Dr. William Boyer, Coordinator
Cluster Four Learning Objectives
Rapid changes are taking place
in today’s world that are transforming our lives. In order to make informed judgments
about the causes of these changes, their underlying dynamics and the
implications they hold for the future, students must become critical thinkers
about their own societies and the larger global community. Students must learn
how to frame questions, develop strategies of inquiry, build upon past
scholarship and make connections between distinct disciplines of study. Cluster
Four courses help students develop these capabilities through an examination of
the key social and cultural processes and structures that shape the human
experience. Students will take one course that focuses on the American
experience and one course that examines the global experience.
The Cluster Four courses that
students must take are not sequenced so that either part of the cluster may be
taken first or they may be taken concurrently. Students may not take two
courses from the same discipline in completing the Cluster Four requirement.
Cluster Four Package
The American Experience
Each of the American Experience courses provides students
with an understanding of the major themes and concepts that structure American
life today. GHIST 225 does so through a contextual and
document-based study of the American historical experience. Emphasis is placed
on understanding the interaction of people, ideas and social movements.
GPOSC 225 focuses more narrowly on the
evolution and operation of the American political system in presenting major
themes and concepts. It does so by examining the fundamental principles on
which American political institutions are based and using social science
research methodology to examine competing claims about the current functioning
of the American political system.
Choose one of the following:
GHIST 225. U.S. History
GPOSC 225. U.S. Government
The Global Experience
Each of the courses in the Global Experience is an
investigation into a series of global issues that are of great importance to
the human community. Topics discussed will vary from course to course. These
global issues are examined in a systemic context that allows students to see
connections between disciplines and the multidisciplinary nature of the issues
they are studying.
Choose one of the following:
GANTH 195. Cultural Anthropology
GECON 200. Macroeconomics
GGEOG 200. Geography: The Global Dimension
GPOSC 200. Global Politics
GSOCI 210. Social Issues in a Global Context
Cluster Four Learning Objectives
American Experience
Students completing this part of Cluster Four will be able to
identify, conceptualize and evaluate
§
Social and political processes and structures using
quantitative and qualitative data
§
Key primary sources relating to American history,
political institutions and society
§
The nature and development of the intellectual concepts
that structure American political activity
§
The history and operation of American democratic
institutions
§
The history and development of American society
§
The history and development of American involvement in
world affairs
Global Experience
Students completing this part of Cluster Four will be able to
identify, conceptualize and evaluate
§
Basic global problems
§
Global political, social, cultural and economic systems
§
The issues involved in analyzing societies different
from one’s own
§
The global forces that shape societies
§
Theoretical models used in studying global problems
§
The strengths and limitations of alternative solutions
to global problems across and within cultures
