I. Regulations
Davis Division Regulation 522 sets forth the Baccalaureate Degree Requirement in General Education. Civic and Cultural Literacy, a component of Core Literacies (522.C), includes the requirement for 3 units in World Cultures (522.C.2).
Regulation 523 sets forth the Criteria for General Education Certification of courses, stating “A course in World Cultures combines the historical and social context, and core analytic skills, necessary to understand, and adopt a critical perspective on, social relations and/or cultural practices in one or more cultures outside of the United States.” (523.C.5)
II. Interpretation
The objective of World Cultures Literacy is to help students develop a global perspective, so that they might live comfortably and productively in a world where communication technologies, economic relationships, and the flow of people across national borders increasingly challenge national identities and create transnational, migrant, and immigrant cultures.
Courses that meet the World Cultures literacy must present material pertaining to social relations and/or cultural production in one or more societies outside of the United States and provide students with the necessary interpretive skills to analyze social relations and/or cultural production in these societies. They may examine culture and/or social relations, as the institutions, practices, ideas, and values of a particular society. They may also examine culture as the practices and modes of cultural production in the arts in relation to their social-cultural context.
Minimum Elements Checklist
Courses in the World Cultures Literacy must:
ME1) Require students to analyze social relations and/or cultural production in one or more societies outside the United States.
In justifying ME1, describe how the course presents opportunities for students to analyze social relations and/or cultural production outside of the United States.
ME2) Require students to demonstrate understanding of characteristics of the world culture(s) covered in the course.
In justifying ME2, briefly describe an assignment that requires students to demonstrate understanding of characteristics of the world culture(s) covered in the course.
ME3) Require students to analyze and/or compare world culture(s) from the perspective of that culture rather than an American perspective.
In justifying ME3, briefly describe an assignment that requires students to analyze and/or compare world culture(s) from the perspective of that culture rather than an American perspective.
ME4) Assess students for competency in the World Cultures literacy.
In justifying ME4, describe how course assignments allow students to demonstrate competency in the World Cultures literacy. Provide specific examples of how student competency in the World Cultures literacy is assessed.
ME5) Ensure that developing the ability to combine historical and social context, and core analytic skills, necessary to understand, and adopt a critical perspective on, social relations and/or cultural practices in one or more cultures outside of the United States are learning objectives throughout the course.
In justifying ME5, describe how students develop literacy in World Cultures throughout the course and how this literacy is addressed across student learning objectives of the course.
III. ICMS Submission Requirements
The Committee on Courses of Instruction (COCI) evaluates whether the course proposal satisfies the minimum elements checklist above. COCI uses the information provided in the answers to the General Education literacy justification questions and the Expanded Course Description. Departments requesting that a course be approved for this GE literacy must answer the literacy questions in the Integrated Curriculum Management System (ICMS). Where applicable, the italicized notes below the Minimum Elements above may help guide course proposers in drafting responses in ICMS.
Last revised and approved by Undergraduate Council
June 5, 2026