Editing Avatar Course (section)

=== Controversy over credentials ===
From a 1991 issue of the ''Avatar Journal'', company literature and associated websites started portraying Harry Palmer (born April 3, 1944) as an Educational Psychologist, including claims that he received a master's in educational psychology from [[Elmira College]] (or alternatively that he  majored in [[Educational Psychology]]). In his book ''Living Deliberately'', Palmer claims to have majored in Educational Psychology as part of the Triplum Program at [[Ithaca College]]. In fact, he received a Bachelor of Arts in English from [[Ithaca College]] in 1969 and a master's in education from [[Elmira College]] in 1971, and gained certification to teach English in secondary schools. Neither Ithaca College nor Elmira College ever offered a major or minor course of study in Educational Psychology; and Educational Psychology never formed part of the Ithaca Plan (Triplum Program).<ref name="Triplum">{{cite web
|url= http://www.xs4all.nl/~jeta/avatar/avatar-academic-title-lie-palmer.html
|title= Is Avatar a (psycho) cult?
|accessdate= 2008-09-02
|date= August 1, 2007
|work= www.AvatarCult.Info
|quote= "To the best of our knowledge, Educational Psychology was not offered as a major or minor, in the graduate or undergraduate level." Registrar Elmira College 02-03-2007 [...] "Ithaca College's Dept. of Education did not offer a major or minor; rather it taught the courses needed for secondary school teacher certification for Biology, Chemistry, English, Math, Languages (French, German, Spanish), Music Ed, Speech Correction & Physical Education (Phys. Ed. also did elementary-level methods classes)." Ithaca College Library / College Archives 14-05-2007
| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080915151007/http://www.xs4all.nl/~jeta/avatar/avatar-academic-title-lie-palmer.html| archivedate= 15 September 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>

The [[Florida Department of Health]] investigated the academic credentials of Harry Palmer in 2005/2006. The Department found that he used the term "psychologist" illegally and made him sign a [[Cease and desist|cease-and-desist]] agreement.<ref>Photocopies of court documents and links to proof of claims appear at:
{{cite web
|url= http://www.xs4all.nl/~jeta/avatar/avatar-academic-title-lie-palmer.html
|title= Is Avatar a (psycho) cult?
|accessdate= 2008-09-02
|date= August 1, 2007
|work= www.AvatarCult.Info
| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20080915151007/http://www.xs4all.nl/~jeta/avatar/avatar-academic-title-lie-palmer.html| archivedate= 15 September 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>

The biography on Palmer's website {{As of | 2008 | alt = at this time}} calls him a "lifelong educator" though he was only a teacher between 1969 and 1972, which is consistent with previous biographies published by his company.<ref>http://aboutharrypalmer.com/bio.html, Archived: https://www.webcitation.org/5oACkzESp?url= {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114020731/https://www.webcitation.org/5oACkzESp?url= |date=November 14, 2023 }}</ref>