Cornell University’s arts and sciences department may soon change its course requirements in favor of more diversity. Its committee on curriculum is advising for the implementation of a “human difference” course requirement in a recent report.
Other requirements will include courses in arts and literature, biological sciences, ethics and the mind, global citizenship, historical analysis, physical sciences, science of society, statistics and data science, symbolic and mathematical reasoning.
The study of “human difference” is the exploration of what makes certain humans different from others, such as race, culture, gender, and more. The change is meant to reshape and innovate Cornell’s curriculum in an effort to utilize graduation requirements to their highest potential, according to Cornell.
Human difference and global citizenship requirements will replace the former “cultural analysis” requirement the department previously had in place.
Students can fulfill the “human difference” stipulation by completing courses “that take race, nationality, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or ability as an object of study.”
“By further adjusting our distributional categories to include global and historical breadth as well as diversity, we can simplify and streamline our curriculum while encouraging exploration across various disciplines,” the committee’s final report explains.
In order to fulfill the global citizenship requirement, students are required to take courses focusing on political systems and societies other than the United States, Canada, and Western Europe.
The committee assures in their report that moving forward with this new curriculum is in the best interest of students in the arts and sciences department.
“By identifying new distribution categories such as Global Citizenship, Human Difference, Science of Society, and Statistics and Data Science, we recommend that the College of Arts and Science stakes the claim that an engaged global citizen has some exposure to human diversity, global issues, and data and evidence,” the committee claims. “These curricular innovations do not compete with the other areas of the liberal arts and sciences; instead, they complement them.”
