Global Learning Resources

Curriculum Transformation

Integrative Studies at Otterbein: Reinvigorating a Signature Program for a Global Century
In the new Otterbein Integrative Studies (IS) program, slated to begin in fall 2011 when the college makes the switch from a quarter to a semester calendar, students will still explore questions of human nature—particularly in a first-year writing requirement called an Identity Project—but the overall integrative studies core will be focused on making connections between the disciplines and the wider world. After a first-year seminar that will introduce students to the concept of integrative learning, they will take one IS course in each of four areas during the sophomore and/or junior years: Interconnections (social sciences/history); Reflection and Responsibility (religion, philosophy, and service learning); Natural Foundations (sciences); and Creativity and Culture (arts and writing). Each of these IS courses will focus on teaching students to think globally and beyond disciplinary boundaries.

Crossroads in the Study of the Americas (CISA), the Five Colleges
Established by the Five Colleges, Inc., CISA is a curricular and co-curricular project that crosses disciplinary and national boundares to examine contemporary issues of culture and citizenship. In this interview, CISA Director Robbie Schwartzwald describes the process through which the idea for Crossroads in the Study of the Americas center evolved, as well as the goals and expectations he and his colleagues have for the center.  Members of the Five College Consortium are Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Cultural Encounters, St. Lawrence University's Intercultural and Area Studies Program
St. Lawrence's Cultural Encounters Program is designed both to provide an academic context for the experiences of studying, working, and living among people from different cultures, both in off-campus programs during college and after college; and to offer the option of a challenging, thematically-integrated, alternative method of meeting various course requirements.  Cultural Encounters consists of these general components:  Core courses; Foreign language study; Science and mathematics requirements; at least one semester on a St. Lawrence international program; a senior seminar.  All courses within the Cultural Encounters Program follow curricular guidelines defining the three levels of study: Conceiving the World and Cultural Encounters, in which students gain an understanding of their own and other cultures, and a Program Seminar, which provides a forum for students to reflect on and integrate their study abroad experiences with the coursework they have done over the preceding three years.

Syllabi of Courses in St. Lawrence University's Cultural Encounters Program

• Cultural Encounters Senior Seminar: Comparative Studies in Racial and Cultural Identities: Taught by Grant Cornwell and Eve Stoddard, this capstone course draws on students' experiences in off-campus programs, including a research project that will focus on questions about racial/cultural identities synthesizing the experiences abroad or in a culturally distinctive U.S. off-campus program, additional research, and the theoretical readings of the course.
• Creating Colonialism: the Literature of Exploitation and Cultural Contact: Taught by John Hunter, this course studies the descriptions of colonized territories written by their colonizers.
• Religious Studies 248N: Fundamentalism as Cultural Encounter: Taught by T.B. Coburn, this course examines religion and the concept of "fundamentalism" in comparative cultural and social contexts, including, but not limited to, modern India, the Islamic world, and North America.
• History 247: The Rise of the New Europe: Taught by Dr. Judith DeGroat, this seminar examines the changing concepts of "Europe" and "European," the impact of non-European immigrants on the culture and society of Europe, and the definitions of citizenship and their social impact in culturally diverse societies.
• Fine Arts/Cultural Encounters 220: The Museum as Cultural Crossroads: Taught by Dr. Dorothy Limouze, this course , which explores the museum as a largely western phenomenon and as a lens through which the western world views other cultures, familiarizes students both with the institution's history and with contemporary critical appraisals.
• Greek Poetry, Philosophy, and Politics in a Multicultural Context: Taught by Anne Mamary, this course examines ancient Greek poetry, philosophy, and politics and how these texts developed in a multicultural (African, Greek, and Semitic) context in the Mediterranean Basin. The class also considers 19th and 20th century discourses about these works and cultures.

Global Studies Major, St. Lawrence University
The goal of St. Lawrence University's Global Studies Major is to teach students to analyze comparatively the impact of global processes on specific phenomena connected with, across and between geographical areas.  The program integrates student research into a major that is firmly based in a set of core courses and is custom-designed to suit each student's research interests. Information about the program is available on SLU's International & Intercultural Studies web site.

Honors 343: Contemporary Japan, Lynchburg College
This course is designed to provide students with a broad understanding of the nature of present day Japan. The emphasis is on the cultural, sociological, political, and economic dimensions of life in Japan. Four primary areas will be covered in the course: history and geography of the country with emphasis on the roles that these have played in shaping the current environment; issues linked to living patterns such as career choices, the role of religion in society, the role of women, and family and group dynamics; business and economic aspects of Japan, emphasizing the post World War II period of rapid development and Japan's current and future role in the global economy; and the nature of the political structure and processes and how these have shaped contemporary Japan.  Throughout each of these sections emphasis will be on how political, economic, and sociological forces have influenced contemporary Japanese society, and how these forces are likely to affect the future shape of the nation.

Sex, Health, and AIDS, the University of Arizona
Team taught by Professor Susan Craddock and Dr. Sally Stevens, this course explores HIV and AIDS from a variety of perspectives, including its biology and pathology, its impact on communication and sexual practices among college students, the social and economic causes of HIV/AIDS in the United States and elsewhere in the world, and the politics of medical research and health care funding. The course attempts to challenge commonly held perceptions about the origins, causes, and social constructions of AIDS; to examine the reasons why people might not change behaviors that put them at a health risk; and to tackle the difficulties of policy formation and community action.

AAC&U offers these resources only as possible models of interest and has not submitted each of them to any substantial peer or quality review. If you have questions about any particular resource, please contact the institution sponsoring it directly.