Graduates of Montana State University face an ever-changing and increasingly complex world. A carefully informed understanding of multiple identities and cultures, both within the United States and beyond, helps create a campus community that is committed to intellectual inquiry and prepares students to be members of a diverse global community.
Diversity courses focus on identity (race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, nationality, ability, etc.); the study of languages other than English; and/or traditionally marginalized or less frequently studied societies, nations, and/or cultures.
The course must focus in in-depth analytical and critical attention to difference and to historical, cultural, and/or social contexts, with an emphasis on class discussion and active student engagement.
In addition to this primary criterion, the course will meet one of the following criteria listed below:
- The course examines identity in relation to race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, nationality, ability, and/or other axes of difference.
- The course teaches a language other than English and includes the examination of the culture(s) that speak(s) the language.
- The course examines the historical, political, cultural, and/or social forces that foster systemic disparities based on difference, and critically examines concepts of difference within these systems.
Student Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete a Diversity-designated course will demonstrate one or more of the following:
- An analytical and critical understanding of diversity within societies, nations, and/or cultures.
- Knowledge of a language other than English and the culture(s) that speak(s) that language.
- An analytical and critical understanding of particular, traditionally marginalized, or less frequently studied societies, nations, and/or cultures and an understanding of cultural difference in relation to those societies, nations, and/or cultures.