U.S. Cultures and Communities and International Perspectives

Requirements

Approved by the Faculty Senate on May 4, 2021; approved by the Executive Board on behalf of the Faculty Senate July 23, 2021

(Approved by the FSCC 10/2/96; revised 5/2/97, 11/25/97, 4/28/98, 3/30/00, 4/10/09, 9/7/18, 4/28/21)

One of Iowa State University’s goals is to prepare its students to meet the challenges of responsible citizenship and effective professional roles in a culturally diverse global community and workplace. To help achieve this goal, all undergraduate students must fulfill graduation requirements in two areas: U.S. Cultures and Communities and International Perspectives. At a minimum, students can fulfill this requirement with three credits of course work (or the equivalent in some alternative academic experience) for each area. In most cases, courses used to meet the U.S. Cultures and Communitiesand International Perspectives requirements can also be used to fulfill general education requirements of the student’s college or requirements of the student’s major. Students should consult with advisors for details of the requirements in particular majors.

The focus of the U.S. Cultures and Communities requirement is understanding the social complexity of human beings based on analytical categories such as race, ethnicity, or gender, and the ways those categories have excluded historically marginalized groups. Intersectional understandings of diversity consider other categories of identity (e.g. sexuality, culture, and religion) related to race and ethnicity. A diverse and robust education means exploring these social complexities in a structured learning environment to familiarize students with the historical, societal, and political contributions of diverse populations. 

Through completion of the U.S. Cultures and Communities requirement, students will achieve at least three of the following learning outcomes:

  • Identify the experiences and contributions of underrepresented or marginalized groups and how they have shaped the history and culture of the United States.
  • Understand the analytical concepts of culture, ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality and/or religion and be able to apply these concepts to an analysis of the United States.
  • Analyze systemic oppression and personal prejudice and their impact on marginalized communities and the broader U.S. society.
  • Evaluate important aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion so they can live, work, and collaborate with others in the 21st century United States.

The focus of the International Perspectives requirement is the global community. Its objective is to promote students’ understanding of cultural diversity and interdependence on a global scale. A period of immersion in a foreign culture is often a particularly effective way of meeting these objectives, so Iowa State University encourages the use of study-abroad experiences as a means of fulfilling the International Perspectives requirement. International students, because they are “studying abroad” from their home country’s perspective, are normally deemed to have met the International Perspectives requirement.
Through completion of the International Perspectives requirement, students will achieve at least two learning outcomes such as those listed below.
Students will be able to:

  • Analyze the accuracy and relevancy of their own worldviews and anticipate how people from other nations may perceive that worldview.
  • Describe and analyze how cultures and societies around the world are formed, are sustained, and evolve.
  • Analyze and evaluate the influence of global issues in their own lives.
  • Describe the values and perspectives of cultures other than their own and discuss how they influence individuals’ perceptions of global issues and/or events.
  • Communicate competently in a second language.
     

Military Veterans

The International Perspective requirement shall be waived for U.S. military veterans who have completed at least 3 months of service stationed outside of the United States. (Approved by the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee, Academic Standards and Admissions Committee, Academic Affairs Council and Executive Board of the Faculty Senate.) More information

Guidelines

(Revised by FSCC 4/09)
1. Fulfilling the U.S. Cultures and Communities requirement.

The approved course list for U.S. Cultures and Communities is found at the following web address: https://www.registrar.iastate.edu/students/div-ip-guide/uscultures-courses.

Courses will be added to the U.S. Cultures and Communities list when approved by the Committee: https://www.facsen.iastate.edu/us-cultures-and-communities-committee. For an Iowa State University course to receive the a U.S. Cultures and Communities course notation, it must be submitted for approval through the USCC Committee website. Review of a transfer course to be considered for the U.S. Cultures and Communities requirement follows the same process; requestors must choose the "Process for Transfer Courses" section of the portal.

 

2. Use of Transfer credit for U.S. Cultures and Communities requirement.

For courses that transfer in as specific ISU courses, the transfer credit will fulfill the U.S. Cultures and Communities requirement if the counterpart ISU course fulfills the requirement. If the transfer course does not have an equivalent ISU course, use the following instructions:

  • Non-Equivalent Transfer Course taken in Fall 2023 or later
    • Must be reviewed by the U.S. Cultures and Communities Course Requirements Committee
    • Go to the USCC Committee website, click on the “US Cultures and Communities Course Requirement Proposal Submission Portal” and follow the directions
      • You will be added to a Canvas site, complete and submit a form, and submit the course syllabus
      • The entire process is detailed on the Canvas site (scroll down for the transfer process)
      • NOTE:  Transfer courses can be submitted at any time, but will be reviewed between August 15 and May 15
    • The academic advisor will be notified of the committee’s decision via email. If approval is granted by the committee, submit an APR Override request to apply the course as a U.S. Cultures and Communities and attach the approval message to the request. 
  • Non-Equivalent Transfer Course taken prior to Fall 2023
    • If student is on the 2022 catalog or earlier:

      • Review saved PDF of degree audit; if course was previously approved submit an APR Override request to apply the course, and note in the comments that it was previously approved. 

      • If the course does not appear on the audit PDF, submit an APR override request to apply the course to the U.S. Cultures and Communities requirement.  Include the syllabus/course description, term and course name on the request. 

    • If student is on the 2023 catalog and took the course PRIOR to Fall 2023:
      • Submit an APR override request to apply the course to the U.S. Cultures and Communities requirement.  Include the syllabus/course description, term and course name on the request. 


3. Use of transfer and testout credit in meeting the International Perspectives requirement.
For courses that transfer in as specific ISU courses, the transfer credit will fulfill the requirement if the counterpart ISU course fulfills the requirement. (Whether it does will, of course, depend on the student's current major.) Likewise, testout credit in a course that meets the requirement will also suffice. For courses that carry transfer credit but do not have a specific ISU equivalent, two parties will have to agree to the use of the credit in fulfilling the requirement: the department or program responsible for the student's major and the department or program responsible for the designator under which the course appears on the ISU record. For example, if a course in a world language not offered at ISU transfers as WLC 100, World Languages and Cultures will have to approve the use of the course in meeting the International Perspectives requirement. The Office of the Registrar will maintain a list of courses without equivalent ISU courses that have been approved for International Perspectives. The Transfer Course Request (to meet IP requirement) is used to route the request through the appropriate offices.

4. Requests for substitutions and waivers for the International Perspectives requirement.
All requests to apply non-approved courses, non-credit experiences or waivers of the requirement are initiated by the advisor via an APR Override request in Workday. Once initiated, requests for substitution or waivers automatically route through Workday to obtain the approval of the student’s college dean (or representative), and the Provost (or representative). Substitutions or waivers are done on an individual student basis.
Substitutions: A request to substitute another course and/or experience to meet one of the requirements must include justification/documentation on how the intended learning outcomes for International Perspectives were achieved through the substitute course/experience. Students can request a substitution for a non-approved course, a segment of a non-approved course, or an appropriate noncredit experience.
Waiver. Requests for waivers will ordinarily be based on aspects of the student's personal experience that the student believes have enabled him or her to meet the intent of the requirement. International students - defined as those students whose citizenship status is coded N (for nonimmigrant) or R (for refugee or asylee) on their official university record - are exempted from the International Perspectives requirement because these students, by living and studying in a country other than their home country for an extended period, are meeting the objectives of that requirement in what is perhaps the ideal way. If a student supports a waiver request with evidence of personal experience or activities with multicultural or international aspects, these experiences or activities must be of an academic nature although not necessarily credit-bearing. Course credits are not awarded for approved waivers; only the requirement is waived.

5. Study abroad experiences and the International Perspectives requirement.

Academic study abroad experiences (at the university-level, offered by Iowa State or transferrable to Iowa State) and work experiences (under the auspices of Iowa State University cooperative education or internships), involving a stay in a foreign country of three weeks or greater duration will meet the International Perspectives requirement regardless of the content of the course. An approved ISU study abroad course involving international travel for less than three weeks will also meet the International Perspectives requirement regardless of the content of the course if it carries three of more academic credits. While additional approval is not needed to apply the circumstances outlined here in item #5, advisors must initiate an APR Waiver request to officially mark the International Perspectives requirement as waived. 


6. High school world language study and the International Perspectives requirement.
High school world language study will not, by itself, fulfill the International Perspectives requirement. A student who has done a significant amount of high school-level world language study may, however, fulfill the International Perspectives requirement by earning testout credit in the 1020 course (or higher) in a world language.

7. Modifying the lists of courses approved for use in meeting the International Perspectives requirement.
The approved course list is found at the following web address: http://www.registrar.iastate.edu/students/div-ip-guide/IntlPerspectives-current.

The final decision regarding inclusion of a proposed ISU course on the International Perspectives master list will be made by the college curriculum committee of the department proposing the course and will be based on the extent to which the course addresses the learning outcomes specified by the Faculty Senate. Changes, deletions, or additions to the lists should originate with the departmental curriculum committees and then be approved by the appropriate college curriculum committee. Courses offered as dual-, co-, or cross-listed courses must be reviewed and approved by all colleges in which these listings occur. (The forms referred to in the following are found on the Registrar's Forms page.) Information on approved courses are forwarded to the Registrar’s Office for inclusion on master lists of approved courses.

Courses in the Catalog: The submission of requests for existing courses to be added to the list should be submitted on the International Perspectives Course Proposal form found on the Office of the Registrar forms web site under "For Departments." Once approved, the Office of the Registrar will add the designation to the course in the catalog and the on-line schedule of classes.

Experimental Courses: The current (02/08 or more recent) Experimental Course Announcement form and a syllabus for the course should be submitted to the college curriculum committee. The college curriculum committee will judge the course for both the experimental offering and for appropriateness for the International Perspective requirements.
After a course has been approved by the college curriculum committee, it is added to the appropriate list on the web. Additional notification is sent to advisors and Office of the Registrar staff in graduation evaluation and degree audit.

8. The offering department's role in determining the availability of courses for use in meeting the requirements.
A department offering a course may not discriminate among the students in the course by allowing some to use it in fulfillment of one of the requirements while prohibiting its use by others. For example, the offering department may not designate a course as available for use in meeting one of the requirements for its majors only.

9. Courses appearing on both lists.
A course cannot be approved for, nor can it appear on both the U.S. Cultures and Communities and International Perspectives lists.

10. Multiple-major and multiple-degree programs.
Students pursuing multiple majors or multiple degree programs will be required to fulfill the U.S. Cultures and Communities and International Perspectives requirements of one of the majors, but not all.

11. Pass not-pass credits.
Students cannot use pass not-pass credits to meet these requirements. Credits obtained with a P mark cannot be used to meet the U.S. Cultures and Communities and International Perspectives requirements.

12. Meeting the requirements.
Once a student has met the U.S. Cultures and Communities and/or the International Perspectives requirements of their currently declared major, the requirement is satisfied for their degree requirement. If they subsequently change majors, where the requirements may be different, the requirement has been fulfilled and additional courses in this area are not needed.