Elements of the CORE Program
Human Cultural Diversity
Diversity Statement and Requirement
Human Cultural Diversity
courses give you the chance to examine your ideas and values in the light
of an unfamiliar intellectual or social context. At the University of Maryland
at College Park, we are committed to expanding our range of vision and to challenging
all narrowness of thinking about human diversity. These courses will heighten
your appreciation of difference itself and increase your ability to learn from
people, cultures, ideas, and art forms different from those you know best.
One course (three credits) is required. You may complete this
course any time before graduation. Diversity courses include both lower-level
(100- and 200-level) and upper-level (300- and 400-level) courses.
Adding cultural diversity to CORE courses in general has always
been an important CORE goal. This goal has had much success. Many CORE Distributive
Studies courses include diverse aspects drawn from both Western and Non-Western
traditions and cultures, and from the works of women, minority groups, and sub-cultures.
What is the difference between these courses and courses approved for CORE Human
Cultural Diversity? CORE Human Cultural Diversity courses focus primarily on
one or more of the following areas:
- The history, status, treatment, or accomplishments of women or minority
groups and subcultures
- Non-Western culture
- Concepts and implications of diversity
About Diversity Courses
Students usually seek further education in order to prepare
for the future, explore themselves, and examine different fields of knowledge.
Diversity courses are designed to help students fulfill these aims. We live
in an increasingly multicultural environment, and it is important to understand
that environment if we are to adapt and thrive. Diversity courses are designed
to acquaint the student with cultures that are either radically different than
their own or which have been part of the heritage they bring to the American
experience. Examination of these cultures might enable students to understand
themselves and their own experience and perspectives. What kinds of traditions,
practices, and assumptions lead to different ways of seeing the world or creating
knowledge? To what extent are some traditions, beliefs, and ideas universal
and to what extent are they shaped by historical and political forces? Diversity
is also fundamental to scholarship. Diverse perspectives provide the basis for
the creativity and questioning that produce new ideas.
Ellin K. Scholnick
Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Psychology
Double counting Diversity courses
When a course has been approved for the Human Cultural Diversity
requirement, as well as CORE Distributive Studies, that course may be applied
to both requirements. When an approved Human Cultural Diversity course (outside
your major) also meets the criteria for CORE Advanced Studies, that course may
be applied to both requirements. Thus, a single course may satisfy two CORE
requirements. Some CORE Diversity courses may also be used to fulfill college,
major, or supporting area requirements. Check with your academic advisor if
you have questions about double counting courses.
