Drury: Our Context• Small college (1,600) in SW

Missouri; founded by Congregational church

• Liberal arts heritage, now with professional & master’s programs

• 40% growth in campus-wide enrollment over the last decade

• Globally-oriented, common core General Education program introduced in 1995

Our Curriculum: Global Perspectives 21

• Goal: prepare students for responsible & productive lives in 21st century

• 57 hours focused on Global Studies

• Each student earns a minor in Global Studies by completing the curriculum

Why an Interdisciplinary Approach?

• Real-world problems• Modeling for our students• Addressing open-ended questions• Creating faculty connections and

community• Shared responsibility for general

education

The ‘Core’: 15 hours• Alpha Seminar: The American

Experience– Year-long, common first-year experience– Taught by faculty across the university

• Values Analysis (2nd year)• Global Awareness/Cultural Diversity

(2nd yr)• Global Futures (capstone)

– Connect general education & major field in addressing the nature & issues of the future

Other efforts

Theme Year Convocation Program Connecting core with themed events, speakers, readings and

assignments

Arts Administration Program Joint effort between business, art

Edward Jones Center for Entrepreneurship Study abroad support, Arts Administration

Connecting Science classes with service ‘Drury Science Day’ at middle school; all classes taught by

teams from General Education science classes

Other efforts

Forum on Animal Rights Supported by DU alum B. Barker Interdisciplinary team of 10 faculty from biology,

philosophy, psychology, languages,… First course offering: Animal Ethics (Fall 2008) Multi-team-taught course examining interactions of humans

and animals from a variety of intersecting perspectives Study and preparation for this course has already produced

changes in the faculty’s personal choices

Drury’s SIFE Team

Chapter of Students in Free Enterprise, a global non-profit

Develop projects locally, nationally and internationally that serve others through entrepreneurship Working with elementary schools kids in Laredo, TX to

develop and market class calendars Developing strategy for bio-sand water purification in

villages in Mexico, Zambia, and India 40 students from 15 majors across campus National and international recognition through SIFE

competitions (World Cup champions 2001, 2003)

Next Step: Pathways• Student desire for choice, coherence in GP21

experience• Solution in progress: Offer sets of linked core

courses around a common theme• Grew from existing options:

– Science & Inquiry with sustainability focus– Environmental Ethics for Values Analysis– Global Futures section focusing on ecological challenges

• Create linked sets of existing or modified courses, providing a pathway through GP21

• Six working teams preparing proposals– Latin America and Latina/o Studies, Gender Studies,

Global Health, Asian Studies, Middle Eastern Studies

Conclusion

• Growing prominence of community connection, service in our core courses

• Student desire for seeing how their education matters on and beyond campus

• In professional programs, in traditional liberal arts majors, and in programs and projects outside those departments