Cultural Diversity Requirement

The Cultural Diversity requirement was created as one component of the Critical Inquiries portion of the new curriculum. Courses meeting the Cultural Diversity Requirement are intended to help students develop a comprehensive understanding of human diversity by a focus on cultures, roles and experiences of peoples who have historically been underrepresented in the curriculum, and/or on analysis of the construction of social identity and social difference. Students are required to take two courses to complete this requirement, one from each of these two categories.

• Non-Western courses. These courses contain a principal focus on people whose practices and beliefs have been shaped in significant ways by an historical tradition separate from that of Western Europe
  
• Domestic/conceptual courses. These courses contain a principal focus on dimensions of diversity within the U.S. context or dimensions of diversity in a conceptual or comparative context

Instructors seeking designation of their courses as meeting the Cultural Diversity requirement should indicate to APPC whether the course is intended to meet the non-Western requirement or the domestic/conceptual requirement, or both. For example, a course on gender in Japan might meet both requirements; a course on gender in the U.S. would meet only the domestic/conceptual requirement. Courses that satisfy the Multiple Inquiries requirement may also satisfy the Cultural Diversity requirement.

Non-Western courses:

 APPC requests that an instructor wishing to propose a new course to meet the non-Western requirement fill out the APPC course proposal form and add the following information:

1) identify the peoples serving as the principal focus of the course and identify the course's central categories of analysis or criticism;

2) provide explicit learning goals for students with respect to the non-Western content of the course;

3) identify activities and assignments designed to achieve these learning goals.

If this is an existing course, please provide a course outline as well as the information in 1-3 above.
 
Domestic/conceptual courses:

For courses proposed to meet the domestic/conceptual requirement, APPC requests that instructors provide the following information to help the committee determine whether the course will meet the requirement. For new courses, this information should be added to the course proposal form: 

1) identify the dimensions of diversity (e.g., race, ethnicity, etc.) that serve as principal foci for the course and as the course's central categories of analysis or criticism;

2) provide explicit learning goals for students with respect to the understanding and analysis of relevant dimensions of diversity;

3) identify activities and assignments designed to achieve those learning goals.

If this is an existing course, please provide a course outline as well as the information in 1-3 above.

Please submit your proposal electronically to the Registrar at registrar@gettysburg.edu

Originally posted 26 March 2004. Modified 2 February 2005. Modified 18 April 2007.

JMW/lkm
8/28/07