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GE Area D3: Comparative
Social Institutions
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GE Program Goals
D3: Educational Objectives and Criteria
- Introduction
Lower-division
foundation courses in Area D1- D4 provide
students with a basic understanding of humans, their institutions,
and their social achievements in both contemporary and historical
contexts. Courses in this area prepare a student for the
demanding tasks of civic participation, life-long learning,
the understanding of self and of the human community, and
the achievement of perspective in time, space, and human
diversity. Consequently, courses in this area should encourage
students to see themselves in context with others, and to
see the human experience as something that is both uniquely
individual and communally comparable. By placing basic knowledge
in a larger context, these courses provide a vision of why
this area is an important component of general education.
Courses in this area also emphasize writing as an integral
part of the process of learning and discovery.
Lower-division courses in D1 - D4 must meet THREE of the following objectives:
After completing the foundation courses in Area D/E, students
should have an enhanced ability to understand:
| D1
- D4: Lower-Division Educational Objectives |
| EO
1 physiological, psychological, and
social influences on thinking and behavior; how
the mind and body work in concert; issues of "nature"
versus "nurture"; personal development;
and the importance of maintaining physical and
mental health; |
| EO
2 how human beings act in concert; historically
how communities have grouped together; basic interpersonal
relationships (social, economic, political, and
legal); the constant interplay in human society
between the protection and elevation of the individual
and the welfare of the community; how individual
actions affect the whole; |
| EO
3 organizations of public order, of
commerce and labor, and of society (family, education,
government, religion, and economy) and their origins;
how humans create institutions and what they expect
from them; and how institutions function to first
reflect then shape human society; |
| EO
4 the impact of history on the present
and the future; how history affects the study
of history; the importance of mythology; historical
development in multidisciplinary terms (economic,
political, sociological, institutional, intellectual,
legal, and scientific); and the development of
both western and non-western cultures; |
| EO
5 how the environment affects human
behavior; the human impact on the environment;
the importance of geographic and environmental
factors on the historical evolution of human society
and economy; the interconnectedness of the planet,
its natural resources, and its population; |
| EO
6 the human experience in comparative
terms by examining the diversity of experience
from both individual and group perspectives with
special attention to the issues of gender, ethnicity,
and racial diversity on our planet; |
| EO
7 the importance of empirical information
and appropriate methodologies. |
Lower-division
courses in D3 must meet EACH
of the following criteria:
The course proposal and expanded course outline must clearly
indicate how the course:
| D3:
Criteria for Lower-Division Courses |
| CR
1 provides an understanding of basic human
social institutions in the context of the present
and the past: family, government, economy, education,
and religion, including their origins, structures,
functions, patterns of change, and integration; |
| CR
2 includes western and non-western societies
in a cross-cultural, global perspective, and recognizes
the growing interdependence of the global community
and its environmental/geographic context; |
| CR
3 develops an appreciation of cultural and
social diversity, both domestically and globally,
which includes an understanding of ethnic, gender,
and class inequality; |
| CR
4 introduces students to relevant methodologies; |
| CR
5 includes an appropriate writing component. |
All
General Education courses must have a writing component. In
achieving this objective, writing in most courses should be
viewed primarily as a tool of learning (rather than a goal
in itself as in a composition course), and faculty should
determine the appropriate ways to integrate writing into coursework.
While the writing component may take different forms according
to the subject matter and the purpose of a course, at least
10% of the grade in all GE courses must be based on appropriate
written work.
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