like their Hispanic counterparts in the southwest, French Canadians/Franco Americans have a language, culture, and social service delivery system which departs markedly from that of the dominant U.S. society. Moreover, New England and its Canadian neighbors house American Indian Reservations (called "Reserves" in Canada). These regional similarities are noted in the course serving to raise the students’ awareness of the cultural diversity in New England/ Quebec as well as that of the southwest/Mexico. Indeed, our model shares elements with the one developed by Stanley Freeman, Jr. and Raymond Pelletier, at the University of Maine-Orono, for their Franco-American studies program (funded through National Endowment for the Humanities Grant #ES-3109-78-1272). Here, works by French Canadians in the area of history, culture, literature, health and social issues are provided as a major component of the study of French Canadian/Franco-American cultural diversity within both Canada and the U.S. (French, 1981). We use this component in our model with the focus on Mexican/Mexican Americans and southwestern Indian tribes. Both regions have also witnessed a long history of discrimination at the hands of the dominant society. This is a critical component of our model since it impacts not only on the mental and physical health of the minority members but on the quality of social services delivery.

New Mexico is an ideal classroom for multicultural studies. The state has the highest proportion of Hispanics in the U.S. (39%) and a rich and extensive history. New Mexico also has a substantial American Indian population with 19 Peublos, 2 Apache Reservations and three components of the Navajo Nation. American Indians comprise 9 percent of the state’s population. This number does not account for the thousands of Arizona Navajos who frequent the border towns of Gallop and Farmington as well as the schools in the northwestern portion of New Mexico. Another unique characteristic of New Mexico’s minority cultural groups is their stability. Both the Hispanics (Mexican-Americans) and American Indian groups had a long history predating U.S. involvement in this region. This stability has contributed to the maintenance of cultural traditions (Bailey & Bailey, 1986; French, 1994; James, 1974; Moses & Wilson, 1993). The Hispanic cultural influence extends back to the 1500s with the Spanish/Catholicism influence. The interactions between the Spanish and the indigenous Native Americans and the resulting reciprocal sharing of cultural ways led to a distinctive "Mexican" culture. Today, despite a free and open border between New Mexico and Chihuahua, the Mexican and Hispanic (Mexican American) populations are sufficiently different as to warrant separate cultural entities. Thus, along the border we have a bilingual, tri-cultural situation. Further north, along the eastern Arizona and Western New Mexico border, we have Hispanics (Mexican Americans), Pueblo Indians and Navajo in addition to the local "Anglos" (non-Hispanic Caucasians) presenting multiple languages and cultures – factors that need to be addressed within any viable social services delivery system. In the clinical realm, many of the aboriginal folk Indian ways were adopted by the Spanish and Mexicans and are still widely used by all southwestern groups. These are know as the Mestizo’s ways within the Mexican/Mexican American groups. The herbal healing and spiritual rites of the Mestizo’s Ways are performed by a Curanderismo – an Indian, or mixed Indian/Hispanic healer using a mix of traditional Native American and Early Mexican folk cures. An understanding of the Mestizo’s Ways provides insight into the unique epistemolodological epistemology shared by border Mexicans/Mexican Americans and southwestern Native Americans (French, 1997).

Another benefit of this program is the student’s opportunity to interact with members of the southwestern tribes, notably the Navajo and Zuni (largest Pueblo group in New Mexico). The Navajo tribe represents the largest American Indian group in the U.S. with an enrollment of 225,000. The Navajo Nation encompasses nearly 15 million acres and is located in three states: northwestern New Mexico, northeastern Arizona and southeastern Utah. The Navajo best reflect the administration of the complex set of federal social services as outlined by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Indian Health Services (HIS). The current (1993) Indian Health Manual consists of 87 pages (Chapter 14) defining the federal government’s role administering mental health programs within Indian country. Another 47 pages outline the role of social work services (Chapter 8) in Indian country. Among the Navajo these services need to be balanced with the Navajo’s unique Beauty Way philosophy which stresses harmony in all life situations (Lincoln, 1993).

The study of cultural components of human diversity has increasingly become a focal point for curriculum development in higher education. Our program provides participants with a comprehensive review of the structure and process of a collaborative learning venture between Plymouth State College in Plymouth, New Hampshire and Western New Mexico University in Silver City and Gallup, New Mexico.

Students typically study human diversity through the use of literature, video and classroom discussion. Unfortunately, due to resource constraints, students usually do not have the opportunities to have experiential learning as a component of their study of other cultures. This model suggests an intensive alternative semester experience can create a cost efficient and cost effective approach for providing students with hands on experience in their learning about human diversity.

A central theme in the course is the issue of forces of oppression which have operated historically to systematically disempower and discriminate against members of these cultures. Through direct interaction with each other, students from different parts of out country synergistically learn about how different patterns of socialization impact values and belief systems which influence peoples’ ability to understand and respect other cultures.

The perspectives of history, economics, politics, anthropology, sociology, psychology and social work are integrated in the examination of these cultures to offer students a systemic analysis and framework for understanding how and why social patterns which create and perpetuate social problems for Native Americans and Mexican Americans exist. Problems such as poverty, fetal alcohol syndrome, domestic violence and substance abuse are examined.

Students work in small groups and are engaged in a variety of learning experiences. These experiences include touring local social service, health, and education facilities touring local business and industry sites, receiving lectures from faculty, social workers, psychologists and a curandera, videos, small group observations of the community, visits to reservations, touring ancient dwellings and historical sites, museum tours, as well as reading and writing assignments.

Faculty from the course describe how a systematic approach of understanding the effects of history, social structure and function and social institutions serves to create a heightened awareness of the nature of social problems encountered by Native Americans and Mexican Americans. Participants learn how a cooperative learning model can promote enhanced student participation and increase student knowledge, values, and skill bases regarding the provision of social services to Native Americans and Mexican Americans.

Our instructional format is innovative in that it offers eight to ten days of intense multicultural intergroup interaction between WNMU and New Hampshire students during the winter semester break. Students are provided with a list of reading (books and articles) and are required to maintain a journal of their experience as well as a portfolio of material they receive from tribal offices, U.S./state/local agencies, and Mexican and U.S. schools. A comprehensive research paper is due at the completion of the spring semester.

Given the intensive nature of the learning experience, the role of the instructor is uniquely different from the typical classroom experience. First is the fact that the nature of the student/teacher relationship is changed. The instructor becomes a part of the group and is a colleague in the learning process as well as remaining in a leadership role at times as indicated. The instructor travels, eats and lives in the same places as the students. The need for the instructor to be a role model is crucial in showing respect for different cultures while actively learning about them.

The instructor needs to make expectations for student behaviors exceedingly clear. The group represents the home campus, state and region. Therefore expectations about courtesy, respect, and conformance to norms and laws must be reiterated. Our experience regarding difficulty with student judgment regarding the use of illegal substances has resulted in student course application including a signed student agreement not to use illegal substances and if found using such the student realizes it may result in a failing grade for the course. The addition of the student agreement appears to have eliminated such problems. It is more than an image issue alone. When crossing the border into Mexico, students with illegal substances or traces of such detectable by canine patrols could result in student imprisonment in a foreign country.

A crucial part of the critique of the model is regarding boundaries between students and the faculty member. Given the close and ongoing nature of the relationship in this unique course, the instructor must be vigilant in assuring that boundaries between students and him/herself are clear. They need to be more semi-permeable than usual to afford appropriate synergistic cooperative learning to occur. However, the need to remain as an effective group leader must be kept in mind in order to assure a safe and positive learning experience.

Future evaluations of the efficacy of this course will involve pre-test/post-test design models to assess baseline and any changes in student attitudes and knowledge about the cultures studied. Standard course evaluation should also be performed to assess the level of student satisfaction with readings, assignments, etc.

The feedback received to date from course evaluations suggests that a reading packet is appropriate and a journal is a useful learning tool. Areas for suggested improvements included assurance of increased free time for students during the intensive course in New Mexico and increased time in Indian country (reservations and pueblos).

We recommend a course cap of 15 per campus. Given that the model ideally would match that number with the same amount of students at the host campus, this makes for a reasonable class size for two instructors. For small group exercises, it is optimal to use dyads matching students from each campus with a student companion from the other campus.

In summary, the course after being offered seven times, appears to be an effective model for cooperative learning. Through providing an intensive experience, a tremendous amount of learning takes place cost efficiently for faculty to gain insight into other teaching styles and affords students different perspectives on learning about the cultures being studied. It is a model that empowers students in the learning process and allows them to connect theory to real life situations through cultural immersion.

Atkinson, D.R., Morten, G., & Sue, D.W. (1993). Counseling American Minorities(Fourth Edition). Madison, WI: WCB Brown & Benchmark

Axelson, J.A. (1993). Counseling and Development in a Multicultural Society.Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole

Bailey, G., & Bailey, R.G (1986). A History of the Navajos. Sante Fe, NM: School of American Research Press.

Brehm, S.S., & Kassin, S.M. (1993). Social Psychology. Boston, MA: HoughtonMifflin Company.

French, L.A. (1981). The Franco American Working Class Family (Cpt.14), EthnicFamilies in America (Mindel & Habenstein, Eds). New York, NY: Elsevier

French, L.A. (1994). The Winds of Injustice. New York, NY: Garland.

French, L.A. (1997). Counseling American Indians. Lanham, MS: University Press of America.

James, H.C. (1974). Pages from Hopi History. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press

HIS (1993). Indian Health Manual. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office(HIS, TN 07-19-93).

Lee, C.L. (1995). Counseling for Diversity. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Moghaddam, F.M., Taylor, D.M., & Wright, S.C. (1993). Social Psychology in Cross Cultural Perspective. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman & Company.

Moses, L.G., & Wilson, R. (1993). Indian Lives. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press

Pincus, F. L., & Ehrlich, H.J. (1994). Race and Ethnic Conflict. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Sabini, J. (1995). Social Psychology (Second Edition). New York, NY: W.W. Norton.

Vargas, L.A, & Koss-Chioino, J.D. (1992). Working with Culture. San Francisco, CA:Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Attribution Bias: The tendency to underestimate the impact of situational factors (external factors) versus personal (internal factors) factors regarding our versus others’ success or failure. That is, a common error is to disproportionately attribute external factors to our failures and to others (especially out-groups) successes and to disproportionately attribute internal factors to our successes and others’ failures.

Authoritarian personality: A personality that results from a passionate attraction to the satus quo and the authority that is seen as maintaining it, along with a strong desire to punish those who are seen to threaten it.

Apache: Athapaskan linguistic group of American Indians who settle in the southwest U. S. and northern Mexico. They are related to the Navajo and Athapaskan Indians of Alaska. Their major reservations are located in eastern Arizona and New Mexico.

Buffalo Soldiers: African American soldiers sent west to fight the Indians following the Civil War up until the late 1800s. This is the name given these soldiers by the Apache and other Indian groups.

Cohesiveness: The state of being a close-knit group as defined by the sum of attractions of a group to its members.

Cultural account: An explanation of stereotype development that argues that stereotypes are a consequence of the specific way cultures structure interactions between in-goups and out-groups.

Cultural relativism: The Belief that all cultural systems and moral codes are equally valid.

Deindividuation: A state that exists when one is treated anonymously, as part of group

rather than as an individual. Aggression is disinhibited in a state of deindividuation.

Discrimination: Behavior that unfairly penalizes someone for being a member of a particular group (regardless of the cause of the behavior).

Ethnocentrism: Prejudice in favor of one’s own group or socialization vis-a-vis others.

Group polarization: The observation that groups often adopt positions more extreme than the mean of their members’ views. This process precedes "risky shift" behavior.

Harmony ethos: Traditional belief system of American Indians and Alaskan Natives based on group cooperation and harmony between humans land nature (Father Sky, Mother Earth, the Four Directions….).

Hispanics: The common term for ethnic Spanish groups Spanish groups in the southwestern U.S. (aka as Mexican Americans, Latinos/latinas).

In-group cohesion/Out-group hostility: The tendency of a social group (subculture,

society, culture) to depersonalize another group (out-group), using negative stereotypes, in order to solidify groups cohesion at the expense of the targeted out-group. Often this negative stereotyping process is reciprocal between two groups.

Mexicans: Natives of the country Mexico.

Mexican Americans: Specific term of ethnic Spanish groups in the southwest U.S. (akaas Hispanics, Latinos/Latinas).

Navajo: Athapaskan linguistic group of American Indians who represent the largest U.S. tribe who reside on the largest reservation located in parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. They are related to the Apache and Athapaskan Indians of Alaska.

Protestant ethic: The western belief system that places emphasis on competition and individual culpability.

Pueblo Indian Tribes: Oldest tribes in the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico comprised of 19 separate groups in New Mexico and the Hopi in Arizona.The pueblo Indian groups have long interacted with the Navajo and Apache tribes.

Risky shift: The observation that groups often adopt a riskier position than they would if acting as individual members.

Stereotype: Beliefs that associate groups of people with certain traits. Term coined in the 1920s by Walter Lippmann. Often the out-group is identified by negative traits.

Tolerance: Willingness to tolerate the beliefs of those different from us.

Many terms in Social Psychology texts by Brehm & kassin, 1993; Sabini, 1995).