Motion to Revise General Education Groups X and Y
(with proposed amendment)
For several years, the General Education review subcommittees for Groups X and Y have noted concerns
about poorly defined Learning Goals and apparent overlap between these and other General Education
groups. The General Education Committee also received requests and feedback from the UM
community calling for more recognition of Diversity in our General Education framework, both with
respect to politically marginalized populations and culturally diverse groups. After a lengthy
investigation of several potential alternatives to the existing language for these perspectives, and
additional feedback collected throughout last fall, the committee crafted revised language for Groups X
and Y, which was approved unanimously and presented to ASCRC in December 2015.
ASCRC then initiated its own subcommittee to review these initial proposals, which led to further
refinements that were re-worked in a joint subcommittee of ASCRC and General Education. This new
language was approved by the General Education Committee on March 23, 2016 and presented to
ASCRC for consideration on March 29, 2016.
As a result of these further discussions, ASCRC and the General Education Committee present the
following motion to Faculty Senate:
Effective Fall Semester 2016, the general education requirements for Groups IX and X, more
commonly known as Groups Y and X, will be articulated as “Group IX Democracy and Citizenship (Y)”
and “Group X Cultural & International Diversity (X),” with the criteria stated below. All new requests
for Group X and Y designations will be evaluated according to these new criteria beginning in fall
2016. Courses currently listed in these groups will be unaffected until the next rolling review in
spring 2018, at which time those courses submitted for renewal will be evaluated according to the
new criteria.
Group IX. Democracy and Citizenship (Y)
These courses ground students in the ideas, institutions, and practices of democratic
societies and their historical antecedents. Knowledge gained through courses in the Y
perspective prepares students to understand the rights and responsibilities of engaged
citizenship and to assess the characteristics, contributions, and contradictions of
democratic systems.
Upon completion of a Democracy and Citizenship course, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate informed and reasoned understanding of democratic ideas, institutions
and practices, from historical and/or contemporary perspectives;
2. Analyze and evaluate the significance and complexities of engaged citizenship; and
3. Articulate the causes and consequences of key historical and/or contemporary struggles
within democratic systems or their antecedents, including but not limited to those
pertaining to issues of diversity, equity, and justice.
Group X. Cultural & International Diversity (X) –
Proposed Amendment (Sen. Beck & Bradford)
These courses foster an appreciation for diverse cultures, their histories and values
contemporary forms, and their struggles both to maintain their ways of life and to gain
equal positions in world spheres of power and change. This includes knowledge of
diverse cultures in comparative and thematic frameworks. Knowledge gained through
courses in the X perspective prepares students to cultivate ways of thinking that foster
an understanding of the complexities of indigenous or international cultures and global
issues, past and present.
Upon completion of a course in this group, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the diverse ways humans structure their social,
political, and cultural lives;
2. Interpret human activities, ideas, and institutions with reference to diverse cultural,
historical and geo-political perspectives and physical environments; and
3. Recognize the complexities of inter-cultural and international communications and
collaborative endeavors, and relate this to the complex challenges of the 21 st century.
Appendix 1: Current Group IX and X
Group IX: American and European Perspectives (Y):
These courses present a critical introduction to the antecedents, principles, institutions, cultures, traditions and legacies
of the United States and Europe.
Criteria:
Courses focus on either area and can be comparative in
content or approach. The courses are broad in theme,
geography, or chronology. They are foundational and
prepare students for further study by raising core
questions of an academic discipline.
Learning Goals:
Upon completion of this group, students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate informed and reasoned understanding of
American and/or European historical and contemporary
behavior, ideas, institutions, and culture; and
2. Analyze and evaluate what is distinctive and significant
about the American and/or European experience and
legacy.

Group X Indigenous and Global Perspectives (X):
This perspective instills knowledge of diverse cultures in comparative and thematic frameworks. Students are encouraged
to cultivate ways of thinking that foster an understanding of the complexities of indigenous cultures and global issues,
past and present. Students will learn how geographically and culturally separate parts of the world are linked by various,
multiple interactions.
Indigenous studies focus upon "first peoples" and their descendants who derive their cultural communal identities from
their long-standing and/or historical habitation of particular places. These courses foster an appreciation for indigenous
peoples, their histories and cultures, and their struggles both to maintain their ways of life and gain equal positions in
world spheres of power and change.
Global studies investigate how societies and nations interact through human endeavor and /or natural processes. These
courses encourage students to relate their knowledge of particular parts of the world, with their individual identities, to
larger trends and issues that affect multiple societies and environments. These include regional, national, and even
transnational cultural flows, as well as a multiplicity of environmental processes and economic relationships.
Criteria:
Indigenous and/or global courses will familiarize students
with the values, histories, and institutions of two or more
societies through the uses of comparative approaches.
Indigenous perspective courses address the longstanding
tenure of a particular people in a particular geographical
region, their histories, cultures, and ways of living as well
as their interaction with other groups, indigenous and nonindigenous.
Global perspective courses adopt a broad focus with
respect to time, place, and subject matter and one that is
transnational and/or multi-cultural/ethnic in nature.
Whether the cultures or societies under study are primarily
historical or contemporary, courses investigate significant
linkages or interactions that range across time and space.
Learning Goals:
Upon completion of a course in this group, students
will:
1. place human behavior and cultural ideas into a
wider (global/indigenous) framework, and enhance
their understanding of the complex interdependence
of nations and societies and their physical
environments;
2. demonstrate an awareness of the diverse ways
humans structure their social, political, and cultural
lives; and
3. analyze and compare the rights and responsibilities
of citizenship in the 21st century including those of
their own societies and cultures.