This component consists of the following requirements:
One to two courses in a language other than English.
One Intercultural Diversity course.
One American Social Diversity course.
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.
Language Requirement [LA]
By learning another language, students see the world from a different linguistic and cultural perspective, and increase their awareness of their own language and culture. In a globalized world the ability to understand and appreciate cultural differences is imperative. These courses help students understand that all languages have similarities and differences, but that each language offers insight into the culture of a particular community.
Requirement: One of the following options, subject to high school language study and placement test.
- FRN, GMN, GRK, ITA, SKT, or SPA 101/102
- FRN, GMN, or SPA
101/102*
- FRN, GMN, or 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. Fulfills general education requirement: Language. Prerequisite: SPA 102 or equivalent. 3 credits. |
- One FRN, GMN, or SPA course at the 300 level or higher
|
High School
Study |
Placement Test
Level |
Required Language Sequence |
None or no
language study
for six full years |
100 or none |
101/102 |
| 200 |
102/201* or 201/202 |
| 300 or higher |
One 300 or higher level course |
| 1-2 years in Grades 9-10 or 1 year in Grades 11-12 |
100 |
101/102 |
| 200 |
102/201* or 201/202 |
| 300 or higher |
One 300 or higher level course |
| 2 years in Grades 11-12 |
100 |
102/201* or 201/202 |
| 200 |
201/202 |
| 300 or higher |
One 300 or higher level course |
| 3 years |
100 or none |
201/202 |
| 200 |
201/202 |
| 300 or higher |
One 300 or higher level course |
|
|
*102/201 option requires the permission of the chair of the Languages Department.
International students who are fluent in a native language other than English are
exempt from the Foreign Language requirement.
Language Placement Test: Students who meet any the following conditions are required to take the placement test:
- All students who, in six years prior to enrollment at LVC, have completed at least one year of French, German or Spanish in high school, or at least one semester in college even if they are considering beginning study in a new language
- Native speakers of French, German or Spanish
- Students in whose home French, German or Spanish is the primary language
If a student chooses to take a level lower than the level indicated by these guidelines, up to 6 hours of elective credit can be granted. If a student would like to take a level higher than that indicated by the placement test, they should consult with a faculty member in the Languages Department.
Transfer Students: Transfer students who have completed a two semester (6-credit minimum) language sequence at another institution, subject to LVC’s transfer policy, will be considered to have satisfied the language requirement, regardless of placement or high school language study. For the purposes of this requirement, transfer students are those who, after graduating from high school, have attended another college or university for at least one semester prior to enrolling at LVC.
Exemptions: The language requirement may be waived, with permission from the chair of the Languages Department, for a foreign national (typically one who holds a student visa) who has grown up in a non-English speaking culture and successfully completed secondary school work taught in a language other than English. Official certification from the school of the language of instruction and completion of the TOEFL exam for entry into LVC will be required. Students who have competence in a language other than English and do not meet these requirements are encouraged to take the CLEP test (see CLEP section of this catalog) or another appropriate test approved in advance by the chair of the Languages Department and the Registrar.
Intercultural Diversity [ID]
Courses increase students’ global awareness by introducing
them to important aspects of societies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East
and Latin America to foster an understanding of cultural, social,
political, religious, or economic systems outside the European
tradition.
This requirement may be met through one of the following options:
- Successful completion of one course from the approved list below.
- Complete the Language requirement at the
intermediate level (201/202) or higher. Note: Entering students who
score a 4 or 5 on the AP language exam in Spanish, French, or
German must complete either one 300-level Language course or
one Intercultural Diversity course. Students who score a 4 or 5 on the AP
literature exam in Spanish, French, or German must complete one Intercultural Diversity course.
- Participate in a semester-long study-abroad program or
complete approved course work that involves substantial on-site
immersion in a foreign culture.
Approved courses:
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. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. 3 credits. |
| This course explores the culture and civilization of Francophone countries outside of France, countries where French is one of the languages spoken and where it is the main vehicle of literature and culture. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. Prerequisite: FRN 202 or equivalent. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. Prerequisite: GMN 202 or equivalent, permission of the instructor. 4 credits. |
| Latin American civilization from the emergence of independent states, relationships with the United States and the modern regional distinctions. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or permission of instructor. 3 credits. |
| A seminar on the history of South Africa especially from the 1920s to the present. Topics include colonization, conflicts between European settlers and natives, 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. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. Prerequisites: Junior standing or permission of the instructor. HIS 273 is recommended. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. Prerequisites: Junior standing or permission of the instructor, HIS 274 or 275 is recommended. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or permission of the instructor. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. 3 credits. |
| A study of diverse perspectives on the basic questions of philosophical inquiry: What is the nature of reality? What is the nature of the self? What is the nature of knowledge? By what standards do we evaluate truth claims? This course examines these questions from perspectives outside the classical philosophical approach rooted in the Mediterranean. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity.Writing Process. Prerequisites: Sophomore standing or permission of the instructor. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. 3 credits. |
| Sometimes called the cradle of civilization, the Middle East is home to approximately 330 million people, vast oil resources, and the world's fastest-growing religion. It also faces formidable political, social, and economic challenges. In fact, it may well be the most contentious region in the world today. This course examines selected domestic and international political developments in the modern Middle East. We discuss Arabism, political Islam, secular-religious tensions within and between Middle East states, and state-society relations (e.g., opposition movements, human rights, gender issues). We also analyze international relations within and without the region, namely the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Iraq-Iran conflict, and U.S. foreign policy toward the region (including the impact of the war on terrorism). We will supplement our readings and discussions with several films and periodic guest speakers (depending upon availability). An underlying theme of the course is the potential for democratization in the Middle East. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. 3 credits. |
| 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.) Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. 3 credits. |
| An examination of the religious traditions of Buddhism, from its historical development in ancient India to its spread across the entire globe. Students will engage a variety of materials, texts, archaeology, images, and anthropological descriptions, in order to gain a broad understanding of the tradition. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. 3 credits. |
| This course will introduce students to the historical origins and development of Islam. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. 3 credits. |
| An overview of Latin American cultures, history, and geography, with special focus on current issues. Fulfills general education requirement: Intercultural Diversity. Prerequisite: SPA 300, 310, or 311. 3 credits. |
Criteria for Intercultural Diversity courses:
- At least two-thirds of the content of these courses shall be devoted to studies of non-western cultures.
- Courses that involve comparisons of aspects of western and non-western societies or address factors that influence culture in non-western societies (e.g., geography, climate, environment, natural resources) are eligible as long as these other considerations are clearly subordinate to the primary goal of understanding different cultures.
American Social Diversity [AD]
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 American Social Diversity requirement.
Approved courses:
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. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity.Writing Process. 3 credits. (This course is cross-listed with PHL 229) |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. Prerequisite: ENG 120 or 200-level literature survey. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. Prerequisite: ENG 120 or 200-level literature survey. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. 3 credits. |
| This course incorporates a variety of approaches to working class studies: historical, sociological, cultural, and political. They will 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. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. 3 credits. |
| One of the central concerns of this course is the ability of music to represent American identity. Of particular interest are the historic contributions of minority peoples, particularly African Americans, to the rich diversity of musical styles in the United States. This course considers the importance of geographic and ethnic origins of a particular musical style as well as the consequences of a market-driven music industry which historically has privileged some people groups over others. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity.Writing Process. 3 credits. |
| An examination of the social, political, economic and cultural upheaval of the 1960s and 1970s in the historical context. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity.Writing Process. 3 credits. (This course is cross-listed with AMS 229) |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity.Writing Process. Prerequisites: Sophomore standing or permission of the instructor. PSC 215 recommended. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. Prerequisite: PSY 111 or 112, or junior-level psychology major or minor. 3 credits. |
| A study of the origin and development of religious expression in America. Special emphasis will be given to issues of religious diversity. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. Prerequisite: SOC 110. 3 credits. |
| 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. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. Prerequisite: SOC 110. 3 credits. |
| An examination of the patterns of structured inequality in American society, including a variety of minority, racial, and ethnic groups. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. Prerequisite: SOC 110. 3 credits. |
| This course is designed for Hispanic, Latinos or students that have been exposed to Spanish consistently at home when growing up, but who have had little, if any, formal schooling in Spanish. This class will include readings, movies and studies of geographical areas and maps in order to examine historic and social events represented in the students' countries of origin. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity. Prerequisite: SPA 202 or placement into 300-level or higher according to the placement test; permission of the instructor or chair. 3 credits. |
| This class will analyze contributions and conflicting experiences of Latinos in the United States through the examination of examples of literature, film, music and artwork. Fulfills general education requirement: American Social Diversity.Writing Process. Prerequisite: SPA 300. 3 credits. |
Criteria for American Social Diversity courses:
-
Courses focus on social diversity within the United States.
-
Courses require students to analyze critically how race, ethnicity, gender, economic class, sexual orientation, and/or religious convictions have divided and defined Americans.