Contemporary International Culture (I) Courses

Contemporary international culture (I) courses emphasize contemporary cultures outside the United States. Goals of “I” courses are to prepare students to critically analyze one or more contemporary cultures external to the United States; understand how contemporary international cultures relate to complex, modern world systems; and demonstrate their understanding through written work that provides them the opportunity to enhance their writing skills.

Requirements

Students will examine current interactions of groups or cultures external to the United States within their political, economic, ideological, or natural contexts.
Students will understand how current international cultures relate to complex, systems related to oppression, political ideology, globalization, or other similar dynamics.
Students will demonstrate their understanding through written work that provides them the opportunity to enhance their writing skills; upper division “I” courses will include extensive written work.
1. Writing assignments must be weighted in the grading scheme such that students are discouraged from skipping the assignment (i.e. writing assignments are worth a minimum 10% of the overall grade).
2. Writing assignments must be tied to the purpose/requirements of the “I” designation.
3. The minimum required number of pages may be encompassed in one or multiple assignment/s. Informal writing assignments (like journals or class notes) and group projects will not count toward writing minimum. Multiple drafts of the same work cannot be counted twice in the cumulative page minimum.
4. Lower-division courses must include at least five pages of out-of-class written assignments or essays.
5. Upper-division courses must include at least ten pages of out-of-class written assignments or essays. Instructors must provide feedback that students can incorporate in subsequent writing assignments (by revising and resubmitting a single assignment or submitting multiple assignments). At least one writing assignment must be at least 4 pages in length.
In courses worth three or more credit hours, at least one-half of the course materials must relate to international cultural perspectives on the present times. A course that is fewer than three credit hours must be entirely devoted to these groups. A detailed class schedule should be included on the course syllabus to confirm content minimum has clearly been met.