Two courses in a Foreign Language
One course in Foreign Studies
One course in Social Diversity Studies
This component responds to a contemporary world in which
communication, travel and trade increasingly juxtapose cultures, values
and ideas. Courses help students understand, interpret, and appreciate
cultural, social, moral, economic and political systems different from
their own.
Foreign Language [FL]
Courses increase students’ global awareness by introducing
them to important aspects of societies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East
and the Americas to foster an understanding of cultural, social,
political, religious, or economic systems outside the European
tradition.
Requirement: Two courses
Options:
- Continue a previously studied language (two or more years) at the intermediate level.
FRN, GMN, SPA 201 Intermediate Spanish I
| Begins with a review of material typically covered in a first-year Spanish course followed by further development of proficiency in all four language skills; listening, speaking, reading and writing. Also aims to enhance students' knowledge of the cultures of Hispanic peoples. |
- Begin a new language. FRN, GMN, ITA, SKT, SPA 101 Elementary Spanish I
| Introductory course in Spanish. Aimed at developing basic communicative proficiency in Spanish. Also offers insights into Hispanic cultures. |
- Repeat the elementary level (fewer than two years in high school, or no language study for six full years). FRN, GMN, SPA
101/102.
- Complete one advanced course (requires permission from FLG department).
International students who are fluent in a native language other than English are
exempt from the Foreign Language requirement.
Foreign Studies [FS]
Courses increase students’ global awareness by introducing
them to important aspects of societies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East
and the Americas to foster an understanding of cultural, social,
political, religious, or economic systems outside the European
tradition.
Requirement: One Course
Options:
- Choose one course from the approved list below.
- Complete the Foreign Language requirement at the
intermediate level (201/202) or higher. Note: Entering students who
score a 4 or 5 on the AP foreign language exam in Spanish, French, or
German must complete either one 300-level Foreign Language course or
one Foreign Studies course. Students who score a 4 or 5 on the AP
literature exam in Spanish, French, or German must complete one Foreign
Studies course.
- Participate in a semester-long study-abroad program or
complete approved course work that involves substantial on-site
immersion in a foreign culture.
ART 116 Non-Western Art| An introductory survey course that focuses on the history, development, and cultural influences of non-Western art. The course will examine the traditions of art and architecture from various regions, including Africa, Arabia, India, China, Japan, the Americas, and Oceania. Geographically, the course moves from Africa through the Middle East and into central Asia, extending both south and east. The course then continues across the Pacific to examine the native North American region and the cultures within South America, including Mesoamerican and Andean. The course finishes with cultures on the western Pacific Rim, including the Australian Aboriginal and the New Zealand Maori. |
| This four-week German language and culture course provides students possessing intermediate to advanced proficiency with an intensive linguistic and cultural immersion in an authentic German university environment. It combines daily classroom instruction with organized cultural activities and excursions. Language of instruction is German. Offered each summer. |
| A survey of Latin American history, society, political economy, and culture from the late colonial period through the Age of Revolution to the early 21st century, including consideration of major themes such as neocolonialism, dependency, race and racism, U.S.-Latin American relations, revolution, military dictatorship, democracy, the environment, indigenous and women's rights, poverty, and related historical and contemporary issues. |
| Latin American civilization from the emergence of independent states, relationships with the United States and the modern regional distinctions. |
| A seminar on the history of South Africa from the 1600's until the end of apartheid in the early 1990s. Topics include early colonization, conflicts between European settlers and natives and between the English and the Afrikaaner republics, the development of capitalism, the dynamics of black South Africans under apartheid, and the bloody struggle for and against national liberation in the early 1990s. |
| A study of the history of Brazil from the colonial period through the present day. The primary focus will be on the period from the arrival of the Portuguese Court in 1808 until the "abertura," or re-democratization of the 1980s. Some of the topics that will be covered in the course include: 1) the historical development of the Brazilian nation-state and 2) the development of a Brazilian "national" culture. Thus recurrent themes will include political organization and participation, economic growth and development, nationalism, authoritarianism and re-democratization, social organization and stratification, cultural production, and race relations. |
| This course examines Mexican history from before the Spanish conquest to the present day. The approach is chronological, topical, and thematic. Critically engaging with a wide variety of course materials, students will gain specific factual knowledge about Mexican history, including major figures, events, and trends; explore how the histories of the United States and Mexico have grown increasingly entwined; and examine diverse aspects of Mexican history, society, and culture. |
| The course will examine global theories that explain patterns of world interaction, cooperation and conflict, and the process of globalization. It places international events into historical context and emphasizes the interrelationships among global institutions and culture. Citizenship at the global, national, and local levels will be emphasized. |
| A general introduction to musical styles, compositional practices, and aesthetics of specific people groups within the Americas, Asia, and Africa. It discusses traditional, popular, and art music styles, and presents music intimately tied to value systems and social practice. |
| A survey of the developing nations of Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. This class explores why some countries are "developed" and others not. The course examines some of the major explanations for development, both economic and political. Following an overview of each of the developing regions, the class will analyze some of the major issues facing developing nations today. Topics include democratization, religion and politics, ethnic conflict, women and development, and revolution. |
| The course is designed as an introduction to Latin American politics. We focus on two major trends that have characterized the region throughout its post-independence history: episodic waves of political democratization and democratic breakdown, and a common but changing series of economic systems. We also examine the political role played by the military, the quest for political equality among various groups in society, and the evolving political and economic relationships between Latin America and the U.S. |
| This course will examine contemporary conflict and the use of force in world politics. It introduces two schools of thought (security studies and strategic studies) and examines theories and concepts used to understand contemporary global security. |
| This course examines the beliefs and practices of some of the world's major religious traditions and significant religious movements, focusing predominantly on non-Christian or non-European traditions. The course will be oriented topically (ritual, theology, etc.), geographically (India, the Middle East, etc.), or thematically (religion in the modern world, religious encounters in history, etc.) |
| This class aims to introduce students to the study of scripture as a key aspect of religiosity. It will be cross-cultural in nature and familiarize students with a variety of religious texts from several religious traditions. The study of textual religious expression will come from reading both primary sources and theoretical works on the study of scripture. |
| A study of the variety of religious literature produced over the last 4000 years that has shaped Hindu thought. Central to the aim of the course is engagement with a variety of types of scripture, including poetic praise of the divine, ritual manuals, epic narrative, and contemporary devotional songs. |
| An examination of the major religious tradition of India, through its historical development from the oldest culture extent on the subcontinent to the modern world. Students will engage a variety of materials, texts, archaeology, images, and anthropological descriptions, in order to gain a broad understanding of the tradition. |
| A study of the development of Buddhism, including its teaching, practice and influence as one of the great missionary religions. |
| This course will introduce students to the historical origins and development of Islam. |
| An overview of Latin American cultures, history, and geography, with special focus on current issues. |
| An examination of native cultures before 1492, the arrival of Spanish explorers and their effect on these native populations. |
Social Diversity Studies [SDS]
Requirement: One Course
Courses focus on the social diversity in the United States
and allow students to engage critically the issues—such as race, gender,
class, sexual orientation, religion—that historically have divided and
defined Americans. Students who participate in semester-long programs in
Philadelphia or Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Study Abroad office
will be considered to have fulfilled the Social Diversity Studies
requirement.
AMS 229 Culture & Conflict/Modern Amer| An examination of the social, political, economic and cultural upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s in the historical context. |
| This course explores the lives of those individuals living with a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer identity (LGBTQ) and the relationship these individuals have with those around them. Exploration of the historical and contemporary implications of living with an LGBTQ identity, how these identities develop, the struggle for civil rights and legal protections, and how various factors such as the AIDS crisis, the media, religion, and others impact LGBTQ persons will also be explored. |
| This class offers you a chance to familiarize yourself with the variety of ethnic, racial, gender, and sexual groups and identities in the U.S. You will gain or enhance your intellectual framework for understanding and appreciating diversity. It also will prepare you to survive and thrive in our complex and challenging world. The course relies on history, literature, and cultural studies and will be challenging but also fun. |
| This course is designed for the pre-service music, art, language, early childhood education, or middle school educator to gain an understanding of the complex factors impacting the education and language acquisition of the diverse language and cultural minority groups of the United States. This course is required under Act 49-2 and may be taken while student teaching. |
| This course is designed to allow the pre-service music, art, language, or grade 7 - grade 12 secondary teacher certification candidate to gain an understanding of the complex factors impacting the education and language acquisition of the diverse language and cultural minority groups of the United States. This course is required under Act 49-2 and may be taken while student teaching. |
| Examination of African-American literature as a lens through which students may more clearly view the ways that African Americans have contributed to, been influenced by, appropriated and transformed notions of American identity, specifically conceptions of freedom, equality, gender, sexuality, religion, class, and literature. Usually offered alternate fall semesters. |
| Investigation of the ways in which women from a broad diversity of cultural backgrounds respond to and reshape a tradition that has typically been gendered as masculine. This course explores the effects of culture, ethnicity, class, sexuality, and religion on women's writing. Usually offered alternate fall semesters. |
| A study of the interactions between three very different cultures--American Indians, Africans, and Europeans--on the North American continent. Emphasis will be on the ideology and methods by which Europeans came to dominate the area, and how both Indians and Africans struggled to preserve their identity in an increasingly white-dominated colonial world. |
| This course incorporates a variety of approaches to working class studies: historical, sociological, cultural, and political. Students will learn about the origins of the modern working class in both 16th century Europe and the slave colonies of the Caribbean. They will also learn about the history and current practice of the labor movement; the different ways workers have organized politically in the past and present; the role of race, gender, national origin, and skill in organizing labor markets and workers' identities; the depiction of workers in the mass media, particularly film. The primary focus of the class will be on the US, but some comparisons to other countries will be made to help highlight what is specifically American about our class system. |
| This course offers students a chance to explore the origins, histories, institutions, and current practices of the American aristocracy. Students will learn about how the very rich families that currently enjoy enormous hereditary wealth obtained and maintain their fortunes. Students will also investigate the histories and current policies of the institutions that protect and promote the wealthy such as corporations, the stock market, and government. |
| An examination of the social, political, economic and cultural upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s in the historical context. |
| This course uses key cases to study important doctrines established by the Supreme Court with regard to civil rights and civil liberties. Students will examine the Court's rulings concerning the establishment and free exercise of religion, protection of freedom of speech and of the press, privacy rights (abortion and sexual freedom), the rights of the accused in the criminal justice system, and the law governing racial or sexual discrimination. The course places particular emphasis on various forms of textual interpretation used by individual justices to apply the Constitution in deciding cases and writing opinions. |
| This course is designed to address a broad spectrum of issues related to the psychology of gender. Of central importance is the examination of empirical findings related to gender differences and similarities in biological, behavioral, cognitive, social, and emotional domains. The course will also involve a critical examination of the meaning of gender in the field of psychology and in the broader society. |
| A study of the origin and development of religious expression in America. Special emphasis will be given to issues of religious diversity. |
| An investigation of reasons why questions of diversity affect organizations including demographic changes, types of diversity and relevant federal legislation. Considers differences in race, sex, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnic background, age, physical ability/disability and geography. |
| A review of the development of Native American society, culture, politics and economy from prehistory to the present with special emphasis on the relationships between Native Americans and other immigrants to North America. |
| An examination of women's contributions to the world, their roles in social institutions, and issues arising from their uniqueness and social situations. Topics will include images of women and their writings; biology and health; issues of sexuality and gender identity; and women's roles in the family, religion, education, and in the worlds of work and politics. |
| The major objective of this course is to help students become aware of the degree to which behavior (including one's own) is culturally determined. As we continue to move toward a global society with increasingly frequent intercultural contacts, we need more than simple factual knowledge about cultural differences; we need a framework for understanding inter-cultural communication and cross-cultural human relations. Through lecture, discussion, simulations, case- studies, role-plays and games, students will learn the inter-cultural communication framework and the skills necessary to make them feel comfortable and communicate effectively with people of any culture and in any situation involving a group of diverse backgrounds. |
| An examination of the patterns of structured inequality in American society, including a variety of minority, racial, and ethnic groups. |
Courses in Social Diversity Studies:
SDS 330. Diversity in the Workforce. 3 credits.