This component consists of the following requirements:
One to two courses in a language other than English.
One Intercultural Diversity course.
One American Social Diversity course.
This component responds to a contemporary world in which
communication, travel and trade increasingly juxtapose cultures, values
and ideas. Courses help students understand, interpret, and appreciate
cultural, social, moral, economic and political systems different from
their own.
Language Requirement [LA]
By learning another language, students see the world from a different linguistic and cultural perspective, and increase their awareness of their own language and culture. In a globalized world the ability to understand and appreciate cultural differences is imperative. These courses help students understand that all languages have similarities and differences, but that each language offers insight into the culture of a particular community.
Requirement: One of the following options, subject to high school language study and placement test.
- FRN, GMN, GRK, ITA, LAT, SKT, or SPA 101/102 (6 credits)
- FRN, GMN, or SPA
102/201*
- FRN, GMN, or SPA 201 Language and Culture in the
Spanish-Speaking World - Intermediate
Level I
| This is an active and immersive language and culture course, taught almost entirely in Spanish in which students will develop skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Spanish and cultural awareness of the cultures associated with the Spanish. Fulfills requirement: Language and Culture. Prerequisite: SPA 102 or placement test. 3 credits. |
- One FRN, GMN, or SPA course at the 300 level or higher
- Effective
|
High School
Study |
Placement Test
Level |
Required Language Sequence |
None or no
language study
for six full years |
100 or none |
101/102 |
| 200 |
102/201* or 201/202 |
| 300 or higher |
One 300 or higher level course |
| 1-2 years in Grades 9-10 or 1 year in Grades 11-12 |
100 |
101/102 |
| 200 |
102/201* or 201/202 |
| 300 or higher |
One 300 or higher level course |
| 2 years in Grades 11-12 |
100 |
102/201* or 201/202 |
| 200 |
201/202 |
| 300 or higher |
One 300 or higher level course |
| 3 years |
100 or none |
201/202 |
| 200 |
201/202 |
| 300 or higher |
One 300 or higher level course |
|
|
*102/201 option requires the permission of the chair of the Languages Department.
Note: Effective with the Fall 2016 semester, all language courses above the 101 level are offered for 4 credits with an added focus on intercultural competence. Students will have the option to complete the language requirement by taking one 4-credit language course at the 102 level or higher, depending on the placement level at time students enrolled at LVC. Students who have taken one 3-credit course as part of a two course sequence described above must still complete the next level course for 4-credits. For the purpose of satisfying the language requirement in French and German, 200 courses are considered equivalent to former 201 courses; 280 courses are considered equivalent to former 202 courses.
Language Placement Test: Students who meet any the following conditions are required to take the placement test:
- All students who, in six years prior to enrollment at LVC, have completed at least one year of French, German, or Spanish in high school, or at least one semester in college even if they are considering beginning study in a new language
- Native speakers of French, German, or Spanish
- Students in whose home French, German, or Spanish is the primary language
If a student chooses to take a level lower than the level indicated by these guidelines, up to 6 hours of elective credit can be granted. If a student would like to take a level higher than that indicated by the placement test, they should consult with a faculty member in the Languages Department. For more information regarding the placement test, please visit www.lvc.edu/languages.
Transfer Students: Transfer students who have completed a two semester (6-credits minimum) language sequence at another institution, subject to LVC’s transfer policy, will be considered to have satisfied the language requirement, regardless of placement or high school language study. For the purposes of this requirement, transfer students are those who, after graduating from high school, have attended another college or university for at least one semester prior to enrolling at LVC.
Exemptions: The language requirement may be waived, with permission from the chair of the Languages Department, for a foreign national (typically one who holds a student visa) who has grown up in a non-English speaking culture and successfully completed secondary school work taught in a language other than English. Official certification from the school of the language of instruction and completion of the TOEFL exam for entry into LVC will be required. Students who have competence in a language other than English and do not meet these requirements are encouraged to take the CLEP test (see CLEP section of this catalog) or the Foreign Language Proficiency test of the New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies, or another appropriate test as approved in advance by the chair of the Languages Department and the Registrar. Students who takes the NYU test and earn a minimum score of 13 on the 16-point exam will be exempt from LVC's Language requirement and earn four elective credits. The College will provide a proctor and test facility for the NYU test to be administered at LVC. Alternatively, students may take the test at NYU.
Students with significant language-based learning disabilities or auditory disabilities (e.g., auditory processing deficits or deaf/hard of hearing), as verified by the Office of Disability Services, will be permitted to substitute Intercultural Diversity courses for required language courses.
Intercultural Diversity [ID]
Courses increase students’ global awareness by introducing
them to important aspects of societies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East
and Latin America to foster an understanding of cultural, social,
political, religious, or economic systems outside the European
tradition.
This requirement may be met through one of the following options:
- Successful completion of one course from the approved list below.
- Complete the Language requirement at the
intermediate level (201/202, 201/280, or 200/280) or higher. Note: Entering students who
score a 4 or 5 on the AP language exam in Spanish, French, or
German must complete either one 300-level Language course or
one Intercultural Diversity course. Students who score a 4 or 5 on the AP
literature exam in Spanish, French, or German must complete one Intercultural Diversity course.
- Participate in a semester-long study-abroad program or
complete approved course work that involves substantial on-site
immersion in a foreign culture.
For this option, the restriction to cultures “outside the European tradition” is waived.
Approved courses:
Criteria for Intercultural Diversity courses:
- At least two-thirds of the content of these courses shall be devoted to studies of non-western cultures. This requirement does not apply to study abroad programs described in the third option above.
- Courses that involve comparisons of aspects of western and non-western societies or address factors that influence culture in non-western societies (e.g., geography, climate, environment, natural resources) are eligible as long as these other considerations are clearly subordinate to the primary goal of understanding different cultures.
American Social Diversity [AD]
Requirement: One Course
Courses focus on the social diversity in the United States
and allow students to engage critically the issues—such as race, gender,
class, sexual orientation, religion—that historically have divided and
defined Americans. Students who participate in semester-long programs in
Philadelphia or Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Study Abroad office
will be considered to have fulfilled the American Social Diversity requirement.
Approved courses:
BUS 330 Managing Diversity in the Workforce| An investigation of reasons why questions of diversity affect organizations including demographic changes, types of diversity and relevant federal legislation. Considers differences in race, sex, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnic background, age, physical ability/disability and geography. This course also includes a global perspective that looks at the international community and discusses the concept of managing diversity on an international platform. Fulfills requirement: Intercultural Competence. Prerequisite: Junior or senior standing, or permission of
the instructor. 3 credits. |
| This course is a general introduction to aspects of the history, literatures and cultures of Latinx people in the United States. It will include Mexican-Americans or Chicanas/os, Puerto Ricans/Nuyoricans, Cuban-Americans, Dominican Americans, and Central American-Americans, with some references to South American-Americans. We will pay close attention to the intersections between Latina/o/x experience and that of other people of color in the United States and to particularities of women's and LGBTQ issues like those of poverty and inequality. Fulfills requirement: Intercultural Competence. This course is restricted to students
admitted into the College Honors Program. Additional
students are permitted to register with instructor approval. 3 credits. |
| Topic to be determined at time of course schedule publication. Fulfills requirement: Intercultural Competence. This course may be repeated for credit as topic changes. Prerequisite: At least sophomore standing. By instructor
permission only. 3 credits. |
| This course examines how race continues to be a central feature of identity in America. Students will explore how multiple facets of identity - such as class, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality - intersect with race and form a complex matrix of inequality that has shaped the United States, in the past as well as the present. Understanding such complex intersections of identity will prepare students to work affectively in diverse domestic and global contexts. Fulfills requirement: Intercultural Competence. 3 credits. |
| The major objective of this course is to help students become aware of the degree to which behavior (including one's own) is culturally determined. As we continue to move toward a global society with increasingly frequent intercultural contacts, we need more than simple factual knowledge about cultural differences; we need a framework for understanding inter-cultural communication and cross-cultural human relations. Through lecture, discussion, simulations, case- studies, role-plays and games, students will learn the inter-cultural communication framework and the skills necessary to make them feel comfortable and communicate effectively with people of any culture and in any situation involving a group of diverse backgrounds. Fulfills requirement: Intercultural Competence. 3 credits. |
Criteria for American Social Diversity courses:
-
Courses focus on social diversity within the United States.
-
Courses require students to analyze critically how race, ethnicity, gender, economic class, sexual orientation, and/or religious convictions have divided and defined Americans.