Shared Futures

Marquette University

Introduction:  Marquette University Core of Common Studies

In 2002 Marquette, a Jesuit, Catholic university with over 7,000 undergraduate students, set in place a fundamentally revised University Core of Common Studies (UCCS) to be completed by all undergraduates.  Consisting of 36 semester hours in 9 knowledge areas, the UCCS reflects the Marquette and Jesuit educational missions of preparing the “whole person” for service to others, with a third of the courses taken in theology and philosophy.

The nine knowledge areas are:

• rhetoric (6 credits)
• mathematical reasoning (3 credits)
• theology (6 credits)
• human nature and ethics (6 credits)
• science and nature (3 credits)
• individual and social behavior (3 credits)
• literature and performing arts (3 credits)
• diverse cultures (3 credits)
• histories of cultures and societies (3 credits) 

In most areas students can choose from among different courses carefully selected by the faculty to meet the criteria of the Core.  There are currently 136 Core Courses contributed from 7 colleges. 

Goals for Core Reform for Global Learning             

We believe that the overarching theme of Global Learning will galvanize Marquette’s next phase of general education reform.  Our primary reform goals are:

• to interconnect general education courses so that students will experience interdisciplinary approaches to learning and problem solving 
• to fully integrate our general education curriculum into our mission, especially by connecting it to our currently strong diversity, service-learning, and justice education initiatives
• to address these goals by creating structures for faculty to acquire expertise across disciplines, collaborate on shared global content across disciplines, and develop interdisciplinary collaborative opportunities for students

Tasks

Our shared futures project will focus on faculty development and curricular development to attain these goals.  Collaborating with the MU Center for Teaching and Learning, the project leaders will establish interdisciplinary learning communities of faculty already engaged in scholarship on and/or teaching about  related global issues, including such core disciplines as mathematics, literature, nursing, business, and physics, as well as those seeking a presence in general education, such as engineering, that are highly relevant to addressing global issues but have not been adequately integrated into overarching general education goals.

At present, a number of Marquette’s general education courses in various disciplines entail justice education (e.g., in theology, literature, political science, criminology, philosophy, history).  Others concern cross-cultural ethics (e.g., in philosophy, health sciences, nursing, theology, literature, psychology).  Still others involve vocational discernment and service learning.  Yet it is rare that faculty from one discipline—let alone, college— are aware of general education courses addressing the same themes and problems as their courses from another disciplinary perspective.  The project plan is to interconnect the students’ experiences of these diverse courses on related issues first by interconnecting the faculty leading them

We propose to form faculty learning communities centered on global learning themes drawn from this list:   1) Catholicism as a global force; 2) universal human rights and local cultures;  3) sustainable development; 4) supporting peace; 5) wealth and values; 6) how cultures use history; 7)global technologies of knowledge.  The project is broken into two years with the following activities.

Timetable for Tasks

October 2005-September 2006  Expanding and Learning

1. Team leaders recruit members for the Shared Futures team and participate in the Project Launch meeting.

2. Each community will be organized and facilitated by one of our Shared Futures team members and consist of 4-5 faculty from various disciplines and colleges. The Center for Teaching and Learning will house the project and serve as the meeting hub. The tasks of each community during the first year would be: 1) each faculty member informing fellow learning community members of their discipline’s particular contributions to the pedagogy and scholarship on their theme; 2) addressing issues which are being transformed by changing global conditions and coordinate course content to foreground points of interconnection—and tensions—among disciplines, and  3) developing strategies for student collaborations across concurrently offered courses in various disciplines. 

3. These tasks will be accomplished in the first year by monthly learning community meetings to discuss scholarly and pedagogical research examples of disciplinary best-practices, and to assess practices at other universities. 

4. Community members will visit one another’s courses and discuss those experiences jointly. 

5. Participation in AAC&U General Meeting and Faculty Development Institute are another means of expanding the possible.

October 2006-September 2007  Design and Course

1.  Learning communities will articulate global learning goals, designing curriculum, and courses for their interdisciplinary area of global focus.

2.  The Shared Futures Team will propose structures for enabling students’ interdisciplinary collaborative learning of global perspectives within the core curriculum (collaborating with the Core Curriculum Review Committee and the Board of Undergraduate Studies) and across disciplines and Colleges.

3. May 2007 the project culminates in a curriculum and repertoire of practices that can be implemented by the learning communities’ participants.  These outcomes will serve as a base for integrating general education for global learning throughout Marquette’s undergraduate majors and colleges.

4. Summer 2007 Shared Futures Team will evaluate the project and prepare a final report for AAC&U. Evaluation of the success of the project will be based on the activities of each learning community, the research collaborations established, and the development of core courses that include global learning perspectives.

In addition to the travel and networking support of the AAC&U, Marquette University will provide monetary and resource support. The Provost, through the Academic Initiative Funds, will be a source for faculty stipends and expenses to support faculty involvement in the learning communities and to support development and initial offering of the integrated core courses. 

Target Courses and Scope of Reform

Our goal upon completion of the 2-year project period is to have five groups of four courses each linked via a global theme, overlapping content, and collaborative student projects, for a total of 20 involved courses.  Humanities and Math Core Courses range from 15-35 students, on average.  Science, Social Science, and Professional school Core Courses may include lectures of 60-80 students.  Therefore, we can anticipate involving 20 faculty and between 700 and 1,000 students in the first semester we launch the global curriculum.  Beyond the 2-year project period, these courses will then form the foundation for wider networks of courses linked by global themes, by which to disseminate global learning curricula throughout the University Core of Common Studies.  The precise constitution of learning communities of faculty teaching linked Core Courses is not yet final.  Each community will, however, include faculty from different disciplines. 

The following are Core Courses which could be linked under Global Learning themes, depending on the availability of faculty for the entire 2-year project period. 

1)  Catholicism as a global force

ADPR 185 Cultural Identity Media and World (Advertising and Public Relations)
ENGL 159 Race, Ethnicity, and Identity in American Literature and Culture
ENGL 177 Studies in Race and/or Ethnic Literature
HIST 001 Growth of Western Civilization 1
HIST 002 Growth of Western Civilization 2
HIST 006 Introduction to American History
HIST 071 Latin America
HIST 077 Africa
HIST 082 East Asia
HIST 120 African American History
ITAL 148 Italian Literature in English Translation
PHAS 117 Ethics and Diversity in Health Care
PHIL 050 Philosophy of Human Nature
PHIL 104 Theory of Ethics
PHYS 008 Astronomy and Space Physics
POSC 060 International Politics
PSYC 112 The Psychology of Prejudice
SOCI 021 The Family
SOCI 165 Social Inequality
SOCI 166 Race and Family
SOWJ 080 Introduction to Social Welfare and Justice (Social Welfare and Justice)
SPAN 103 Contemporary Issues in the Hispanic World
THEO 106 Theology Through the Centuries
THEO 110 Quests for God, Paths of Revelation
THEO 111 Explorations in Christian Theology
THEO 115 Christian Discipleship
THEO 116 Christian Faith in Cultural Contexts

2) How cultures use history

ENGL 147 Post-Colonial Literature
ENGL 159 Race, Ethnicity, and Identity in American Literature and Culture
HIST 71 Latin America
HIST 077 Africa
HIST 120 African American History
ENGL 022 Survey of English Literature 1
ENGL 023 Introduction to British Literature 2
ENGL 032 Introduction to American Literature 1
ENGL 033 Introduction to American Literature 2
HIST 001 Growth of Western Civilization 1
HIST 002 Growth of Western Civilization 2
HIST 006 Introduction to American History
HIST 071 Latin American History
HIST 077 Africa;HIST 082 East Asia
GREE 175 Mythology; LATI 175 Mythology
THEO 104 The Bible Through the Ages
THEO 106 Theology Through the Centuries
POSC 020 American Politics
ANTH 001 Introductory Anthropology
FREN 101 French Contributions to Western Civilization
THEO 126 The Bible in the Jewish Community
PHYS 013 Classical and Modern Physics with Calculus 1

3) Global Wealth and Values

ECON 020 Introduction to Economics
PSYC 078 Introduction to Life-Span Developmental Psychology
PSYC 101 Developmental Psychology: Conception through Adolescence
PSYC 103 Developmental Psychology 3: Adulthood and Aging
PSYC 114 Human Factors Engineering
PSYC 137 Abnormal Psychology
PHTH 112 Culture and Disability (Physical Therapy)
PHAS 117 Ethics and Diversity in Health Care (Physician Assistant Program)
EDUC 048 Critical Inquiry Into Contemporary Issues
ENGL 055 Topics in Literature and Culture
MUSI 152 History of the Musical in America
PHYS 009 Earth and Environmental Physics
PHIL 104 Theory of Ethics
BISC 010 Contemporary Issues in Nutrition (Biological Sciences)
THEO 111 Explorations in Christian Theology
MATH 060 Modern Elementary Statistics
PRST 060 Research and Statistical Methods (Professional Studies)
PSYC 060 Psychological Measurements and Statistics (NEW)
SOCI 060 Social Statistics

4) Universal human rights and local cultures

ARSC 140 Perspectives on Women in Society
CRLS 051 Introduction to Criminology
PHIL 050 Philosophy of Human Nature
POSC 040 Comparative Politics
SOCI 165 Social Inequality
EDUC 008 Introduction to Schooling in a Diverse Society
SPAN 103 Contemporary Issues in the Hispanic World
AFAS 131 Air Force Leadership Studies 1 (NEW)
CRLS 167 Women, Crime, and Criminal Justice
POSC 060 International Politics
PSYC 111 Introductory Social Psychology
FREN 100 French Civilization
SOCI 166 Race and Family
PHIL 104 Theory of Ethics                                                            
MANA 155 An Introduction to Diversity in Organizations
ORLE 135 The Culturally Diverse Organization
NASC 185 Leadership and Management (NEW)
POSC 020 American Politics
SOWJ 080 Introduction to Social Welfare and Justice
ADPR 185 Cultural Identity Media and World Religions (NEW)
THEO 116 Christian Faith in Cultural Contexts

5)  Sustainable Development

ARSC 010 Major Concepts in Modern Science 1
ARSC 011 Major Concepts in Modern Science 2
BIOL 001 General Biology 1
BIOL 005 Biology for Non-Science Majors
CHEM 001 General Chemistry 1
CHEM 002 General Chemistry 2
PHAS 117 Ethics and Diversity in Health Care
PHYS 009 Earth and Environmental Physics
PHIL 104 Theory of Ethics
BISC 010 Contemporary Issues in Nutrition
ARSC 005-006 The Dynamics of Cross Cultural Engagement (NEW)
THEO 115 Christian Discipleship
MATH 030 Problem Solving and Reasoning for Teachers
MATH 070 Finite Mathematics
MATH 071 Elements of Calculus 1
MATH 073 Calculus for the Biological Sciences
MATH 080 Calculus 1
MATH 081 Calculus 2
PHYS 001 General Physics 1
PHYS 002 General Physics 2
ECON 043 Principles of Microeconomics
POSC 060 International Politics
POSC 040 Comparative Politics
SOCI 060 Social Statistics

6)Supporting Peace 

AFAS 131 Air Force Leadership Studies 1
ARSC 140 Perspectives on Women in Society (Arts and Sciences Seminar)
CRLS 051 Introduction to Criminology
CRLS 167 Women, Crime, and Criminal Justice
NASC 185 Leadership and Management (Naval Science)
POSC 020 American Politics
POSC 040 Comparative Politics
POSC 060 International Politics
PSYC 111 Introductory Social Psychology
PSYC 112 The Psychology of Prejudice (NEW)
SOWJ 080 Introduction to Social Welfare and Justice
PHIL 104 Theory of Ethics
ADPR 185 Cultural Identity Media and World Religions (NEW)
ARSC 005-006 The Dynamics of Cross Cultural Engagement
ENGL 147 Post-Colonial Literature
SOCI 163 Race and Ethnic Relations
SOCI 165 Social Inequality
SPAN 103 Contemporary Issues in the Hispanic World
THEO 115 Christian Discipleship
THEO 116 Christian Faith in Cultural Contexts
PHYS 009 Earth and Environmental Physics
MISL 018 American Crucible: The Military and the Development of the United States (Military Science Leadership)
NASC 022 Seminar in Sea Power and Maritime Affairs

7) Global technologies of knowledge

COSC 050 Introduction to Computer Science
COMM 011 Contemporary Presentation
ENGL 001 Rhetoric and Composition 1
ENGL 002 Rhetoric and Composition 2
ADPR 185 Cultural Identity Media and World Religions
ARSC 005-006 The Dynamics of Cross Cultural Engagement
MATH 025 The Nature of Mathematics (NEW)
MATH 060 Modern Elementary Statistics
PRST 060 Research and Statistical Methods
PSYC 060 Psychological Measurements and Statistics (NEW)
SOCI 060 Social Statistics
ARSC 140 Perspectives on Women in Society (NEW)
CRLS 051 Introduction to Criminology
PHIL 050 Philosophy of Human Nature
ECON 043 Principles of Microeconomics
POSC 040 Comparative Politics
PSYC 001 General Psychology
PSYC 132 Theories of Personality
SOCI 165 Social Inequality
PSYC 165 Human Sexuality
ARSC 010 Major Concepts in Modern Science 1
ARSC 011 Major Concepts in Modern Science 2
BIOL 001 General Biology 1
BIOL 005 Biology for Non-Science Majors
CHEM 001 General Chemistry 1
CHEM 002 General Chemistry 2
PHYS 001 General Physics 1
PHYS 002 General Physics 2
EDUC 008 Introduction to Schooling in a Diverse Society
ENGL 177 Studies in Race and/or Ethnic Literature
HEAL 025 Culture and Health
MUSI 051 Appreciation of Music
THAR 050 Theatre Appreciation
SOCI 001 Principles of Sociology
SPAN 103 Contemporary Issues in the Hispanic World
COMM 021 Introduction to Visual Communication
THEO 110 Quests for God, Paths of Revelation

Prepared by Christine L. Krueger, Director, University Core of Common Studies, Marquette University