I. ASCRC General Education Form (revised 1/27/11)
Use to propose new general education courses (except writing courses), to change existing
gen ed courses and to remove designations for existing gen ed courses.
Note: One-time-only general education designation may be requested for experimental courses
(X91-previously X95), granted only for the semester taught. A NEW request must be
submitted for the course to receive subsequent general education status.
Group
III. Language
VII: Social Sciences
(submit
III Exception: Symbolic Systems * VIII: Ethics & Human Values
separate forms
IV: Expressive Arts
IX: American & European
if requesting
V: Literary & Artistic Studies
X: Indigenous & Global
X
more than one
VI: Historical & Cultural Studies
XI: Natural Sciences
general
w/ lab  w/out lab 
education
group
*Courses proposed for this designation must be standing requirements of
designation)
majors that qualify for exceptions to the modern and classical language
requirement
Dept/Program MANS
Course #
191
Course Title
Prerequisite
Global Challenges in the 21st Century
N/A
Credits
II. Endorsement/Approvals
Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office
Please type / print name Signature
Instructor
Otto Koester/Terry Weidner/Kim
Maynard
Phone / Email 243-2988
Program Chair N/A
Dean
Terry Weidner (Director)
III. Type of request
New X
One-time Only
Renew
Reason for Gen Ed inclusion, change or deletion
Description of change
Change
3
Date
2/27/12
Remove
IV. Description and purpose of new general education course: General Education courses
must be introductory and foundational within the offering department or within the General
Education Group. They must emphasize breadth, context, and connectedness; and relate course
content to students’ future lives: See Preamble:
http://umt.edu/facultysenate/archives/minutes/gened/GE_preamble.aspx
Standing at the beginning of a new century, students face a world confronted with
unprecedented crises and challenges, many of which require work across borders and cultures.
The challenges begin with a global population that is predicted to increase to nine billion over
the next forty years, with most of that increase occurring in developing countries. For
demographic reasons alone, poverty is likely to persist and millenium development goals to be
unmet. Although the global middle class is also projected to triple in size (raising new hopes for
increased prosperity and the creation of civil society), even this will increase the demand for
natural resources and food, as diet changes from grain to meat and dairy require more land,
even as the supply of fossil fuels dwindles. The threat of global climate change looms above
all, as it is likely to put enormous additional pressure on existing agricultural systems, increase
international tensions over water supplies and result in cross-border population movements, all
of which severely test national and international legal, policy and peacekeeping frameworks.
This seminar will use a lecture and active discussion format to: 1) introduce and assess the
fiscal and policy organizations currently in place to deal with key global issues; 2) explore
diverse perspectives on how best to address several of the most daunting challenges of our
time, and finally 3) explore the prospects for national and transnational solutions, asking if new
leadership models are necessary for an increasingly global age.
V. Criteria: Briefly explain how this course meets the criteria for the group. See:
http://umt.edu/facultysenate/documents/forms/GE_Criteria5-1-08.aspx
The “Global Challenges” course will by its nature examine issues that are transnational –i.e.,
that cannot be confined to national borders—but issues that also have their largest impact
among poor and indigenous peoples across Asia, Africa and the Americas. As reflected in
the attached syllabus, the course material will thus focus in exactly those two areas.
The course is designed to launch undergraduate students on a four-year long path aimed at
their gaining greater appreciation and deeper knowledge of importance global
interconnections and inter-relationships, and the role and responsibilities of individuals will
face as citizens who must relate to issues and problems of public concern that range beyond
the political, geographic, and cultural boundaries of their own country.
VI. Student Learning Goals: Briefly explain how this course will meet the applicable learning
goals. See: http://umt.edu/facultysenate/documents/forms/GE_Criteria5-1-08.aspx
This course will serve as the first segment of a four year GLI program designed for an
identifiable, continuing cohort of students, who we want to identify with each other but also
grow together by grappling with tough issues and challenging each other. As an
introductory course, this offering will necessarily include some lecture, but do all possible to
maximize student involvement and analysis. It will feature debates on controversial issues,
role plays, and simulations addressing practical problems and a team project. Writing will
also be stressed via in-class exercises and assignments requiring students to analyze,
synthesize, and draw independent conclusions based on information and arguments from
sharply differing sources and perspectives. Diverse perspectives will not only be presented
by very divergent readings (and above all by the arguments they present) but by the diverse
backgrounds and disciplines offered by the several instructors.
VII. Justification: Normally, general education courses will not carry pre-requisites, will carry
at least 3 credits, and will be numbered at the 100-200 level. If the course has more than one
pre-requisite, carries fewer than three credits, or is upper division (numbered above the 200
level), provide rationale for exception(s). N/A
VIII. Syllabus:
See attached
Please note: Approved general education changes will take effect next fall.
General education instructors will be expected to provide sample assessment items and
corresponding responses to the Assessment Advisory Committee.
We will use standard teaching evaluation forms that include both numerical ratings across
several categories but also open ended questions that allow students to specifically critique the
instructors, their methods, readings, class outcomes, etc.