Eastern Mennonite University

Global Village Curriculum

EMU's shared general education program

Global Village Curriculum

Interdisciplinary Inquiry (10 SH )

Four interdisciplinary courses (students choose two colloquia) provide opportunity for making connections between
ideas and disciplines. These courses are taken through the senior year and are listed below.

Note: Any student may satisfy one colloquium by completing a semester cross-cultural experience. Additionally, liberal arts majors may satisfy one colloquium by completing 15 semester hours from four of the following five areas: math/science, history, literature, fine/performing arts, or social science. Education students seeking PreK-3, PreK-6, or SPED licensure substitute HE 251/2 Health and Safety for GVC 201/2 Life Wellness.

Course Details

GVC 201/2 Life Wellness (2 SH)

Complementing the intellectual and spiritual focus of the course listed above, this highly experiential course focuses on stewardship of the body in relation to doing justice, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God. (Education students seeking PreK-3, PreK-6, or SPED licensure substitute HE 251/2 Health and Safety for Life Wellness.)

Colloquia (3 SH)

GVC 211 Colloquium: Cities

In this course students and faculty will examine the phenomena of cities and urbanization. An underlying theme will be to open ourselves to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God in the city. In this context we will ask the following questions: How/why have cities evolved? What does urban (vs. rural) living do to us and for us? What makes a city work well? Among other outcomes, students will recognize the potential for the city structure to act as an agent for social change, recognize the potential the city provides for demonstrating human creativity, and understand how to use and apply the scientific process to study an urban problem.

GVC 231 Colloquium: Passion/Obsession: Mind and Matter; Being Human

Passion. Obsession. Desire. Addiction. Faithfulness. Fanaticism. Love? Hate? We are created by God to live a life of meaning. As a result, we have inherent drives and appetites that can be either creative or destructive. At what point does a desire develop into a life-consuming addiction? Where is the line between faithfulness and fanaticism? Can love destroy and hate create? Through art, science, and philosophy, professors and students will explore humanity’s eternal struggle with this dichotomy, and hopefully gain insight both corporately and individually into the human condition.

GVC 242 Colloquium: Plague: Examining Humanity’s Place in Nature

Infectious diseases have shaped human populations throughout history and the specter of pandemic flu is again causing global concern. This course will explore aspects of contagious diseases that impact communities, both past and present, and address the fundamental position of humanity in creation. A multidisciplinary approach will blend
theology and biology, history and philosophy of the common good. Students will study the biology of disease transmission, disease agents and their vectors with the history of past epidemics and their impact on human communities. Biblical accounts, the history of the Christian movement, and contemporary theological and ethical responses to disease will be explored. Students will be challenged to think and respond to questions such as: How can we build stronger communities? Can we maintain our values in the face of a major disaster? Understanding that disease is part of our world, how do we respond?

Senior Seminar Options (2 SH)

GVC 401a Senior Seminar: An Exploration of Suffering

The universal theme of suffering perceived through various cultures and articulated in art, song, story, scripture, poetry, and essay is the focus of this course. How pain and suffering are connected to our vocation in life is another aspect of the course. In Western cultures persons often ask “why” in the face of suffering while other cultures regard suffering as a necessary part of being human. The course builds on the students’ cross cultural experience and the cultures and religions represented in the campus and local community in the pursuit of understanding the experience and meaning of and response to suffering. Guest lectures, group presentations, readings, and discussions provide forums for reflection.

GVC 401b Senior Seminar: Myths, Legends and Superstars

Using pop-cultural “texts” (possibilities include Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, and the works of Bob Dylan, U2, the Dixie Chicks), this seminar will explore the irony of post-modernism which deconstructs all meta-narratives, while simultaneously constructing new and powerful replacements. Using communications theory, cultural analysis and
biblical perspectives, students will explore deeply the chosen texts, themselves, and the future. This seminar will help students map their own faith landscape within the contemporary and often confusing pop-cultural milieu.

GVC 402a Senior Seminar: Following Roots, Finding Wings

It is often said that Christians are in the world but not of the world. Some claim that this calls Christians to isolate themselves from the world. Others claim it calls Christians to go into the world proclaiming, more by word than deed and creating the presence of something different in the world. To be in the world but not of it begs questions around two important themes: identity, and the meaning of one’s presence in the world. These become even more intriguing questions as one considers the times. In this class these themes will be explored, primarily through the arts because they can hold a mirror to show where one has been, and can offer a lamp to show where one might go. Students will be asked to explore the question, “Who am I?” and to create something personal (not a paper) by which to communicate and make tangible their ideas.

GVC 402b Senior Seminar: Relating to the Land

This seminar promotes thinking about the various ways human beings relate to the land: as growers, builders, exploiters, transformers, artists, and dreamers. The seminar will begin with a regional case study of mining in West Virginia that will lead to a discussion of the relationship between our energy use (or consumption in general) and our impact on the environment. Part two examines the land in relation to theology, aesthetics, and political structures. Part three examines how we live in our local community by studying agrarianism, food choices, and the built environment in and around Harrisonburg. The question that we will return to throughout the semester is, what does it mean to “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God” in our relationship to the land.