iNTERNATIONAL cOURSES IN gLOBAL dIVERSITY AND LANGUAGE

WST 3371 - Women, Leadership & Diversity in the Global Environment

Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders by Alice H. Eagly and Linda L. Carli, the Harvard Business Review, and other various articles are the sources used in this course to teach diversity issues in the workplace. The course analyzes leadership theories, economics, and cultural and gender differences to understand professional development across the globe.

This course first teaches the bias and barriers that accompany female global leaders in the work place. Women are in deficient of mentors compared to their male coworkers, some jobs are traditionally seen as gender-based, and double-binds (women are expected to be nice and men assertive) don’t give women leaders a correct identity. These factors become even more complicated when they interplay with customs and norms of other countries and populations.

The historical factors discussed help create women’s current struggles in leadership. Domestic chores and childcare differ across cultures. Institutionalized problems lead to discrimination.

Personality traits of men and women in different cultural norms are important to leadership and can sometimes be misinterpreted between intercultural relationships. Representation of ethnic populations are discussed and the further complications experienced by women of different ethnic backgrounds in the workplace. Women are not often perceived as effective leaders and are often required to be both feminine in personality and masculine in work ethics. STEM jobs are even more difficult for women to navigate.

Women hold leadership positions in governments all over the world. Studying transformational, transactional, and laissez faire leadership helps to understand how each affects interest, responsibilities, behaviors, and organization in global markets. In upper management and C-suite positions, women have less social capital. The glass ceiling is more prominent in the U.S. than in some other countries. However, women are often placed in risky positions, placing them on the edge of the glass cliff. Companies have their own structure of values, symbols, norms, and beliefs and these workplace cultures are also influenced by local culture and government structure. Inherent diversity of biological factors and acquired diversity from behavior and experience create a two-dimensional diversity promoting multiculturalism and minimizing conflict. Mentors for women can also resolve the lack of diversity and close the gap of leadership inequity for females.

WIS 2552 - Biodiversity Conservation: Global Perspectives

Global Perspectives in Biodiversity Conservation is a software package designed for this course. This course builds on the evolutionary basis of the five-kingdom system of phylogeny. The information evaluates a global perspective in the patterns of wildlife and biodiversity issues. The origin, structure, and measurement of biodiversity explains the concepts of the introduction of new species and extinction of others. Sustainment of wildlife is important to all ecosystems. Climate change and other threats introduced due to human activity have detrimental impacts, such as loss of habitat and deforestation, on the continuance of species and the ecosystems in which they live. Invasive species also threaten ecosystems as they sometimes do not have predators in their new environment. This course encourages mindfulness of the world we live in and familiarizes students with the affects our behaviors have on biodiversity and individual species. Conservation efforts lead to greater sustainment of life and more whole, healthier foods. Healthier environments allow for adaption of species and eliminate pollution. As many plants are used for medicinal purpose, conservation interventions can prevent these flora from becoming extinct and allow the growth of plants and trees that may contain undiscovered cures.

ANT 3141 - Development of World Civilization

Ancient Civilizations (3rd Edition) by Christopher Scarre and Brian M. Fagan is the textbook used in this course. The course observes the development of ancient societies and cultures and the beginning of global urbanization that led to trade between countries, regions, and peoples.

An understanding of the characteristics and development of society and people around the world helps to evaluate diversity of societies and progress within each community and in global civilization. This includes early farming techniques and technology, geography, and societal norms. Urbanization can be dated as far back as the Mesopotamian Bronze Age knows as the “Cradle of Civilization”. Rapid Progress was made in Egypt during the Bronze Age and city-states, trade routes, and more sophisticated technology and tools began to emerge. Complexities developed between the societies of Asia, Southern Pacific regions, and the empires formed in these regions. Ancient societies in Europe are discussed beginning with the Neolithic period and covering the characteristics of ancient Greece and Rome and their trade interactions with African regions. In Mesoamerica, the societies of Chaco Canyon and Cahokia are explored for their unique progression in urbanism. Exceptional architecture and cultural norms of the Mayans, Aztec, and Olmec are compared and contrasted, particularly in the sites of Cerros, Chavin de Huantar and the Xingu River. These topics are discussed and their implementations to lead to colonialism and global trends we see today in world trade, intercontinental relationships, and modern day urbanism.

HUM 206 - Cultural Studies Through Humanities

The Humanistic Tradition Volume II: The Early Modern World to the Present (6th Edition) by Gloria Fiero is the textbook used in this course. The course encompasses global perspective addressing history of art, architecture, writings, and theory starting during the Reformation period and following through modern times. This course is multifaceted covering philosophy, sociology, aesthetics, and politics throughout the history of Europe and teaches understanding of the relationships between world cultures. Film, art, music, and literature are compared to ideas of leaders in these time periods. Critical evaluation of these works teaches how these ideas influence world cultures today and changed norms in the past and across societies. The study of the Reformation and printing press expands understanding of its implications on government and societal expectations and how it changed religious policy and freedom.

Additional works covered in the course include:

Meditation 1 of Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy
Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
Lord of the Flies by Peter Brook’s
On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche
Manifesto of the Communist Party by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Two projects were completed as midterm and final exams. The first cover’s The Lord of the Flies. The film, The Lord of the Flies, is watched in class and the book is read on our own time. A thorough reflection of the views of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau is conducted to determine which political nature pairs with the personality and actions of the characters from the film. Additionally, the view of human nature I find the strongest is discussed and why I chose this view.

The second project is to evaluate a historical, international work of choice. This project requires two parts. The first is to write a short bibliography of the chosen sources to be used in the paper and paraphrase the broader concept of the content. The second is to write a scholarly paper emphasizing the historical importance of the work chosen. This project covers the controversy surrounding St. Teresa of Avila, her commitment to nunnery and following God and how this was not well perceived in society. Scholarly critics have accused St. Teresa of being mentally impaired and even sexually explicit in her prayers. St. Teresa’s life and her influence on the 16th century church in Spain are evaluated to distinguish implied bias from her true intentions.

Spanish I & II

Dos Mundos PLUS package for Students (7th edition) by Tracy Terrell was the textbook used for this course. Language makes us better listeners, learners, travelers, people, employees, and communicators. It allows us to meet more people and communicate across language barriers to learn of other cultures. Language gives us a competitive edge in the job market, especially as the U.S. becomes a more diverse community. Working abroad becomes a possibility. Many studies have shown improved cognitive and problem solving skills after learning even a small percentage of a second language. Much of the English language is derived from Latin which is also the root language for Spanish. This course offers extensive vocabulary and sentence and verb structuring. One cultural study was completed for each class. The first project covered the food and drink culture of Costa Rica and the second covered the the food and drink culture of Peru. It was amazing when I actually was able to travel to Costa Rica and use my language skills. I felt more engaged and immersed in the culture since I was able to communicate in a native language.

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