Guidelines for Non-Western Culture Courses

(Taken from a memo to Chairs and Program Directors dated October 30, 1985)

The purpose of a Non-Western Culture Course requirement is to acquaint students with the culture, society, and values of a non-Western people. This must be understood to include peoples indigenous to Asia, the Pacific Islands, the Middle East, and Africa, as well as autochthonous Native American cultures.

The committee may consider the inclusion of courses which meet the spirit of this requirement but which deal with peoples in geographical areas other than those specifically mentioned above. However, at least 75% of the contents of such courses must be related to a non-Western culture or cultures.

Since completion of a non-Western culture course is a graduation requirement, it may be offered at any undergraduate (100-699) level.

Elementary language courses, which focus principally on language and only tangentially on culture, will not satisfy this requirement. The committee may accept advanced language courses, which are usually beyond the second-year level and deal with a substantial portion of non-Western culture and literature.

A course may be designated both as a non-Western culture course and as a Principal Course which can satisfy a distribution requirement. However, a student cannot take this course to satisfy both requirements.