My alma mater, the University of Minnesota, required me to take a course fulfilling a general education requirement called “cultural diversity” back when I studied there. Now they call it “Cultural Diversity and Social Justice in the United States” (see: designated themes)
MIT has a core which is comprised of the key math and science classes; you can take a wide range of history or social science classes to fulfill your other requirements but there is no social justice requirement.
Yes, I noticed Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology didn’t have any “cultural diversity” or “social justice” requirements either. Just generic arts & humanities courses.
Interesting note about Brown university there. Good to know.
If you look at Hillsdale College’s required courses, they require students to learn about western literature, the US constitution etc.
Would you consider a course that says “white males are privileged” or “there are too many white males in the literary cannon” scholarly topics?
Math, science and engineering institutions don’t have these problems because they focus on objective facts that can either be proven or tested.
Err, “white males are privileged” has been a scholarly object for about 60 years now. The US being diverse isn’t especially new either, the concept of melting pot as defining the American identity has been around since the early 19th century and has been part of the curriculum since the 1910s.
So, it’s unlikely you will find universities that don’t mention these concepts, even universities with WesternCiv-centered curricula will include them since they’re so demonstrated through research. (Even at Hillsdale these concepts are presented and discussed).
However there ARE universities with few or no gen ed requirements.
If you graduated from UofM, are you selecting colleges for your child?
What stats does the applicant have?
I don’t care as much if an institution offers social justice courses. I just don’t want my children to be FORCED to take those kinds of classes. “White males are privileged” isn’t really scholarly, it’s another example of “grievance studies”.
My children aren’t close to college age yet, but I want to start getting a list of schools that meet my criteria. As a STEM major, I dreaded having to take even one course in cultural diversity when I could have done something more rewarding like taking a course in classical western literature.
At this point, I don’t think I’d send them to the UMN, considering their office of undergraduate education shows no signs of getting rid of their “Cultural diversity and social justice in the United States” general education requirement, despite its lower cost as a state school.
Then don’t send your kid to a liberal arts school where there are requirements you don’t like. That seems pretty closed minded though. The whole point of university is to broaden horizons, including perspectives of people who aren’t like you.
There are lots of good things a liberal arts education is supposed to do like train your mind to break down arguments and be able to articulate your own.
Hamilton, unfortunately, is out. They instituted a “diversity” requirement back around 2016 or so.
I have been looking at the CS curriculum at a number of schools and haven’t found any yet with more than a general English, sociology, or psychology 101 requirement. I haven’t looked at any LACs, though. I get what OP is saying, but I think the concerns are unfounded, especially for a STEM program at a university. Those courses may be offered, but they’re for the most part voluntary, alternative ways of filling a humanities requirement.
If your kids arent close to college aged yet, I see no point in getting a list of colleges without any cultural diversity or social justice course requirements. Because as you said, these can change yearly. Best to wait and see what your kids actually want to do.
@blahmanyo What type of schooling do your kids currently have? (Public, private, some other option.) Although, the question is a bit moot these days due to the March-to-June learning disruption.
I know both of those universities are Christian universities, so they probably don’t require “social justice” or “cultural diversity”, but can’t seem to find the page listing their general ed requirements. BJU’s website kept mentioning something called “BJU core”, but I couldn’t find where it was defined.
Unfortunately every institution uses different terminology for those things. My alma mater called them “liberal education requirements”. Do you know what Liberty U and BJU call their general education requirements?
Yes, the list of schools meeting my no-mandatory social justice/cultural diversity requirement will change over time, but it helps to know the philosophies of each school. Hillsdale, for example, seems more focused on instilling the concept of “Self-governance” into its students, so they’d be less likely to have those odious requirements simply because it conflicts with their principles. This will of course depend on what my kids’ interests become as they grow up, but it doesn’t hurt to have a general feel for things now.
You would think that studying a STEM field like computer science would keep students away from these social justice/cultural diversity requirements, but the problem is a lot of institutions make students take at least ONE course in this stuff in order to graduate. Unfortunately the long-term trend suggests that SJWs are taking over the sciences. Eventually academic rigor will fall by the wayside.
I simply am looking for a list of colleges and universities that do not force students to take any courses in “social justice” or “cultural diversity” through their general ed. reqs. needed to graduate. Doesn’t matter if a college offers such courses for students in departments such as sociology, so long as my kids don’t need to take them should they choose to study STEM.
If my child wants to learn physics, let them learn physics. Of course, I think it’s important to take some courses in literature and history on the side while developing their writing abilities so they can become informed citizens. Pretty sure that’s what general education requirements were meant for in the first place. The course requirements I am against seem designed to churn out students with a particular set of opinions.
I don’t care if a college is cultural or politically conservative. All I want is for my child to have the liberty to take the courses needed for their field of study without being bothered with political litmus tests such as “diversity statements” during the admissions process. Diversity statements are a separate topic for discussion, which I’ll inquire about in a new thread.
My child will hopefully be educated enough that they can analyze and argue for/against any particular argument. That’s what the grammar, logic and rhetoric stages in curricula like classical education are all about. I just want them to be given the space needed to focus on the field they chose to major in at college.
[quote=“MWolf, post:15, topic:2098589”]
Assuming that you are bringing a genuine query, you should look at
Liberty University
Bob Jones University
The your best bet is Hillsdale College.
Just so there’s no confusion, I’m not looking for a religious or a “conservative” school. I am looking for a list of colleges that don’t have social justice or cultural diversity course requirements for graduation college-wide. Maybe there isn’t a list like that out there because the situation is constantly changing with how curricula are established. Maybe I’ll have to research and publish my own list someday. Regardless, I just wanted to know if other parents had looked into this and had suggestions.
Bob Jones and Liberty Universities might qualify, but I need to track down where their list of required courses is published on their websites.
I’m pretty sure that the list will be popular. In all honesty, there is a severe lack of a good listing of colleges for kids who are looking for a more conservative community. The present lists are mishmashes of multiple categories. There are Catholic, LDS, different Evangelical denominations, non-denominational, non-sectarian, etc.
