<p>S1 will be a senior and still needs to fulfill his global requirement. He really wants to take a January course to Cuba. The head of the Global Heritage program says this does not fulfill the requirement because Cuba is too “Western”. </p>
<p>S1 needs a convincing argument…thoughts or examples from your child’s school?</p>
<p>Here is the course description:</p>
<p>Political science professor Jeffrey R, along with psychology and neuroscience professor Penny S, designed the course to enhance students’ global perspectives by exploring the impact of socialism on Cuba and by exploring differences and similarities between the Cuban and American political and economic systems. Furthermore, students will examine the impact of living under a restrictive political system and a failing economy, with a special emphasis on the biological and psychological consequences of living in this chronically stressful situation.</p>
<p>Sounds like an interesting course.
But how is the requirement for global learning worded?
Is it a distribution requirement or requirement for his major?
Usually it is up to the prof to determine if their course meets the requirements.</p>
<p>I have to say, having looked at the specific requirement and the courses that have been designated as meeting it – your son isn’t likely to succeed here.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>It’s clear that “Global Heritage” generally means Asia or Africa. It is a contrast to “Western Heritage”. At least 90% of the approved courses focus on Asia or Africa.</p></li>
<li><p>They also generally focus on culture, not political systems or the neurobiology of economic stress.</p></li>
<li><p>The college has a faculty committee that reviews courses to determine whether they meet the Global Heritage requirement. The chance that this course has not been reviewed is nil. So you are not asking that a snap judgment be considered more carefully; you are asking to reverse a considered decision by a standing committee. And if they let your son use this to satisfy his GH requirement, they would have to extend that to all of the other students on the trip, and worry about whether they should say something now to give others the chance to sign up for it if they were avoiding it because it didn’t have GH designation. Good luck with that.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>That said, there are a couple of courses that don’t fit the mold, quite. An ecology-oriented trip to Nicaragua qualifies, as does a course about Jewish culture. It’s hard to see either of those as significantly more “Gobal” than the Cuba trip. </p>
<p>My guess is that the profs who are leading the Cuba trip tried to get it designated Global Heritage and failed. Your son is not likely to get that reversed on the merits.</p>
<p>emeraldkitty - it is a distribution requirement</p>
<p>JHS -once again the voice of reason and logic…thank you! Apparently the ecology trip qualifies since one of the three weeks is spent assisting with medical care for a village. I too was confused about the Jewish culture, especially since it is taking place in Poland.</p>
<p>Actually, it’s kind of a charming anachronism. In the old days – meaning until sometime in mid-20th Century – Jews were “Orientals” as far as the dominant Western European culture was concerned. You can get a strong sense of that by reading Ivanhoe, or George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda. My very WASPy, and then very old, 11th grade English teacher once told me that I was quite clever but had “a disturbingly Oriental cast of mind.” I knew exactly what he was trying to say.</p>
<p>From the standpoint of America, it’s hard to distinguish between the Jewish and non-Jewish cultures of Eastern Europe. They seem practically identical, except for having pork sausages or not. But back when Poland actually had Jews, from the perspective of mainstream Polish culture, high or low, they probably registered the way gypsies might today – foreign, somewhat Asiatic, very suspicious.</p>
<p>How about a study of some aspect of Afro-Cuban culture? That might have enough of an African focus to qualify. Look at the sections on religion and music in this article:
[Afro-Cuban</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-Cuban]Afro-Cuban”>Afro-Cubans - Wikipedia)</p>