Center for Cross-Cultural Research
Established in the Winter of 1994 by Dr. Eric Kohatsu, the Center for Cross-cultural Research focuses broadly on racial identity, racism, prejudice and stereotyping, minority mental health, and Asian American and Latino psychological issues. Dr. Kohatsu has consistently conducted research on racial identity issues, racial prejudice and stereotyping, and the psychological impact of racism. Both quantitative and qualitative methods have been employed in the research conducted at the Center. The second major objective for the Center for Cross-cultural Research is to provide opportunities for minority students to receive the necessary mentoring and support to maximize their potentials as future professional psychologists and as individuals committed to social change/social justice issues.Recent projects include examining anti-Asian prejudice and negative personal experiences with Asians among People of Color using racial identity and color-blindness models as the overarching framework. Two different models of anti-Asian prejudice have been used in these recent series of empirical studies. Other projects have involved examining how racial identity relates to color-blind racial attitudes across racial groups, such as Latinos, Asians, and Blacks, and utilizing racial identity to account for behavioral, attitudinal, and affective components of interracial contact with Asians among different socioracial groups.
In the last sixteen and one-half years, undergraduate and graduate students working with Dr. Kohatsu have co–presented papers, workshops, and posters at national/regional/international conferences, including the American Psychological Association, Western Psychological Association, and the Hawaii International Social Science. For example, from 2000-2010, more than 37 papers, posters, and workshops have been presented with students at these professional conferences. Hence, an integral component of the work done at the Center for Cross-cultural Research is to not only mentor students on a long-term basis, but provide consistent opportunities to present research at recognized professional venues.
As evidence of his dedication to mentoring, Dr. Kohatsu’s students have entered doctoral programs in counseling, clinical, school, and social psychology programs; medicine, law, education, and information studies. The range of highly competitive and highly-regarded programs that Dr. Kohatsu’s students have been admitted to include Columbia University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Southern California, University of California, Los Angeles, Arizona State University, Claremont Graduate School, University of Maryland, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and University of California, Davis. As an example---from 2000 - 2010 more than 36 students who were mentored by Dr. Kohatsu have gained admittance into doctoral programs.
From 2004 onward, several students who worked in Dr. Kohatsu’s research lab have received scholarships from the Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) program funded by NIH. As of the Spring quarter of 2010, Dr. Kohatsu has mentored five students through this scholarship program. All five students have gone on to advanced graduate programs and one student recently completed his doctorate in Counseling Psychology. In addition to mentoring MBRS students, three students in the Center for Cross-cultural Research have received the Sally Casanova pre-doctoral scholarship award. Lastly, two of Dr. Kohatsu’s students have also received the very prestigious fellowship from the Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) of the American Psychological Association.
In light of the consistently high standards upheld in training students and in the active research program established, it is anticipated that the Center for Cross-cultural research will continue to flourish. There is no other programmatic research on the west coast dedicated to the examination of racial identity and its counseling applications with the goal of helping professionals better understand the psychosocial functioning of, for example, Asians and Latinos, in different socicultural contexts. Similarly, the Center for Cross-cultural research will also continue to serve a unique function by conducting outreach to the surrounding communities.
Students interested in obtaining invaluable experience in preparation for doctoral studies and a career in psychology should contact Dr. Kohatsu at drccpsy@aol.com or ekohats@calstatela.edu.
Current students in the Center for Cross-cultural Research are as follows: