Multicultural Studies - Domestic (MCD)

Revised requirement

Adopted May 2007; effective date September 2008

Description:

Multicultural Studies: Two courses, each from a different department or program, one with a domestic focus and one with a global focus.

A. Multicultural Studies-Domestic (MCD)

Guidelines for courses:

  1. The course must focus explicitly on the beliefs, history, social experiences, artistic or literary expressions, and/or traditions of one or more groups in the United States considered to have experiences and/or a culture substantially different from those of its dominant groups.

  2. The course must engage students in the use of tools of inquiry considered appropriate within the disciplinary or interdisciplinary focus of the course.

  3. The course must engage students in reflection on their place in a complex and diverse United States.

Intended learning outcomes for students:

    Students will demonstrate:

  1. deep, contextualized knowledge about at least one non-dominant culture within the United States.

  2. the ability to use concepts and tools of inquiry from at least one discipline to analyze issues related to the diversity of cultural experience in the United States.

  3. the ability to reflect critically on their own cultural experience and the diverse cultural experience of others as well as on their understanding of themselves in relation to others.

Multicultural Studies–Domestic requirement complete description – includes committee comments on course guidelines to assist instructors in preparing proposals for GE accreditation

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Current requirement
Description:

Multicultural Studies: The requirement consists of two parts: one course and one component, intended to develop understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity. The course develops understanding of cultures outside the western tradition. The component develops understanding of cultural diversity within U.S. society, with a focus on race, ethnicity or gender.

B. Domestic Component (MCS-D):

Guidelines for courses:

  1. The Multicultural Studies component focuses on the diversity of culture and experience in U.S. society which grows out of racial, gender, or ethnic differences. Such diversity is best illustrated by components which explore the way in which the group(s) considered have an experience and culture which are substantially different from that of the dominant groups in U.S. society.

  2. The component explores social experiences and cultural traditions, represented in patterned systems of belief, behavior, and expression. Such patterns may be expressed broadly in world views, values, social institutions, notions of time and space, customs, and gestures.

  3. The component must be an integrated, recurrent, substantial part of the course.

Intended learning outcomes for students:

The current version of this requirement does not include a statement of intended learning outcomes.

Multicultural Studies requirement complete description - includes committee comments on course guidelines to assist instructors in preparing proposals for GE accreditation