Certificate in Pluralism and Global Citizenship

Become an active participant in pluralism with UCalgary's Certificate in Pluralism and Global Citizenship. 

• Recognize your assumptions and values.
• Appreciate different sets of values shaped by other cultures and identities.
• Develop a disposition toward openness and an active engagement with people from diverse backgrounds who have their own perspectives and interests.
• Learn skills that promote civil discourse about contentious issues.
• Deepen an intercultural capacity that will enable you to live and act responsibly in an increasingly global world.

These objectives require understanding multiple factors that exist at an individual and collective level. You will be able to apply your new understanding in your social interactions.

Requirements

Complete at least 18 units from the Field of Pluralism and Global Citizenship while fulfilling the following:

1. Core courses (Pluralism 201 and Pluralism 401)
   • Six units 
2. Pluralism and Global Citizenship electives
   • An additional 12 units from the Field of Pluralism and Global Citizenship.

• Count up to 6 units of language study in the School of Languages, Linguistics, Literatures, and Cultures among your electives. 
• Seek permission from the program coordinator to count an appropriate course not included on the list of electives toward your certificate requirements.
  • This applies to a topics course that addresses a relevant topic. 
• You're encouraged to take part in international learning opportunities. Apply to the program coordinator to have those courses counted towards the certificate.

PLURALISM 201

The introductory course, Pluralism 201, will introduce concepts and issues associated with pluralism. It includes the specific aim of critical self-reflection to develop your awareness of your assumptions and norms.

Critical self-reflection will help you interrogate the origin of your assumptions and values and the consequences/implications of behaviour. A curriculum-integrated experiential learning component will be designed to promote such self-examination and reflection. 

Introduction to Pluralism 3 units; H(3-0)

An introduction to concepts and issues associated with pluralism with emphasis on critical self-reflection on assumptions, values and norms and developing skills to engage with culturally diverse teams. Includes curriculum-based experiential learning components.

PLURALISM 401

Pluralism 401 will be a capstone course with a more prominent experiential learning component that will involve engagement with the community, broadly defined as both internal and external to the university.

Capstone in Pluralism and Global Citizenship 3 units; H(3-0)

Integrative project with a significant experiential learning component involving respectful engagement with a local or global community. The focus of projects could range from improving workplace civility to seeking creative, socially just, and bold outcomes through social activism and innovation, cultural research, entrepreneurial thinking, thought leadership, and community development. 

Prerequisite: Pluralism 201, completion of 60 units, and admission to the Embedded Certificate in Pluralism and Global Citizenship 

Note: A minimum of 15 community-engaged experiential learning contact hours is required in addition to course hours.

Pluralism and Global Citizenship electives

Note: Many courses on the list have prerequisites, and some may be in high demand. Registration in these courses is not assured. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that prerequisites are completed.

Learning Outcomes

1. Knowing yourself – students will develop a high degree of self-awareness involving critically appraising their cultural perspectives, assumptions, values, and norms. An ethic of respect for diversity begins with knowing oneself and how one is positioned among others in society. 
2. Understanding others – students will learn to empathize with other worldviews and ways of living in the world and to identify and overcome stereotyping and bias against difference. Students will explore how power is embedded in structures in which hierarchies, inequalities, and opportunities for individuals and groups vary in time and place. Finally, they will develop communication skills to enable them to converse with others honestly and with civility about contentious issues, in the words of Jeffrey Seglin (Harvard Kennedy School), to “express a strong opinion while being civil.”
3. Recognizing global connections – students will gain an understanding of the increased blurring of national boundaries given the increasing interdependency of political, social, and economic realities and rapid technological advances. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the perceived opportunities, threats, and tensions that characterize a global situation in which notions of identity, place, and belonging are in flux, as well as the digital environment's impact on traditional western understandings of civic engagement. Finally, students will articulate what it means to be a global citizen. 
4. Practicing responsible global citizenship – students will develop the disposition to act as responsible global citizens. They will develop the habits of critically examining social realities, engaging respectfully with diverse groups, practicing ethical responsibility, and advocating social justice. They will apply the understanding they have gained within their spheres and advance the values of pluralism and global citizenship in concrete action.