G. Kwame Scruggs: Mythological Studies (2000)

G. Kwame Scruggs (2000) is the Founder and Executive Director of Alchemy, Inc., a non-profit organization in Akron, Ohio created to assist urban male youth achieve personal and social growth through a support group curriculum utilizing mythological stories and fairy tales within a Jungian Depth Psychological perspective.

Since his initiation in the Akan System of Development (Rites of Passage) in 1993, Kwame has employed mythological storytelling, drumming, journaling, peer discussion, academic tutoring, and concepts of Rites of Passage as a means of helping urban youth participate in a healing and growth process that teaches them how to address past, present, and future wounds in a way that enables them to function more confidently in community life.

Kwame holds a M.A. in Mythological Studies (2000)with a degree specialization in Jungian Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute where he is currently working on his dissertation for a Ph.D. designed to determine the positive effects a mythological studies based curriculum has on the social, psychological and academic development of African American urban adolescent youth. He also holds a M.S. in Technical Education (with comprehensive coursework in Community Counseling) at The University of Akron and actively participates in continuing education through the CG Jung Center of Analytical Psychology of New York and the CG Jung Educational Center of Cleveland.

In addition to several years employment facilitating support groups within the Akron Public Schools and working with at-risk youth in Akron, Cleveland, and throughout Northeastern Ohio, Kwame spent five years as a Staff Counselor at the University of Akron helping students transition from high school to college, conducted parent and student workshops, and taught Mythological Studies and Knowledge of Self to seventh and eleventh grade students. Kwame lectures extensively at local, state, and national conferences regarding his mythological storytelling and Jungian perspective on youth development.