General Education Requirement "G" - Global Awareness

General Education Curriculum
As approved by the General Education Committee on 10/27/04

Curriculum Standard

A three credit course in global awareness, from the approved list.

Courses in this category will examine one or both of the following: (a) one (or more) culture(s) of the contemporary world outside the United States of America, exploring history, social practices, art, literature, economics, politics, sciences, religions, professional practices, and/or other aspects of cultural experience; and/or (b) the natural and/or socioeconomic causes and consequences of issues and phenomena that impact human society on a global scale. The Global Awareness requirement is designed to help students better understand the world beyond the United States, and to improve students� knowledge of the global issues that link different peoples and places.

Objectives

Depending upon the focus of the course, students will learn about:

• One (or more) specific cultures and places outside the United States; the terms and practices by which that culture identifies itself; how American experience and practice compares with or relates to that of the focus culture; and what human experiences connect and/or divide American experience and the experience of the focus culture; and/or
• The transnational socioeconomic, ideological, political, and/or physical underpinnings of problems that impact human society on a global scale, and the range of possible social, economic, political, scientific, and technological solutions to them.

Outcome

Depending upon the focus of the course, students will be able to:

• identify the geographies of place associated with the focus culture;
• describe the ways in which the focus culture identifies itself through practices and experiences distinct from those of other cultures and/or times;
• compare the focus culture with American culture, both practically and conceptually;
• understand some of the global concerns that connect world communities, and the nature and causes of different responses to them; and/or
• understand the physical, social, economic, and political causes and consequences of transnational problems, and critically assess political, economic, social, scientific, and technological solutions to these problems.