Dennis DeTurck: Creating a cultural requirement

At the School of Arts and Sciences faculty meeting last Thursday, a majority of those present voted to approve the description of the Cross-Cultural Analysis component of the College's new general education requirement. As frequently happens with such important decisions, they also asked that the matter be put to a vote of the whole faculty in a mail ballot in the next few weeks, so the final determination of this matter rests on the outcome of the mail ballot.

Last spring, the faculty had approved the framework of the new curriculum, including the CCA, and had directed the Committee on Undergraduate Education to produce language that describes the requirement it had formulated. It is this language that was the subject of Thursday's vote.

As noted elsewhere, courses that will fulfill this requirement emphasize the study of cultures outside the United States. However, as reported in Thursday's Daily Pennsylvanian, a number of College students, SAS faculty and others have voiced the concern that the important issues of cultural diversity and inequality within the United States are not addressed specifically anywhere in the general education requirements.

Indeed, these issues have been the subjects of ongoing discussions among the faculty throughout the process and of the thoughtful debate and discussion that occurred before the faculty vote on Thursday.

To my mind, the most remarkable aspect of the entire curriculum initiative has been the level and intensity of the engagement of a large fraction of the SAS faculty -- in the faculty forums we have held over the last year-and-a-half, at meetings, and in countless informal discussions. And at last week's meeting, the faculty committed to the continuation of this engagement by unanimously passing a motion to direct the CUE to formulate a proposal for a "within the United States" counterpart to the CCA requirement for consideration at the April SAS faculty meeting.

The Cross-Cultural Analysis requirement is a new kind of requirement for the College. Its development last spring occurred against the backdrop of world events such as 9/11 and the situation in Iraq, which underscored why understanding the cultures of other parts of the world, as opposed to how the United States exports or imposes its culture and society on them, is an indispensable part of the education of global citizens.

Similarly, a requirement to study cultures within the United States would be a new kind of requirement for the College.

Of course, the issues and tensions among groups within the United States are not new. However, it could be that the faculty is now prepared to discuss the formulation of this additional requirement in the wake of recent events such as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which underscored the importance of understanding diversity and inequality.

Developing this new requirement will not be easy work. First, it will be necessary to understand what its precise nature and goals should be. We will then need to identify or if necessary develop sufficiently many courses that address these goals.

Throughout the process, the College and CUE will continue to seek suggestions and advice from many sources -- through faculty and student forums, to be sure, and through discussions and consultation with the faculty and student committees and groups who have been working to understand and address these issues and keep them in the public eye.

I believe we are up to the task, and I'm looking forward to working with many of you on it in the months ahead.

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