By taking an international, transnational, and/or comparative approach, courses in this category seek to increase students’ knowledge of the diversity of traditions that have characterized the United States and to explore the ways in which this heterogeneity has shaped the nation. To accomplish this goal, courses cannot approach the United States in isolation from the wider world. Upon completing a course in this category, students should be able to do at least three (3) of the following:

Learning Goals for USW

  1. Describe the political, diplomatic, social, economic, cultural, scientific, and/or environmental interactions between the United States and the world, historically and/or in contemporary times.
  2. Identify major practices, institutions, and ideas of the United States (its nations, regions, and peoples) as well as how those constructions are applied and contested.
  3. Demonstrate a nuanced understanding of the role and/or place of the United States in the world.
  4. Evaluate evidence and create their own arguments in relation to existing arguments about the role and/or place of the United States in the world.


View a sample syllabus for United States and the World