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Requirement
At least one course in a student's program must be designated as being especially attentive to Western culture(s) or other cultural differences among people.
Definition
The scope of human endeavor encompasses a wide range of responses to a shared set of universal challenges. The responses of Western civilization exist alongside (and in interaction with) the traditions and institutions of myriad other cultures. A liberal arts education must provide an appreciation of the foundations of Western cultural heritage. Courses fulfilling this requirement will enable students to begin developing a critical understanding of the Western world.
Learning Objectives
Students should meet two or more of the following objectives:
- Learn about Western cultures, civilizations, traditions and worldviews.
- Critically study historical, social, political, economic, religious, philosophical, literary, artistic or scientific dimensions of Western cultural heritage.
- Develop an understanding of the range and variety of human experience within Western cultural heritage.
- Study the ways in which global and international structures and processes shape Western life.
Criteria
Courses taught in fulfillment of the Western requirement will address as their primary topic one or more of the following:
- A country or geographic region, whose primary cultural heritage is from the prevailing cultures of Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand.
- Displaced, migrant, or transnational populations whose primary cultural heritage is substantially European, as long as the focus is on their cultural resiliency and on maintaining ties to their Western countries of origin.
- Include historical, social, political, economic, religious, philosophical, literary, artistic or scientific dimensions of Western cultural heritage