Multicultural
Studies
To ensure that
students learn of diversity in the human condition and become
acquainted with methods of inquiry for understanding and respecting
cultural differences, in 1991 the Oberlin College faculty
adopted a cultural diversity requirement for the B.A. degree.
The requirement is based on the belief that well-educated
persons in today's interdependent world should study and analyze
cultures other than their own. By observing distinctions in
class, ethnicity, gender, language, race, religion, and sexual
orientation, students can comprehend the differences that
have historically set social groups apart from one another,
and develop a greater capacity for intellectual open-mindedness
and tolerance.
By establishing
the areas of course work described below, the faculty recognizes
the different approaches to cultural diversity. Some courses
provide appreciation of specific cultures and societies, whether
non-Western or Western, through the study of language, history,
or thought. Others stress cross-cultural approaches in understanding
cultural differences.
The cultural
diversity requirement is not intended to promote the subordination
of the Western tradition to other traditions. Rather, it is
founded on the belief that breadth in a liberal arts education
involves exposure not only to the three divisions of higher
learning (the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Sciences),
but also to cross-cultural and multicultural analysis. The
faculty views the cultural diversity requirement as an expression
of the College's long-standing commitment to a genuinely pluralistic
community of scholars.
Cultural
Diversity Requirement.
All students, including transfer students, double-degree students,
and students changing divisions from Conservatory to College,
are subject to the cultural diversity requirement. The Multicultural
Studies Committee administers the requirement.
To satisfy
the requirement, students must earn at least nine credit hours
in courses with the CD (cultural diversity) designation. The
nine credit hours must be earned in at least two different
departments or programs. These courses may count simultaneously
toward the nine hours required in each division.
The categories
of courses designated as CD include the following:
1. Courses
whose primary emphasis is on cultures whose origins lie outside
the Western tradition (including various minority cultures
in the United States);
or
2. Courses
whose primary emphasis is on methods of analyzing and interpreting
cultural differences (e.g., differences of language, gender,
race, ethnicity, religion, and class);
or
3. Courses
whose primary emphasis is on cultural pluralism within the
Western tradition.
Additionally,
all courses taught in a language other than English are
designated CD.
The many
courses designated CD offer students considerable breadth
in the study of cultural diversity. In all, this catalog
contains several hundred CD courses representing more than
twenty departments and programs.
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