The Intercultural Perspectives-US requirement is designed to teach students about cultural diversity within the United States.
Intercultural Perspectives-US courses should help students develop cultural humility, appreciation of cultures different from their own, and an ability to identify their own cultural identities and biases.
Areas of diversity appropriate for study in this part of the curriculum include race, ethnicity, social class, gender, disability, and religious faith.
Each course should be designed in a manner which will assist students in thinking critically about the effects of inequality, prejudice, and discrimination within the pluralistic context of contemporary society.
Each course should assist students in responding appropriately as Christians to the increasing diversity of society.
Each course should assist students in reflecting on the role of social structures in serving diverse populations and the responsibility of citizens to contribute constructively to the publics to which they belong.
Required reading should reflect the interdisciplinary nature of the course and should include primary sources in each of the major conceptualizations of diversity and pluralism under study in the course. Primary sources are defined as those written by individuals who are personally identified within the respective social context.
Faculty members teaching the courses should
have a broad knowledge of the literature relevant to the areas of pluralism and diversity under study, as developed through either formal academic study or extensive independent reading and research;
be familiar with relevant aspects of the various disciplines which serve as the basis for the content developed in the course; and
be prepared to integrate the various disciplinary perspectives within the course, allowing each to facilitate an enhanced understanding of the other.