Fred Bemak, a professor emeritus at George Mason University, recently talked about the lessons he learned during a career of applied cross-cultural research.
According to his bio, Bemak is the Executive Director and founder of Counselors Without Borders and has taken teams to provide national and global training, consultation and counseling.
Speaking in New Zealand at the Victoria University of Wellington, Bemak shared several lessons, according to a tweet thread posted by the university’s Centre for Applied Cross-cultural Research:
- The foundation of applied cross-cultural research is “social justice, human rights and social change.”
- “Advocacy skills” need to be developed “to promote changes in policy and practice based on cross-cultural research findings.”
- When presenting findings to policymakers, it’s “essential” to “think both psychologically and politically.”
- Figuring out how to “speak politically” helps to bring about social justice and change.
- Research needs to evolve “from a framework of both publishing and purpose.”
And finally:
- “As applied cross-cultural researchers it is important to be cultural learners.”
Check out the tweet thread here.
Before George Mason University, Bemak worked as a professor and section head for counselor education, school psychology and rehabilitation services at Ohio State University and is also a former associate professor and chair of the counseling and human services program at Johns Hopkins University.
(Featured image credit: Centre for Applied Cross-Cultural Research)
