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Category Description

An awareness of cultures in countries other than the United States deepens our understanding of the diverse world in which we live and our place in it. When we step beyond our limited cultural surroundings and attempt to enter into the minds of others in the world community, we are often confronted with values and perspectives that challenge our beliefs and assumptions. The liberally educated individual whose philosophy of life is solidly grounded in human and humane principles should understand cultural diversity and be equipped to deal with it with empathy and sensitivity. Foreign language courses and foreign culture courses taught in English provide this important dimension of a liberal arts education.

Goals

1.      To recognize the need to avoid prejudice, provincialism and cultural and linguistic chauvinism;

2.      to understand and appreciate with empathy cultural values, patterns and points of view different from one's own;

3.      to be better prepared to deal with cross-cultural contacts;

4.      to develop new insights into human and cultural values;

5.      to understand that language is an integral part of a national heritage;

6.      to develop a broader perspective on one's own language and culture by comparing it with another;

7.      to develop a global perspective which recognizes the political, economic and cultural interdependence of all nations.

Objectives

1.      To assess and appreciate with deeper insight and sensitivity the culture of a foreign people;

2.      to analyze the interrelation of the geography, history and cultural achievements of a foreign nation;

3.      to compare and contrast the American mode of thinking, creating, behaving and communicating with a foreign mode;

4.      to master a clearly defined body of knowledge drawn from the culture, e.g., from the language, literature, history, contemporary culture, etc., of a foreign people.