Shared Futures

Mesa Community College

All Mesa Community College degree programs include a general education component that is based upon a Maricopa District statement of philosophy developed and agreed upon by faculty throughout the District. This statement reads, in part: “The general education core of the program of study for an associate degree … helps students develop a greater understanding of themselves, of their relationship with others, and of the richly diverse world in which they live. The general education experience provides students with opportunities to explore broad areas of commonly held knowledge and prepares them to contribute to society through personal, social, and professional interactions with others.”  The general education philosophy statement drives, and provides the foundation for, the general education curriculum across the District.

Students at MCC can choose from a rich and comprehensive transfer curriculum leading to four transfer degrees, all of which incorporate the 35 credit hour Arizona General Education Core (AGEC).  All Associate of Applied Science degrees also include a general education component that typically includes 19-24 credit hours.  Mesa’s general education curriculum includes a global awareness component which includes in-depth area studies, comparative cultural studies, and in-depth studies of cultural interrelationships global in scope. We already have a wide array of courses with global awareness designation address global issues through course competencies, including courses in the sciences, communication, foreign languages, the humanities, religious studies, geography, and anthropology. MCC plans to work with instructors of these existing course to enhance curricula and ensure global issues are being adequately addressed. MCC will also evaluate whether additional courses are needed and will use the established MCCCD process for curriculum modifications and development. A list of existing of existing courses is provided as an attachment to this document.

MCC has a strong and well-articulated institutional commitment to diversity and global learning that begins with our mission statement which reads in part that we “promote excellence in teaching and learning, preparing individuals for active citizenship in a diverse global society….”  The college strategic plan includes eight strategic goals, one of which states:  “Recognize diversity and promote international awareness to prepare the learner for a diverse and global society.” 

Some of the other many programs and endeavors in global learning at MCC include traditional study abroad experiences, faculty abroad exchanges, scholarly inquiry as participants in the Salzburg Seminars, faculty and student forums on sustainable development and internationalizing the curriculum, and study tours.

MCC has a comprehensive faculty-driven student outcomes assessment program that has served as a model for community colleges nationwide.  A major component of the program is the definition and measurement of seven student learning outcomes for general education; one of these outcomes is cultural diversity (which focuses on diversity within American culture).  Trends in assessment results show that students completing their general education studies at MCC have significantly more positive attitudes than students beginning their studies on a number of diversity-related issues, for example, tolerance of others with different beliefs and the belief that conflicting perspectives are healthy in a democracy. 

While the focus of the general education outcome has been on diversity, numerous discussions among faculty have centered on the need to broaden this learning outcome to encompass global learning competencies.  Despite the inclusion of a global awareness component within the curriculum, our general education assessment process does not evaluate the efficacy of our approach to engaging students in global issues.  We wish to develop a global learning assessment component through this initiative.

Our highest priority is to develop a comprehensive and long-range strategic plan which addresses international education and includes global awareness in both curricular and co- and extra-curricular contexts. We intend to focus on what it means to be a globally competent learner, develop specific student learning outcomes and methods to assess them, develop new curricula and explore interdisciplinary approaches, and detail what is required, institutionally, for MCC to produce globally competent learners. To this end, our first Strategic Planning meeting was held on October 17, 2005.

Mesa Community College - Existing Global Awareness Courses
(credit hours in parentheses)

HUM213  Hispanic Film (3)
COM263  Elements of Intercultural Communication (3)
ECN212  The World Economy (3)
ECN250  World Economic Systems (3)
GCU141  Introduction to Economic Geography (3)
IBS101    Introduction to International Business (3)
IBS109    Cultural Dimension for International Trade (3)
IBS116    Export/Import Management (3)
IBS118    International Marketing Management (3)
IBS123    US Customs and Export Management (3)
IBS140    International Finance Management (3)
SBU200   Society and Business (3)
AJS139    Emergency Response to Terrorism (3)
AJS195    International and Domestic Terrorism (3)
AJS206    Comparative Study of Criminal Justice (3)
POS110   American National Government (3)
POS120   World Politics 3 (3)
POS125   Issues in World Politics (3)
POS140   Comparative Government (3)
POS180   United Nations Studies (3)
POS210   Political Ideologies (3)
DAH201   World Dance Perspectives (3)
EDU230   Cultural Diversity in Education (3)
EDU294   Multicultural Folktales (3)
ENH201   World Literature Through the Renaissance (3)
ENH202   World Literature After the Renaissance (3)
ENH294   Multicultural Folktales (3)
HUM105   Cultural Perspectives (any module) (1)
HUM260   Intercultural Perspectives (3)
MHL143   Music in World Cultures (3)
ASB102    Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology (3)
ASB211    Women in Other Cultures (3)
ASB222    Buried Cities and Lost Tribes: Old World (3)
ASB223    Buried Cities and Lost Tribes: New World (3)
COM263   Elements of Intercultural Communication (3)
GCU102   Introduction to Human Geography (3)
GCU121   World Geography I: Eastern (3)
GCU122   World Geography II: Western (3)
GCU253    Introduction to Cultural and Historical Geography (3)
IGS291      Studies in Global Awareness (3)
SOC212    Women and Men In A Changing Society (3)
ASB214     Magic, Witchcraft, and Healing:
                    An Introduction to Comparative Religion (3)
HIS/PHI/
REL243      World Religions (3)
PHI104        World Philosophy (3)
ARH217      History of Mexican Art (3)
GCU223     Geography of Latin America (3)
HIS135        Military History of the Southwest (3)
HIS241        Latin American Civilization in the Colonial Period (3)
HIS242        Latin American Civilization in the Post-Colonial Period (3)
MHL156       Music in Latin America and the Caribbean (3)
ARH118       Introduction to Chinese Art (3)
ARH201       Art of Asia (3)
HIS272        History of Far East 1900 to Present (3)
HIS277        The Modern Middle East (3)
HUM211AB Foreign Films: Japanese (3)
HUM261      Asian Ideas and Values (3)
IBS154         Pacific Rim Countries: International Business Environment (2)
PHI245         Introduction to Eastern Philosophy (3)
REL202       Classics of Asian Religions (3)
HIS251         History of England to 1700 (3)
HIS252         History of England 1700 to Present (3)
HIS275         Soviet Union and Slavic World (3)
HUM211AC Foreign Films: French (3)
CHM107      Chemistry and Society (3)
GLG110       Geological Disasters and the Environment (3)
GPH210       Introduction to Environmental Geography (3)
PHS120       Introduction to Physical Science:
                      Astronomy, Meteorology, Geology and Oceanography (4)