SF State Studies courses are expected to engage students with the core values of San Francisco State University. Courses approved to satisfy SF State Studies requirements are expected to meet the spirit of these requirements. The theme of the designation should be infused into the course but is not required to be the primary theme or topic of the course. Although some assignments must address the theme, it is not required that all assignments do so.
Courses that satisfy the SF State Studies requirements:
- may be lower- or upper-division,
- must be a minimum of 3 units, and
- must be completed with a passing or CR grade.
- Please design your course with the course expectations in mind.
- Include the learning outcomes in the course syllabus and identify the activities and/or assignments that will be used to demonstrate students have met the learning outcomes.
Recognizing that "race" is a historically and socially constructed category, American ethnic and racial minority populations are defined as those that are:
- excluded from the dominant majority community or culture;
- excluded from sustained influence on, access to, and participation in structures and institutions in the United States and the privilege of power deriving from such exclusions;
- identify with or see themselves as members of a distinct ethnic or racial minority group;
- racialized as members of that (or another racialized) group and as such, have been systematically oppressed by the dominant society's institutions and ideologies.
AERM Course Expectations:
Courses approved for American Ethnic and Racial Minorities should:
- present views of one or more groups of American Ethnic and Racial Minorities both from the perspective of the group and as an integral part of American society;
- encourage the study of values, attitudes, behaviors and/or creative endeavors that acknowledge and respect the dignity of all groups; and
- present a thorough analysis of the historical experiences, social stratification processes, political activism, basic cultural patterns, aesthetic experiences and/or ideologies, and include one or more of the oppressed groups of color: African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, Pacific Islander Americans, US Latinas/Latinos, South West Asian/North African Americans, and people of mixed racialized heritages.
AERM Learning Outcomes:
After successfully completing a course designated as fulfilling the American Ethnic and Racial Minorities requirement, students will be able to:
- Identify one of the historical, political, or cultural experiences of one or more US ethnic/racial minority groups.
- Demonstrate the cultural awareness necessary to be citizens in an ethnically and racially diverse nation.
- Please design your course with the course expectations in mind.
- Include the learning outcomes in the course syllabus and identify the activities and/or assignments that will be used to demonstrate students have met the learning outcomes.
ESCA Course Expectations:
Courses approved for Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action should:
- Encourage students to examine how their personal activities impact the environment, and as a result affect the health and well-being of themselves and society.
- Analyze how the well-being of human society is dependent on ecosystems and the materials and services they provide to humanity.
- Explain the interconnectivity of economic prosperity, social equity and environmental quality.
- Identify the most serious environmental problems globally and locally and explain their underlying causes and possible consequences.
- Provide opportunities to create models, products, designs or creative representations that highlight an understanding of the connections between people, processes and the environment.
ESCA Learning Outcomes:
After successfully completing a course designated as fulfilling the Environmental Sustainability and Climate Action requirement, students will be able to:
- Analyze the problems, impacts, and injustices of environmental issues and climate change.
- Identify strategies and potential solutions to address the root causes and impacts of environmental and climate injustices.
- Please design your course with the course expectations in mind.
- Include the learning outcomes in the course syllabus and identify the activities and/or assignments that will be used to demonstrate students have met the learning outcomes.
GP Course Expectations:
Courses approved for Global Perspectives should:
- help students recognize that one’s view of the world is not universally shared and that others may have profoundly different perceptions;
- analyze similarities and differences among human experiences and perspectives in different parts of the world and help students draw conclusions about the significance and consequences of these similarities and differences;
- help students understand how the world’s systems are interdependent and how local economic and social patterns have global impact beyond their effects on individual lives;
- describe factors that contribute to or threaten the well-being of individuals and/or communities in several areas of the world, or factors that did so in the past.
GP Learning Outcomes
After successfully completing a course designated as fulfilling the Global Perspectives requirement, students will be able to:
- Analyze similarities and differences among human experiences or perspectives in at least two different parts of the world, in a contemporary or historical context
- Describe how local and global systems are interconnected, and how economic and social patterns influence individuals and communities across various levels
- Please design your course with the course expectations in mind.
- Include the learning outcomes in the course syllabus and identify the activities and/or assignments that will be used to demonstrate students have met the learning outcomes.
SJ Course Expectations:
Courses approved for Social Justice must address:
- social constructions of identity, hierarchy, power, and privilege;
- community resistance and empowerment;
- social justice.
The social constructions may be related to variations among humans, including such factors as abilities, ages, cultures, genders, geographic locations, histories, immigration statuses, languages, national and ethnic identities, racializations, religions, sexualities, socio-economic classes.
SJ Learning Outcomes
After successfully completing a course designated as fulfilling the Social Justice requirement, students will be able to:
- Analyze and evaluate how social justice principles operate to promote or challenge constructions of identity, hierarchy, power, privilege.
- Identify and examine ways in which individuals can contribute to social justice across local, national and/or global communities.