America: World Leader or Big Brother?

A 15-credit Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) course

offered spring 2004 at Spokane Community College.

Most students who take an IDS course, which combines two or more classes, say that the experience is much more fun and valuable than taking the classes separately.  IDS courses allow you to participate in a focused and engaged community of learners, which makes for a more enriching and enjoyable college experience.

You should definitely try an IDS course during your time at S.C.C. – and because this is the ideal course, this should be the one you take!

America: World Leader or Big Brother? offers students a multi-disciplinary course that examines politics, power, and intercultural communication in a global context.

This fifteen-credit course will give students an opportunity to examine and discuss America's image and role within the global community: themes that are particularly relevant today. The course will allow students to explore current events in a global context and to share their insights and opinions clearly and persuasively.

The course fulfills three course requirements for the AA degree as well as the W and D requirements.  Students who take the class will enroll in three 5-credit courses, one from each of three categories:

• Political Science 111, 270, or 203 (courses in this category meet the social science requirement and the D-requirement for the AA degree);

• English (Composition) 101, 201, or 225 (courses in this category meet the communication requirement for the AA degree); and

• English (Literature) 131 (courses in this category meet the humanities requirement for the AA degree).

Tentative course objectives include:

• to understand power and politics in today's world
• to understand the place of national interest in a world of interconnected nation/states
• to develop critical thinking, reading, and writing skills
• to learn to write clearly and coherently
• to develop library research skills
• to understand Islamic civilization
• to comprehend the contributing factors of Islamic culture and politics on Western civilization
• to develop an understanding of cultures outside Western civilization
• to learn to work cooperatively in the pursuit of knowledge through participation in the learning community
• to begin to understand the relationships among cultures, literature, political science, and writing

These course objectives address the college's four major college-wide outcomes: communication, responsibility, problem-solving, and global awareness.

Klint Hull (English), Jennifer Smith (English), and Paul Tesch (Political Science) will be the instructors for the course.

For more information about the course, contact Klint Hull.

Contents within this site are copyrighted by both the author and/or Klint Hull.
The contents and opinions on the pages herein are solely those of the author,
and S.C.C. should not be held responsible.  Copyright © 2003.