Diversity, Civic Engagement, and Global Citizenship
In our globally connected world made up of complex, diverse communities, BU graduates will need to find their places i
BU’s founders envisioned an institution that fostered opportunity for people of every race, class, religion, and gender. From early on, BU has recruited students from around the globe and sent its alumni to every corner of the earth. Building on these commitments to inclusion, the Hub prepares students to engage with peoples and cultures abroad and within one’s local community, and with struggles for social justice. These learning outcomes take advantage of BU’s broad range of language programs and study abroad options, and abundant coursework in literature and the arts, cultures, societies, public issues, and development challenges of societies worldwide. They foster engagement with the city of Boston as well as our own diverse campus, which both offer many opportunities to learn from our neighbors and to appreciate and value complex social environments.
Students are required to fulfill four units in this capacity:
- The Individual in Community (1 unit)
- Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy (2 units)
- Ethical Reasoning (1 unit)
The Individual in Community
The ability to accept individual responsibility toward multiple communities, and to work as engaged members of diverse communities, is essential to all aspects of life in the 21st century.
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Over a lifetime, people move in and out of multiple communities that range from the family, to neighborhoods and cities, to professional and other organizations (which might be international), to larger units such as the nation. They may be defined by, among other things, race, class, ethnicity, nationality, gender, personal relationships, time, location, interests, and beliefs.
Students are required to fulfill one unit in this area.
Learning Outcomes
- Students will analyze at least one of the dimensions of experience—historical, racial, socioeconomic, political, gender, linguistic, religious, or cultural—that inform their own worldviews and beliefs as well as those of other individuals and societies.
- Students will participate respectfully in different communities such as campus, citywide, national, and international groups, and recognize and reflect on the issues relevant to those communities.
Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
Our world is interlinked socially, economically, culturally, and politically.
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View Learning Outcomes for Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy
An ability to orient ourselves when outside our cultural comfort zones (abroad, in a foreign-language context, in an unfamiliar neighborhood of Boston, for example) and to work with sensitivity with people from different backgrounds is necessary to success in the workplace and to living a productive, meaningful life.
Students are required to fulfill two units in this area. Courses in this area will have at least one of the following learning outcomes.
Learning Outcomes
- Students will demonstrate, through comparative analysis, an understanding of global diversity as expressed in at least two different languages, cultures, religions, political systems, or societies.
- Students will demonstrate detailed understanding of at least two cultural contexts through foreign language or culture study at BU, participation in a language or culture living-learning community at BU, or study abroad. This will involve reflection on the challenges and pleasures students discover in orienting themselves in new and unfamiliar cultures.
Ethical Reasoning
What should we care about? How should we behave in our personal, civic, and professional lives? Do laws have a moral basis?
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View Learning Outcomes for Ethical Reasoning
Learning to grapple competently with such fundamental ethical questions is a central component of citizenship and is critical to helping us understand ourselves not just as individuals, but also as parts of communities and custodians of the Earth. Ethical reasoning is part of Boston University’s distinguishing tradition of social justice.
Students are required to fulfill one unit in this area.
Learning Outcomes
- Students will be able to identify, grapple with, and make a judgment about the ethical questions at stake in at least one major contemporary public debate, and engage in a civil discussion about it with those who hold views different from their own.
- Students will demonstrate the skills and vocabulary needed to reflect on the ethical responsibilities that face individuals (or organizations, or societies, or governments) as they grapple with issues affecting both the communities to which they belong and those identified as “other.” They should consider their responsibilities to future generations of humankind, and to stewardship of the Earth.
