The Human Condition Thread (HCT) is a multi-disciplinary effort embedded within the core Academic
Program that fosters the development of cross-cultural competence, i.e., the ability to shift perspective,
empathize with others, value difference in others, and be able to navigate that difference to build
cohesive inclusive teams.

 

The purpose of the Thread is to identify and amplify academic synergies across multiple core courses
where knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to cross-cultural sensitivity, diversity and inclusion, and
identity construction are developed. In addition to core-course stakeholders, the HC Thread will invite
subject matter experts from related non-core courses to contribute to the ongoing discussion of thread-
related issues.

 

Learning Outcomes and Coordinated Core Courses
The HCT is organized around four Student Learning Outcomes, created from previous SLOs in the
Region-Culture Thread and the Gender, Sexuality, and Respect Thread, and through collaboration the
AY21 Dean’s Fellow for Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity, MAJ Jessica Dawson.

 

 

Cadets progress through a series of core courses that address these objectives from different
disciplinary perspectives. In order to make the goals of the thread clear to cadets and faculty and to
maintain coherence in the thread, the number of courses have been kept to a minimum.

 

 

Other Participants and Contributors

In addition to the core courses listed above, other courses at the Academy will have input into the HCT
as it develops over time. Specifically, PL100/PL150, EN102, PY201/PY251, SS202/SS252, PE215 and
PE450 all have student learning outcomes and course content that contribute significantly to cadets’
understanding of the HCT SLOs. The directors of these courses, and perhaps others, will be invited to
consult with the HCT committee and the course directors of the HCT courses to strengthen the program.

 

Administration and Assessment

In order to assess the above learning outcomes, the HCT will analyze EXSUMs from relevant stakeholder
courses and proposes to implement the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), or similar survey, as a
before and after snapshot of West Point graduates. We propose the IDI be administered to cadets early
in their West Point experience as a baseline, perhaps before they report as plebes (similar to the Everfi
survey) or, if that is not feasible, in PL100, HI101 or similar and then again closer to graduation, perhaps
in MX400. The IDI has been used in this fashion before and after the Semester Abroad Program since
2008 and there are three IDI-Certified Administrators in the Center for Languages, Cultures, and
Regional Studies. The IDI is a proprietary device highly respected and widely used in academia and the
business world by diversity & inclusion professionals to assess and promote a more inclusive
multicultural mindset among their constituents. The IDI’s Guided Development program uses group
aggregate scores on the IDI to promote discussion of a group’s mindset and how to develop further
along the continuum.

 

 

 

 

Appendix A: Course Support for the Human Condition Thread

HI105/HI155 History of the United States supports all four of the student learning outcomes

for the Human Condition Thread. As a plebe course, HI105/HI155 introduces these concepts and sets the

stage for a deeper dive into these areas later in the cadet experience.

 

SLO 1: Demonstrate an appreciation of difference and empathy for others.

Three course objectives support this outcome. “Evaluate factors that forged both unity and division

among Americans,” “Interpret Americans’ changing ideas about rights, civil inclusion, and political

participation as well as government’s proper purpose, size, and scope,“ and “Assess the changing

dynamics of American society and the debates about race, class, and gender in America” all deal with

points of tension and compromise in American history that involved questions of difference and

developing empathy in order to resolve the tensions.

 

SLO 2: Develop insights into sociocultural elements of identity-construction (e.g., ethnicity, linguistic

group, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national, political).

Three course objectives support this outcome. “Evaluate factors that forged both unity and division

among Americans,” “Interpret Americans’ changing ideas about rights, civil inclusion, and political

participation as well as government’s proper purpose, size, and scope,“ and “Assess the changing

dynamics of American society and the debates about race, class, and gender in America” all concern

aspects of identity-construction in the American context. The course focuses on race, gender, ethnicity

and political identities.

 

SLO 3: Understand, evaluate, and make cross-disciplinary connections between concepts related to

gender, sexuality, and respect.

Two course objectives support this outcome. “Interpret Americans’ changing ideas about rights, civil

inclusion, and political participation as well as government’s proper purpose, size, and scope,“ and

“Assess the changing dynamics of American society and the debates about race, class, and gender in

America” require cadets to understand and evaluate concepts related to gender, sexuality and respect in

the American historical experience.

 

SLO 4: Analyze and evaluate how, why, and to what extent social, political, economic, cultural, and

spatial factors contribute to social conflict and cohesion within a given space.

Two course objectives support this outcome. “Explain disagreements about the consolidation of the

United States and its expansion as a world power,” and “Analyze the causes and consequences of

economic development and growth in America” each address a separate aspect of this SLO. The first

addresses primarily the way that political and spatial factors contributed to conflict and cohesion in

American history and the second addresses the ways in which social, political and economic factors

contributed to conflict and cohesion over the course of American history.

 

HI108/HI158 Regional Studies in World History supports all four student learning

outcomes for the Human Condition Thread. Cadets take either HI105/HI155 or HI108/HI158 and while

the content is very different, the overall objectives are very similar in relationship to the Human

Condition Thread. HI108/HI158 is divided into six stems, Africa, East Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle

East and Russia each with their own specific course objectives. For this crosswalk, we will use the

Latin America stem objectives, but all of the stems have similar objectives.

 

SLO 1: Demonstrate an appreciation of difference and empathy for others.

Several course objectives address this outcome, but two explicitly delve into understanding and

appreciating how and why cultures develop in different ways: “Explain political, religious, intellectual,

cultural, economic, military, and social events and developments that have occurred in Latin America,”

and “Explain the development of institutions, ideas, and developments unique to Latin America’s

civilizations and cultures.” One outcome explicitly challenges cadets to develop empathy for other

cultures: “Develop a deeper understanding of different cultures, thus establishing increased tolerance

for new and unfamiliar ideas and concepts.”

 

SLO 2: Develop insights into sociocultural elements of identity-construction (e.g., ethnicity, linguistic

group, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national, political).

Two objectives support this outcome. “Analyze the societal customs, norms, and traditional responses

to change in Latin America,” and “Analyze the interaction of technological, social, political, religious,

economic, cultural, and military factors that shaped the history of gender, race, and sexuality across

Latin America” both encourage cadets to think about the ways that various cultures and identities have

been constructed over time and space.

 

SLO 3: Understand, evaluate, and make cross-disciplinary connections between concepts related to

gender, sexuality, and respect.

Two objectives explicitly address this outcome. “Analyze the interaction of technological, social,

political, religious, economic, cultural, and military factors that shaped the history of gender, race, and

sexuality across Latin America,” and “Explain Latin American ethical perspectives, principles, and

concepts within their historical and cultural context” push cadets to analyze the constructions of gender

and sexuality and to assess their treatment in various ethical frameworks in Latin American histories.

 

SLO 4: Analyze and evaluate how, why, and to what extent social, political, economic, cultural, and

spatial factors contribute to social conflict and cohesion within a given space.

Two objectives support this outcome. “Explain the development of institutions, ideas, and

developments unique to Latin America’s civilizations and cultures,” and “Explain political, religious,

intellectual, cultural, economic, military, and social events and developments that have occurred in Latin

America” both address developments specific to various Latin American civilizations.

 

EV203 Physical Geography Supports outcomes 1, 2 and 4

SLO 1: Demonstrate an appreciation of difference and empathy for others.

SLO 2: Develop insights into sociocultural elements of identity-construction (e.g., ethnicity, linguistic

group, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national, political).

SLO 4: Analyze and evaluate how, why, and to what extent social, political, economic, cultural, and

spatial factors contribute to social conflict and cohesion within a given space.

All of these outcomes are supported by the third block of EV203, Culture. In this block, cadets have

lessons on Cultural Geography, Geography of Religions, and Ethnicities, exploring the ways in which

cultures and identities are affected by geographical considerations. SLO 4 is further supported by the

lesson on Military Geography, where cadets study the impact of physical space on military endeavors.

 

LX203-204 Standard Language supports outcomes 1 and 2 of the Human Condition Thread.

There are eight languages under this umbrella each with their own specific course objectives. For the

purposes of this crosswalk, we will use the Russian language syllabus.

SLO 1: Demonstrate an appreciation of difference and empathy for others.

SLO 2: Develop insights into sociocultural elements of identity-construction (e.g., ethnicity, linguistic

group, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national, political).

Both of these outcomes are supported by the historical and cultural emphasis in L203 and LX204 and

specifically by two objectives. “Describe basic culture- or community-specific linguistic behavior, as well

as similarities and differences in common cultural practices,” and “Identify major historical figures and

events in their appropriate linguistic and cultural settings,” both require cadets to examine different

cultural and political developments in another culture.

 

PL300/PL350 Military Leadership and Advanced Military Leadership support

outcomes 1 and 3. In addition, the syllabus sets out “Rules of Engagement” that states “everyone learns

about, seeks to understand, and respects varied races, ethnicities, socio-economic classes, genders,

religions, ages, physical and mental abilities, and sexualities.” While not a course goal, this statement

creates a culture of empathy and respect for others.

SLO 1: Demonstrate an appreciation of difference and empathy for others.

This is supported by the course goal “Cadets will reflect on their leadership and become better, more

self-aware, and inclusive leaders,” which encourages cadets to have a “better sense of who they are,

their strengths, weaknesses, values, purpose, as well as their biases and tendencies.” In additions,

lessons on “Character and its Development, Perceptions and Biases, Emotional Intelligence, and

Humility” contribute to this SLO.

SLO 3: Understand, evaluate, and make cross-disciplinary connections between concepts related to

gender, sexuality, and respect.

The lesson on Toxic Leadership as well as lessons on Perceptions and Biases and Organizational Justice

require cadets to reflect on various aspects of leadership and respect.

 

SS307/SS357 International Relations support outcomes 2 and 4

SLO 2: Develop insights into sociocultural elements of identity-construction (e.g., ethnicity, linguistic

group, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national, political).

The core course in international relations explores how “socially-constructed” concepts like ideas,

identities, and values can inform state decision-making, including how constructs like nationalism can

guide states into inter- and intra-state violence. The course explores this more deeply in the week on

race and gender in international affairs, which examines how traditional concepts like power, security,

and anarchy emerge from long-standing raced or masculine hierarchies. The salience of identity

construction to political violence, whether in the form of civil wars, terrorism, or nativism, form a

substantial portion of the course’s final block.

SLO 4: Analyze and evaluate how, why, and to what extent social, political, economic, cultural, and

spatial factors contribute to social conflict and cohesion within a given space.

The course explores how state conflict and cooperation are functions of a variety of factors at the

international, national, and subnational levels and across social, political, and economic themes. Our

study of civil and ethnic conflict incorporates how social identity relates to political violence. In the week

on international political economy, we decipher the causes of protectionism despite the benefits of free

trade, much of which comes from nationalistic sentiment. During our analysis of democratic backsliding,

we analyze how political and cultural forces intersect to create many of the trends we observe in the

world today.

 

LW403 Constitutional and Military Law supports outcomes 3 and 4.

SLO 3: Understand, evaluate, and make cross-disciplinary connections between concepts related to

gender, sexuality, and respect.

The first block of the course supports this outcome. Lessons on Equal Protection and Race, Affirmative

Action and Gender Discrimination, and Reproductive Rights all address legal methods of understanding

gender, sexuality and respect.

SLO 4: Analyze and evaluate how, why, and to what extent social, political, economic, cultural, and

spatial factors contribute to social conflict and cohesion within a given space.

The first block of the course also supports this SLO by addressing how various factors have contributed

to social conflict and cohesion. SLO 4 is also addressed in various lessons in the other blocks of the

course, particularly in lessons dealing with Constitutional Amendments.

 

MX400 Officership supports outcomes 1, 3 and 4. The course goal “Integrate honorable service

concepts into interdisciplinary solutions” creates a culture of inclusive team-building, and respect.

SLO 1: Demonstrate an appreciation of difference and empathy for others.

By creating a shared understanding of how character is integrated into all aspects of Officership, Cadets

learn to recognize the benefits of leveraging mixed culture teams, building healthy relationships that are

built on trust, and employing ethical reasoning.

SLO 3: Understand, evaluate, and make cross-disciplinary connections between concepts related to

gender, sexuality, and respect.

The emphasis in much of MX400 is on ethical leadership and supports these SLOs. Many of the lessons

either focus on or touch on concepts of inclusion and developing diverse teams. The three-lesson

sequence on Moral Leadership addresses all of these concepts in a variety of contexts. MX400 also

sheds light on an officers’ duty and responsibility to uphold our Nation’s values and to embody the Army

ethic. By recognizing the great moral weight of a commission and unpacking the sacred meaning of the

Oath of Office, Cadets embrace their professional identity as they publicly commit to defending our

inalienable rights and mankind’s greatest ideals.

SLO 4: Analyze and evaluate how, why, and to what extent social, political, economic, cultural, and

spatial factors contribute to social conflict and cohesion within a given space.

Course outcome “Formulate and present interdisciplinary solutions to complex military problems” and

the Integrative Experience address this SLO by requiring cadets to examine and develop solutions for

conflict in a variety of environments by creating and successfully using cohesive teams. This includes

considerations for how to properly build trust within a mixed culture team. MX400 also reinforces the

importance of maintaining trust vertically (with our civilian leaders) and horizontally (with society) and

describes various models in which the Army changes to remain morally integrated with society.