CEPP GUIDELINES (03/26/01)
GUIDELINES FOR CULTURE-CENTERED INQUIRY
To acquire the perspective available through study of unfamiliar cultural systems,
each student must, prior to graduation, successfully complete one course designated
by the Curriculum Committee as satisfying either the Non-Western Cultures or
Cultural Diversity requirement.
1. Non-Western Cultures:
In completing a Non-Western Cultures course students are encouraged to study
culture(s) markedly different from their own.
a. The students may focus on a particular dimension of a culture or culture-area
(e.g., social institutions, artistic productions, religious beliefs, historical
experiences) as an organizing principle, but that dimension must be continuously
placed in reference to others that also significantly shape the culture(s) in
question;
b. If the context for these courses is comparative and cross-cultural in nature
the students must study in depth a culture, cultures, or culture area; such
comparative courses will be focused on a small number of cultures;
c. The students will focus on cultures that are neither European, nor derived
from European culture. This criterion will normally include the cultures of
Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the indigenous, pre-European cultures of Australia
and of the Western Hemisphere. Courses concerning areas with both Western and
non-Western elements such as the Near East or the Western Hemisphere must include
a significant focus on non-Western culture or cultures, e.g., American Indians
in the case of the Western Hemisphere, or Muslim peoples in the case of the
Near East;
d. If the context for the course material is historical in nature, the students
will not deal primarily with cultures from which Western culture is derived,
e.g., ancient Greece or ancient Israel, nor with cultures that are primarily
influenced by Western culture, e.g., modern Israeli, Brazilian, or Afro-American
culture history, unless such a course meets criterion "c" above.
2. Cultural Diversity:
In completing a Cultural Diversity course students are encouraged to compare
at least two markedly different cultures, one of which must be non-Western in
origin.
a. Students investigate the interaction of peoples from culturally distinct
origins within a given socio-political context. These courses may focus on diversity
in the United States or on inter-cultural relations in other contexts. However,
at least one of the groups examined will have non-Western origins;
b. Students examine the non-Western cultural forces that are manifest in the
interaction of peoples of non-Western origin with peoples of Western backgrounds,
and they pay particular attention to the cross-cultural influences that shape
such interactions. These forces and influences will be examined from the perspectives
of the peoples involved;
c. The socio-political context for the interaction between the groups studied
need not be non-Western;
d. Students study interactions between two populations, one of which must be
non-Western in origin. These may include diasporic populations that are not
traditionally considered to be Western in origin (e.g., African-Americans, Asian-Americans,
South African Indians) as well as commonly included non-Western populations.
GUIDELINES FOR HUMANITIES COURSES
Humanities: Students examine and reflect upon human culture
as expressed in historical tradition, literature and languages, art and music,
ideas and beliefs. Students learn about diverse heritages, customs and values
that form patterns and analogies, but not general laws. Students also examine
the influence of ideas on individual actions and their combined effects on larger
social institutions and movements. Students learn about the humanities’
search for an understanding of the unique value of the particulars within human
contexts.
Courses in this category are typically, but not exclusively, offered in art
history, classics, dance, literature (in English and in other languages) music,
philosophy.
GUIDELINES FOR SOCIAL SCIENCE COURSES
Social Sciences: Students study patterns of human behavior and institutions
and social structures that human beings have created. They learn about the origins,
functions, dynamics and relations of large-scale social forces (such as institutions
and cultures) and their intersections with the individual and small groups.
Students may explore the connections between historical processes and contemporary
social issues, examining how institutions and cultural patterns change over
time. Social science uses scientific and/or humanistic approaches, relying on
comparative analysis, theoretical modeling, and the analysis and interpretation
of quantitative or qualitative data. Students learn the evaluative criteria
for analyses of social phenomena.
Courses in the Social Sciences are typically, but not exclusively, offered in
American Studies, anthropology, economics, government, history and sociology.
GUIDELINES FOR NATURAL SCIENCE COURSES
Natural Sciences: Students actively engage in the process of understanding the
natural world through the use of scientific methods. They gain some sense of
the power of these methodologies in understanding our universe, as well as the
limitations. Students study phenomena that are the product of natural processes
and are primarily known through the senses rather than only through thought
or intuition. Through the laboratory component of courses meeting this requirement,
students will design and execute experiments (where appropriate as dictated
by the discipline), collect data by observation and/or experimentation, and
analyze data. Student learning goals thus include mastery of both content and
process.
Courses in this category are typically, but not exclusively, offered in biology,
chemistry, exercise science, geoscience, physics, and psychology.
(1) Students should have experience thinking about and working with objects
and events that are known through the senses rather than only through thought
or intuition.
(2) Students will participate in a weekly laboratory component of at least two
hours. The laboratory and the classroom should form mutually interacting parts
of a continuing conversation about the natural phenomena that students will
study. In the laboratory, students should investigate and strive for scientific
conclusions about those natural phenomena under study. Laboratory work should
help students:
a. design and execute scientifically meaningful observations and/or measurements
of particular natural systems;
b. appreciate the character of observational and measuring instruments and the
relationships between the instruments and what is to be studied;
c. place observation and/or measurement in a larger scientific context and thereby
assess the reasonableness of the data they collect;
d. organize, analyze, and interpret the data they collect and report conclusions
in a scientifically meaningful way.
GUIDELINES FOR ARTS COURSES
Arts: Students actively engage in the making or performing of artworks as modes
of creative invention, interpretation, expression, and discovery. Through the
critique and analysis of artworks, students develop a context for and an understanding
of their own creative output as well as the creations of others. The fundamental
student learning goals include the advancement of technical proficiency and
the refinement of critical aesthetic sensibility. Students directly experience
the thought processes and actions involved in the creation of artistic forms
and should learn how to analyze, interpret and criticize such forms.
Courses in this category are typically, but not exclusively, offered in creative
writing, dance, music, studio (visual) art, and theater.
(1) Students will participate actively in the creation of art, literature or
performance by focusing on skill development and/or the development of specialized
techniques either through the creation of new work or through the performance
of existing works. Students will develop a certain skill level that may be project-specific,
or connected to a department's performance season.
(2) Students will engage in critical thinking and reflective thought as integral
parts of the arts and the creative process. They will gain exposure to the historical,
cultural, analytical, and/or critical appraisal and interpretation of artistic
forms and will develop abilities to conceptualize, comprehend and to discuss
the artistic process and its products.