Shared Futures
Wheaton College
Wheaton’s recently revised general education requirements speak to the college’s commitment to foregrounding global learning. This is reflected in the three principal components of the general education curriculum, including the foundations, infusion and connections.
Foundations
There are five elements to the foundations. They are writing, quantitative analysis, the First Year Seminar (FYS), foreign languages and beyond-the-west. Our global reform efforts have targeted three of these five elements, including FYS, foreign languages and beyond the west. More detailed information regarding these three areas are as follows:
First Year Seminar
The first year seminar (FYS) is designed to foster active learning and class participation and stresses many of the skills needed for success at Wheaton. All freshmen are required to take this course. The sections are taught by faculty members and focuses on a different topic. Each section, however is designed to illustrated how differently people may interpret or understand these topics in the arts, humanities, sciences and social sciences. Twenty-five sections of the FYS are currently offered, and ten of these have a global focus. They include the following:
Festivals: Chaos & Order Anthropology
Outbreak! Plagues & Epidemics Biology
What’s So Funny? Classics
Poverty in a Global Context Economics
Visions of Paris French
The Vietnam Experience History
Spectacular Voices Music
La dolce Vita Political Science
Russia in Crisis Political Science
Art, Politics and Society Russian
Foreign Languages
There are six modern languages taught at Wheaton, including Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish. All Wheaton students are required to complete two semesters of a foreign language.
Beyond the West
Recognizing that most students will have had substantial exposure to the perspectives of Western societies (Europe and English-speaking North America), Wheaton expects students to complete at least one course that focuses on an aspect of non-Western societies. These courses are offered in several different departments, and may also serve other parts of the curriculum, such as Connections or even the major. Some of these courses are as follows;
Anthropology:
210 Feast or Famine: The Ecology and Politics of Food
225 African Cultures in Transition
226 The Anthropology of Art
230 Language and Culture
235 Peoples & Cultures of Latin America
240 Anthropology of the City
245 Indigenous Movements in Latin America
250 Power and Leadership
255 Women in Africa
260 Women and Development
270 Psychological Anthropology
285 Stability & Change in the South Pacific
295 Peoples and Cultures of South Asia
333 Economic Anthropology
340 Seminar: Religion in Anthropological Perspective
350 Gender and Social Organization
Art History
105 Art in East Asia I
106 Art in East Asia II
255 Pre-Columbian Art & Architecture
256 Native N. American Arts & Culture
263 African-American Art
245 African Literature
French
331 Other Voices, Other Stories
Germam
380 Identity/Difference in German Culture
History
143 Africans on Africa: A Survey
208 American Indian Histories
209 African-American History to 1877
210 African-American History since 1877
213 History of Civil Rights Movement
217 Mundo Brasileiro
218 Colonial Latin America
219 Norte, Caribe y Sur
220 The Making of Latino America
221 History of Early Islamic Societies
222 Introduction to Chinese Civilization
223 Introduction to Indian Civilization
224 Introduction to Japanese Civilization
225 Women in East Asia – Japan & Korea
226 Women in East Asia – China
339 Slavery in the Americas
365 Modern China
366 Modern Japan
Music
211 World Music: Eurasia
212 World Music: Africa & Americas
220 Music in Latin American Culture
221 Music and Dance of South Asia
261 American Vernacular Dance
271 African American Originals 1
272 African American Originals II
282 Music & Worship in World Cultures
309 Music Nationalism and Identity
314 Music of Asia
Philosophy
225 Philosophy of Religion
Political Science
203 African Politics
209 Chinese Foreign Policy
222 Contemporary Chinese Politics
233 The Politics of Latin America
263 Politics of the Middle East
273 Inter-American Relations
323 Comparative Political Development
Religion
102 Introduction to the Study of World Religions
108 Engaged Buddhism
212 Sacred Texts of Asia
225 Philosophy of Religion
230 Mysticism and Spirituality
282 Music and Worship in World Cultures
325 Hinduism: Thought and Action
326 Buddhism: Thought and Action
327 Chinese Religions
340 Seminar: Religion in Anthropological Perspectives
Sociology
200 Social Movements
230 Race and Ethnicity
240 Conflict and Genocide
270 Immigration
280 Asians and America
285 Latino Community
310 Beyond Global Feminism
330 Money, Sex & Power
340 Gender and Health
Theatre
276 Non-Western Theatre & Performance
Women Studies
225 Women in East Asia – Japan & Korea
227 Women in East Asia – China
310 Beyond Global Feminism
330 Money, Sex and Power
Connections
Wheaton’s unique Connections program provides an exciting way to explore different areas of knowledge and different approaches to problems. All Wheaton students must take either two sets of two-course connections (a total of four courses), or one set of three connected courses. Courses are linked across any two of six academic areas: creative arts, humanities, history, math and computer science, natural sciences, and social sciences. More than half of the Connections offered have significant global content. They include the following:
20006. Animal Power
20007. German Language in European History
20008. Gender Inequality: Sociological and Literary Perspectives
20013. Aging and Death
20014. Modern Italy
20019. The Darwin Connection: Evolution, Race and Culture
20020. The Art of the Print
20021. Clothes
20023. Global Music
20024. Modern China: Tradition and Contemporary Politics
20025. The Math in Art and the Art of Math
20026. Biopharma
20027. European Radicalism
20028. Germanies: History vs. Culture
20029. Living Architecture
20030. Politics and Global Change
20032. Cultural Flows in South Asia
20033. History and Politics of U.S. Foreign Policy
20036. Body and Soul
20037. Poetry and the Computer
20039. Ideas of Antiquity
20040. Political Theories, Political Realities: Ideas and Practices in Past Politics
20041. Colonial Encounters
23001. African Worlds
23002. Food
23003. Modern Latin America
23006. Sexuality
23007. African Diaspora in New World
23008. Italian Culture, Language and Society
23009. The Environment
23011. Revolution!
Infusion
Although the infusion mandate requires that faculty infuse the courses they teach with the study of race/ethnicity and its intersections with gender, class, sexuality, religion and technology, this process uses as its points of reference both the United States and the world. It is in this sense that the infusion mandate includes the infusion of global perspectives, and indeed, it is crucial that this be available in the widest range of courses. Our commitment to global education involves the transformation of the curriculum and is intended to touch every student. Notwithstanding study abroad programs and other initiatives that provide students with immediate global learning experiences, a global education can only be assured if a substantial portion of the curriculum is infused with global perspectives. It is our expectation that as global education becomes more institutionalized at Wheaton College, even more courses will be infused with global perspectives.
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