Program Overview

The minor in Cultural Studies is a versatile program of study. Cultural Studies is a multidisciplinary minor for students pursuing an undergraduate degree at Alvernia University and seeking to augment their major field of study or specialization. The academic program holds many benefits:

 

  • Interdisciplinary Study: The CST minor offers up a new interdisciplinary minor for the University that reflects the diverse demographics of the Berks County area and the increasing diversity within the United States. The minor is cost effective and flexible because it draws from existing University human diversity designations across both the College of Professional Programs and the College of Arts and Sciences.
  • Flexible Scheduling: The CST curriculum provides flexible scheduling for a variety of programs and interests since it is an 18-credit minor with only one required foundational course and 15 credits chosen from the list of approved human diversity courses. (Due to accrediting bodies, there are several programs with highly prescriptive major requirements. It is often difficult for students to fit in a minor.)
  • General Education Requirement: The CST minor adds another option to the Alvernia General Education Core by fitting into the interdisciplinary path of knowledge and allowing for some double-dipping of courses for those programs with tight schedules.
  • Critical Study: The CST program advances the critical study and discussion of diverse cultures through art and music, history and politics, religion, languages and literature, texts and traditions.
  • Cultural Awareness: The CST coursework examines and brings awareness to a broad range of cultural issues, including identity, race, gender, class, inclusion, nationalism, globalism, religion, etc.
  • Cultural Sustainability: The CST program develops global awareness and sustainability of varied cultural identities and intellectual traditions.
  • Diversity Training & Collaboration: The CST program reflects and serves the University's increasingly diverse student body and Reading population, and it provides training for cultural and international work experiences everywhere. The minor encourages collaboration within an increasingly complex global community.

 

For more information about Alvernia's WGS program contact the Admissions Office at 1-888-ALVERNIA or 610-796-8269 or admissions@alvernia.edu.

 

Curriculum

All Alvernia students must successfully complete a minimum of 123 semester credits to receive a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science degree. The Minor in Cultural Studies requires 18 credits of coursework.

Note #1: Twelve credits of the minor must be outside of the student's major (this policy is in keeping with the College Catalog.)

Note #2: A maximum of 9 credits may be put toward a second minor.

 

Required Coursework: CST 200: Introduction to Cultural Studies (3 credits)

 

The course examines terms and structures, analytical techniques, and theories commonly associated in cultural studies. Worldviews, values, and social systems of diverse groups and nations are explored through readings, research and discussion. Emphasis is on interdisciplinary approaches exploring processes and artifacts studied via ethnography, oral history, survey research, and textual, material, mediated, and visual cultural analysis.

Elective Coursework: Fifteen (15) credits must be selected from courses identified as meeting the human diversity requirement, including special topics. At least six credits must be from courses numbered 300 or above. Study abroad opportunities are highly encouraged for students in their junior or senior year. Up to six (6) credits of coursework completed during study abroad may count toward completion of the minor.

All courses identified as meeting the University's human diversity requirement may be used toward the minor in cultural studies. Prerequisites must be completed as required by individual courses. The list of human diversity courses can be found in the College Catalog.

Contact

Caroline (Carrie) Fitzpatrick, Ph.D.
Coordinator of Cultural Studies Minor
Associate Professor of Communications and English
BUS/COM Building, Office #12
610-796-8305
caroline.fitzpatrick@alvernia.edu

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