Diversity
Diversity courses provide undergraduates with the awareness, knowledge, and skills necessary to function productively in a complex global society.
All UVM undergraduate students must successfully complete the following two requirements prior to graduation:
- One 3-credit course from Diversity Category One (D1) (Race and Racism in the U.S.), to be taken as early as possible after matriculation to UVM - preferably no later than the sophomore year); and
- A second 3-credit course from either Diversity Category One (D1) or Diversity Category Two (D2) (the Diversity of Human Experience).
Diversity: Race and Racism in the US (D1)
Courses in this category have as a primary focus race and racism in the United States. D1 courses promote an understanding of: Race and racism in the U.S.; The meaning and significance of power and privilege.
Race and Racism in the US (D1)
Diversity: Diversity of Human Experience (D2)
Courses in this category focus on expanding students’ cultural awareness. A D2 course is intended to:
- Promote an awareness of and appreciation for the diversity of human experience in all its forms including, but not limited to race, ethnicity, religion, socio-economic status, language, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, and disability; and/or
- Foster an understanding of global and international issues including the flow of people, cultures, diseases, and capital or other resources within or across political and geographical boundaries.
Diversity of Human Experience (D2)
Sustainability (SU)
Sustainability (SU) courses provide undergraduates with knowledge of the social, ecological, and economic dimensions of sustainability and the skills and values to address complex societal problems.
Students are required to take 1 course designated as SU.
Global Citizenship
Global Citizenship courses help students understand the nature and implications of worldwide phenomena and challenges across local, national, regional, and cultural boundaries. Global citizenship courses also help students develop the skills they need to participate effectively and responsibly as citizens in our increasingly globalized society. To be effective, informed, and responsible members of a diverse and interconnected global community, students need to be able to effect change collaboratively, to communicate across cultural boundaries, and to think deeply and creatively about shared challenges, responsibilities, and injustices.
Students are required to take one 3-credit Global Citizenship course from either (GC1 or GC2) pathway.
Global Citizenship: Global Systems and Problems (GC1)
GC1 courses address systems and problems that are global in scope. These courses will help students understand the nature and complexity of global phenomena. They may address cultural, political, economic, ecological, artistic, technological, human health, or other aspects of our increasingly interdependent world. They explore both the unique problems and the opportunities created by such interdependence and interconnectedness.
Global Citizenship: Global Systems and Problems (GC1)
Global Citizenship: Developing Global Citizens (GC2)
GC2 courses develop skills necessary to participate effectively as a citizen in local communities and the world at large. To be effective and responsible members of a diverse and interconnected global community, students need to be able to communicate across cultural boundaries, to think deeply and creatively about shared responsibilities and injustices, and to collaboratively effect change. The courses in this pathway are therefore designed to impart at least one of the following core skills: language proficiency, ethical reasoning, and civic engagement.