Global Challenges Curriculum: This curriculum is designed to promote understanding and cooperation in areas of diplomacy, economics, and environmental sustainability and to build personal conflict mediation skills.  Disciplines are specifically ordered, and students move together from class to class over the two-year project. Disciplines to be studied in the BA-24 program are shown below. Semester one below is actually the spring semester of the freshmen year.

Augmenting Experiences:The curriculum will be augmented by travel "experiences." These experiences will revolve around the core curriculum, and in particular will allow for practice of conflict mediation skills, English-speaking skills, and presentation skills. Such experiences will be scheduled at the beginning or end of semesters or an extended summer or winter break get-together.   These are not just pleasure trips; they are designed to be exciting, interactive learning experiences with life-long impact.  The curriculum and experiences are built in a sequential manner so that one builds on the previous. 

BA-24 Curriculum and Experience Sequence:

Example: Students come together in Semester 2 to study World Cultures, World History, World Religions, and an Introduction to Extremism.  This is a six-credit academic experience.  A typical three-week module will have students study the basic tenets of the world's major religions in week one.  This study will be accompanied by considerable online discussion monitored by the professor. The discussion will be rooted in why the basic tenets of these religions cause conflict among people, and students will then be asked to share what they understand of their own faith in light of the book exposition. Week #2 will begin by placing students into three-person groups.  That group will work together, asynchronously or synchronously if schedules permit, to develop a solution to a problem that they have been given.  Different student groups get different problems to solve, but all problems will be built around a theme, most likely the Palestinian problem.   Groups will be required to research additional sources on the subjects and then come to an agreement on a solution, a solution they will ultimately present to their colleagues. Week three will have the groups submit a joint paper on the problem, with that paper having three parts, one written by each member of the group. Online discussion occurs throughout the three weeks, as the professor funnels them towards solutions. The problem, background, and solutions will be presented by the small group to the balance of the cohort when the groups come together at the end of the semester.  In this case, the group will come together in Jerusalem.  In Jerusalem, in addition to touristy activities, the students will take turns presenting their findings to the rest of the group.  The sum total of the projects will have covered most aspects of the Palestinian problem.  The students will then walk a portion of the Abraham Path together, all the time talking, sharing, and perhaps even dreaming a bit of what can be.  These types of interactions, both in class and in person, are designed to be high impact, and all students will come to understand the seriousness of the issues, first-hand, that the world faces. Most importantly, they will study these problems with people from very different backgrounds.  Throughout the entire process, they will have to exercise new-found mediation skills in order to come to agreeable solutions.

Additional Outcomes: Beyond the academic and social outcomes of such a curriculum and complementary experiences, the program will be designed so that students will develop the following set of skills and characteristics:

• Improved writing and verbal presentation skills
• Effective personal conflict mediation skills
• Appreciation for and pride in their own values, faith, and cultural characteristics
• A propensity to act
• An ability to research so they may form their own opinions and not rely on what is told them.

It is not difficult to imagine an educational system like this having an impact on young minds.  It is also not difficult to imagine someone wanting this experience.  It is also not difficult to imagine universities who would not want their students to have a full experience such as this.  Frankly, such a designed experience will go well beyond traditional study abroad programs in terms of its multicultural impact, and certainly well beyond traditional programs in terms of academic understanding of these very important issues.  

Please continue reading Page #4 - Assumptions.

  Education for Long-term Peace, Economic Prosperity, and

Environmental Sustainability

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