Non-Western Cultures Learning Outcomes

During the Spring 2019 General Education Assemblies for Learning Outcomes, faculty groups began to develop learning outcomes for the Non-Western Cultures Requirement. Then, smaller Working Groups from these Assemblies along with students and advisors worked together to digest the information from the larger group and to create draft learning outcomes for Non-Western Cultures (see below).

We invite feedback from the campus community on these outcomes.

After taking a course in Non-Western Cultures, students will be able to:

1. Develop as critical thinkers who are open-minded, reflective and ethically sensitive.
2. Recognize the non-western and western binary in historical, political, cultural, and economic contexts, and understand the impact of this divide on current events in order to identify and challenge the power relations that guided the construction and maintenance of that binary.
3. Demonstrate their understanding of global power structures and underlying cultural worldviews by showing greater respect and empathy for people from different cultures and communicating with them.
4. Recognize the distinguishing cultural worldview/ideological features between western and non-western cultures and raise awareness of commonalities and differences.
5. Discuss non-Western cultures in civil conversation and/or writing to demonstrate and advocate for appreciation and understanding of non-Western cultures, and to represent non-western cultures with clarity and specificity to others.