Title: UNITED Conference
Seq. #: 82708 (ED 989A, Section 99)
Location: University Center, Northern Michigan University
Meets: Varies by program: September 27 - October 1, 2009 with paper due December 4, 2009
Instructor: Judy Puncochar
Tuition: 1 Graduate Credit Hour; (Tuition - $339.75)
Brief Description: This course deals primarily with living cultures of the world, including U.S. domestic diversity. Topics include literary, artistic, and other cultural achievements; religious and ethical values; social, economic, and political systems; and/or intellectual and historical trends. Participants will attend the UNITED Conference (Uniting Neighbors in the Experience of Diversity) during October 2, 2009 through December 4, 2009 which aims to increase understanding of internationalization, multiculturalism, and pluralistic values by engaging participants in an appreciation for the richness of cultures and ethnicity.
Course Objectives: Participants will explore, analyze, and reflect on ways to promote respect for the vast multicultural backgrounds of K-12 students. Participants will use themes from conference sessions to formulate their own perspectives and generate community-building solutions to issues discussed during the conference. Participants are encouraged to generate ideas for curricular materials based on conference sessions. The UNITED Conference should result in participants' obtaining a greater understanding of their own and others' cultures.
Participants completing this course should be able to:
- Comprehend and articulate the distinctive worldview (e.g., values, norms, and beliefs) of at least one culture or cultural practice that varies significantly from Anglo-American and Western European cultures
- Understand and articulate what culture is and how people express culture in terms of artifacts, artistic accomplishments, technology, customs, and texts
- Understand and respect social and cultural diversity and complexity in a global context
- Understand how factors such as racial, ethnic, gender and class differences affect intergroup relationships within a culture, and
- Articulate the important achievements and contributions of other cultures in such areas as the arts, literature, philosophy, ethical values, religion, and science.
Course Delivery Format: Participants will attend UNITED Conference sessions with MediaSite Live delivery of lectures, discussions, exhibits, and presentations through NMU’s online course delivery system.
Course Assessment Methodology: Participants will choose nine different sessions within four web-based modules consisting of four or five sessions each. Participants will post reflections asynchronously about each viewed session on discussion boards and respond to others' postings. One reflection paper of 5-10 pages is required for linking the conference to Professional Standards for Michigan Teachers and Related Proficiencies and addressing the objectives of the course. Participants are encouraged to generate ideas for curricular materials and community-building solutions to issues raised during the conference sessions. Participants will post papers on the course discussion boards and offer encouragement and suggestions for others' papers. Nine sessions is equivalent to eight hours or a full day of conference attendance. Discussion board reflections and responses to others' postings and papers are equivalent to four and one-half hours of asynchronous class time. Requirements for the paper include a list of sessions viewed, discussion of session themes and course objectives, reflection on personal and professional growth, and articulation of standards addressed by the conference sessions in support of the Professional Standards for Michigan Teachers and Related Proficiencies. The paper is due during the last week of the semester.