This Microsoft Word version of the CALS course proposal form was created by Ann Gantner in the Office of Academic Programs to facilitate your creation of proposals for course additions, deletions, and revisions. If you have any problems in opening or using the file, please contact Ann Gantner (5-3081, amg28@cornell.edu).

Instructions:

The Word file has a few popup menus; they are not obvious until you click the box “Select.” For the other boxes, you will need to enter the information yourself. The boxes will expand if you type more information into them. Please adhere to the character or word number restrictions on the form. Make sure your printout is a single page. Below are more detailed explanations for what type of information to enter.

Type of Change: Select “Add,” “Add and Cross List,” “Cross List,” “Delete,” “Distribution,” “Reschedule ONLY,” or “Revision.” If adding a course, you must attach to the proposal a one-page list of topics for the course.

Semester, year first effective: This line indicates the semester and year in which the new course or the change will be first implemented. If the course is to be offered in alternate years, please indicate the academic year and semester it will be offered next.

Term: Select one of the following: “Fall,” “Spring,” “Summer,” “Fall/Spring,” “Fall/Summer,” “Spring/Summer,” “Fall/Spring/Summer,” or “Intercession.”

Evening prelims: Select “Yes” or “No.” Please review the legislation about evening prelims later in this document.

Grading: Select “Letter Only,” “S/U” (pass/fail), or “S/U or Letter Option” (for grade or pass/fail).

Revisions: Please list briefly all the changes that you are proposing for the course. For example, you may list items like time, semester, title, cross listing, course description, etc.

Distribution: Category descriptions for Social Sciences and Humanities

Cultural Analysis (CA)
These courses study human life in particular cultural contexts through interpretive analysis of individual behavior, discourse, and social practice. Topics include belief systems (science, medicine, religion), expressive arts and symbolic behavior (visual arts, performance, poetry, myth, narrative, ritual), identity (nationality, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality), social groups and institutions (family, market, community), power and politics (states, colonialism, inequality).

Historical Analysis (HA)
These courses interpret continuities and changes - political, social, economic, diplomatic, religious, intellectual, artistic, scientific - through time. The focus may be on groups of people, dominant or subordinate, a specific country or region, an event, a process, or a time period.

Human Diversity (HD)
These courses address several of the College's stated goals for undergraduate education, specifically, the expectation that in the course of earning a degree, students will enhance their abilities to communicate with people of different cultural perspectives; to listen carefully and respectfully to the views of others, especially views with which they disagree; and to employ ethical reasoning in judging ideas, actions, and their implications. These courses explore the challenges of building a diverse society, and/or examine the various processes that marginalize people and produce unequal power relations in terms of race, nationality, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, gender, age, or economic status.

All courses that satisfy the Human Diversity requirement should have at least 50% content in one or more of the following three areas.

Area 1: Courses that critically analyze historically or contemporary marginalized* communities.

*Definition of "marginalize" - Any groups with reduced access to social status, political influence, economic advancement, educational advancement, health care, information, or any of the goods, services, and powers of a society can be considered "marginalized." Causes of marginalization may be related to ethnic status, religion, country of origin, sexual orientation, geography, economics, and government policies. Those who exist on the furthest margins of a society are frequently subject to several of these forces.

Area 2: Courses that cover diverse processes that produce unequal power relations in terms of race, nationality, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, gender, age, or economic status.

Area 3: Courses that cover the challenges of building a diverse society.

Knowledge, Cognition, and Moral Reasoning (KCM)
These courses investigate the bases of human knowledge in its broadest sense, ranging from cognitive faculties shared by humans and animals such as perception, to abstract reasoning, to the ability to form and justify moral judgments. Courses investigating the sources, structure, and limits of cognition may use the methodologies of science, cognitive psychology, linguistics, or philosophy. Courses focusing on moral reasoning explore ways of reflecting on ethical questions that concern the nature of justice, the good life, or human values in general.

Literature and the Arts (LA)
These courses explore literature and the arts in two different but related ways. Some courses focus on the critical study of artworks and on their history, aesthetics, and theory. These courses develop skills of reading, observing, and hearing and encourage reflection on such experiences; many investigate the interplay among individual achievement, artistic tradition, and historical context. Other courses are devoted to the production and performance of artworks (in creative writing, performing arts, and media such as film and video). These courses emphasize the interaction among technical mastery, cognitive knowledge, and creative imagination.

Social and Behavioral Analysis (SBA)
These courses examine human life in its social context through the use of social scientific methods, often including hypothesis testing, scientific sampling techniques, and statistical analysis. Topics studied range from the thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and attitudes of individuals to interpersonal relations between individuals (e.g., in friendship, love, conflict) to larger social organizations (e.g., the family, society, religious or educational or civic institutions, the economy, government) to the relationships and conflicts among groups or individuals (e.g., discrimination, inequality, prejudice, stigmas, conflict resolution).

Foreign Language (FL)
These courses are taught by the following departments: Africana Studies and Research Center (AS&RC – language only), Asian Studies (BENGL, BURM, CHIN, HINDI, INDO, JAPAN, KHMER, KOREA, SANSK, TAG, THAI, and VIET), Classics (CLASS – language only), German Studies (GERST – language only, DUTCH, and SWED), Linguistics (LING – languages only), Near Eastern Studies (NES - languages only), Romance Studies (CATAL, FRROM, ITALA, PORT, QUECH, and SPANR), and Russian Studies(RUSSA, HUNGR, POLSH, SEBCR, and UKRAN).

Signatures: The form must be signed by two individuals before submitting a hard copy. The department chair needs to sign the form first, followed by the CALS Curriculum Committee representative from your major.

Submission to the CALS Curriculum Committee is done by sending the original form to:

Ann Gantner
Office of Academic Programs
140 Roberts Hall

Forms need to be submitted at least 10 calendar days before the CALS Curriculum Committee meets. Your departmental representative on this committee will know the meeting dates, or you may ask by calling 5-3081.

The next four items describe information that is presented later in this document. You may want to print a copy of these pages to keep as a handy reference.

• Course credit: The NY State Education Department and the CALS legislations describe how to assign the appropriate number of credits to a course.

• Class meeting times: These are the University legal times. If the time of your course is not legal, the Schedule 25 computer system that assigns classrooms will place your course in last priority for assigning rooms.

• Cross-listed, co-listed, and cross-level courses. Please read this page if you are considering these options. Note that the course proposal must be accompanied by a letter signed by the administrators of all departments included in the cross-_____. The course proposal must include the course description even if the only request is for cross-listing. See the definitions of the various cross-_____later in this document. The criteria for cross-listing are described later in this document.

Deadlines to be aware of:

• Courses of Study: Course proposals need to be submitted at least 10 days before the February CCC meeting to be approved in time for inclusion in Courses of Study.

• Spring Course and Time Roster: The deadline for this publication usually occurs in September, before the first CCC meeting of the fall. Therefore, course proposals should be submitted at least 10 days before the May CCC meeting. If the course change is not included in the hard copy of the Course and Time Roster, it can still be included on the WEB site until pre-enrollment begins (usually mid-October).

• Fall Course and Time Roster: The publication deadline usually is in late February. Therefore, course proposals need to be submitted at least 10 days before the February CCC meeting for approval.