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Memorandum

UHH Home > Faculty & Staff > General Education for Faculty

April 25, 2006

TO: Jene Michaud, Chair, UH-Hilo Congress

THROUGH: Marilyn Brown, Chair, General Education Committee

FROM: Thora Abarca, H. W. Hennessey, Jr., and Michael Shintaku, Members, General Education Committee

RE: Minority report on the issue of allowing language courses for World Cultures credit

The 2005-2006 General Education Committee was strongly divided on the issue of inclusion of language courses for credit under the World Cultures hallmarks. This provision passed with a one-vote margin. This memorandum expresses the views of the minority in that vote.

The inclusion of an exception for language courses under the World Cultures hallmarks is an explicit recognition that language courses as traditionally offered would not meet at least some of the other hallmarks that the Committee has adopted for this content area. In summary, the intention of that set of hallmarks was to define standards that emphasized the broad examination of multiple societies and cultural traditions and the interactions between those societies and cultures.

While the study of a single language may involve the study of several cultures, especially when the study is of the languages of the former colonial powers, it is our view that the broad comparison of cultures with the emphasis on social and cultural institutions and practices that we envision as the hallmark of a World Cultures course is not likely to be the main thrust. For that reason, we opposed the exception that would allow language courses to satisfy the World Cultures requirement.

This issue arose from what the minority viewed as a misplaced concern for the ability of students to apply more than one language course to general education requirements. Our survey of students (n = 219) found that virtually none (2.2%) reported this as a reason for not studying languages.

The overall proposal of the General Education Committee provides for mandated breadth of coverage of content with a small set of courses in the Basic and Area Requirements. The minority believes, in the end, that this substitution of a language course for a World Cultures course is inconsistent with the intent of the World Cultures requirement. Furthermore, by allowing the student to concentrate coursework in a single area, it undermines the breadth that is intended in this portion of the proposed curriculum.

The minority sees the general electives portion of the various curricula offered by the University as part of the student’s General Education. We believe the remainder of the Committee would agree on this point. Those credits provide the opportunity for students to pursue greater depth or breadth in the content of their education as they desire. They certainly provide opportunity for students to take as many language courses as they wish.