Transformative Learning through Cross-Cultural Analysis

Course Number: 82-290

This course seeks to prepare students for informed, critical, and transformative engagement with communities other than their own, in particular this course will engage students who have or are preparing to study abroad. We will examine some theoretical debates about learning in study abroad contexts and about the development of intercultural capacities as frameworks for the class. Students are encouraged to approach past and present societal and personal concepts, issues, themes, and problems globally and locally using a student-centered, discovery-focused, inquiry-based approach to analyze multiple perspectives. A primary course objective is for students to critically discover how and why societies dictate what people think about things, promote personal values and assumptions, and the resulting impact of social discourse and dominant norms on cross-cultural relations. The goal is that students discover how their own habits, behaviors, and actions can be influenced or transformed by this critical cultural analysis approach. In addition to analyzing their own behaviors, students will also conduct research on specific norms and cultural practices in different global contexts, according to their interests. The instructors role will be to provide content and structure, encourage students to contribute additional content, and supervise students guided inquiries and case-based projects (written, oral, visual, digital).

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Units: VAR
Prerequisite(s): None