United States Cultural Pluralism (USCP) Requirement

In 1992, the Academic Senate determined that, beginning with the 1994-97 catalog, Cal Poly undergraduates must fulfill the United States Cultural Pluralism (USCP) requirement consisting of a single course satisfying defined criteria. This requirement may be fulfilled by a USCP-certified course, which could be in the major, support, General Education, or free elective categories. Please click here for a list of USCP courses in the Cal Poly catalog.

USCP Course Educational Objectives

Adopted with AS-910-21: "Resolution on Updating the United States Cultural Pluralism (USCP) Educational Objectives."

All Lower-Division USCP courses must meet a minimum of four (4) of the following seven (7) educational objectives:

EO1: Identify and describe the histories of racial, gender, sexual, economic, political, and other inequities in the U.S. and how they persist.

EO2: Describe the ethical concerns within one's discipline with regard to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the United States.

EO3: Articulate and explain the most significant artistic, intellectual, cultural, and linguistic contributions, past and present, made by historically marginalized people in the United States.

EO4: Identify and define the aims of various individual/organizational efforts and mass social movements such as the abolitionist, civil rights, feminist, and other movements that address various forms of discrimination in the United States.

EO5: Distinguish between individual and structural forms of exclusion and inequality; and, offer a structural analysis of social, economic, political, and other historical inequalities in the United States.

EO6: Explain how historical narratives and other intellectual and/or disciplinary traditions are shaped by dominant groups in the United States and critically analyze their formations.

EO7: Explain and analyze how the various issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion are integral to fulfilling the core values of American institutions and American ideals such as those which guarantee freedom, equality, and democracy.

All Upper-Division USCP courses must meet a minimum of four (4) of the following seven (7) learning objectives:

EO1: Assess and analyze individual, systemic, structural, and/or institutional forms of inequity and discrimination in the United States.

EO2: Synthesize and analyze historical narratives and other intellectual and/or disciplinary traditions in the United States.

EO3: Explain and analyze how the various issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion are integral to fulfilling the core values of American institutions and American ideals such as those which guarantee freedom, equality, and democracy.

EO4: Synthesize and explain the various theories about the development and maintenance of gender identities, sexualities, race/racism, ethnicity, economic inequality, and other interlocking systems of oppression in the United States.

EO5: Articulate and explain the most significant artistic, intellectual, cultural, and linguistic contributions, past and present, made by historically marginalized people in the United States.

EO6: Describe and analyze the social, behavioral, scientific, and psychological impacts of structural inequities in the United States.

EO7: Assess and analyze the issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in one's major field of study and/or industry in the United States.

USCP Criteria

Adopted with AS-883-19: "Resolution on Updating the United States Cultural Pluralism (USCP) Criteria."

USCP courses must fulfill all of the following criteria:

CR1: Focus on one or more diverse groups (identified in the Cal Poly Statement on Diversity) whose contributions to American society have been impeded by cultural, legal, economic, and political conflict or whose social, cultural, legal, economic, and political opportunities have been restricted in the United States.

CR2: Cover the historical and/or contemporary social issues resulting from conflict or restricted opportunities that include but are not limited to problems associated with discrimination based on age, ethnicity, gender, nationality, abilities, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or race in the United States.

CR3: Address the diverse intellectual, philosophical, and cultural perspectives of historically marginalized people in the United States.

CR4: Emphasize the voices and contributions of historically marginalized groups in the United States such that the course content must prominently include sources written and/or produced by historically marginalized people.

CR5: Foster critical thinking skills by using intersectional frameworks of analyses that are necessary for adequately understanding the analyzing various social issues related to diversity and equity in the United States.

CR6: Require students to examine critically their own beliefs, attitudes, and potential biases related to historically marginalized people in the United States.

USCP Review Committee

Adopted with AS-880-19 "Resolution on Updating United States Cultural Pluralism (USCP) Review Committee Membership and Responsibilities."

(a) Membership

The Chair of the Academic Senate Curriculum Committee, a faculty member from the Ethnic Studies Department, a faculty member from the Women's & Gender Studies Department, and two at-large faculty members with USCP teaching experience and/or teaching experience related to diversity issues as voting members. Ex Officio non-voting members shall be the Vice President and Chief Officer for Diversity and Inclusion or designee, the CTLT Inclusive Excellence Specialist or designee, and an ASI student representative.

(b) Responsibilities

The committee evaluates the United States Cultural Pluralism (USCP) component of new and existing courses before making recommendations to the General Education Governance Board, when a course is a general education course, and the Academic Senate Curriculum Committee. In addition, the committee periodically performs curricular review and evaluation of USCP courses and, when appropriate, works with the Academic Senate Curriculum Committee to review and update USCP learning outcomes and course requirements (as indicated in Academic Senate Bylaws I.2.(b)).

Sources:

Academic Senate Resolution: AS-836-17 "Resolution on Aligning USCP Criteria to Diversity Learning Objectives with Oversight by GE Governance Board" (PDF). Approved 17 July 2017.

Academic Senate Resolution: AS-880-19 "Resolution on Updating the United States Cultural Pluraism (USCP) Criteria" (PDF). Approved 3 July 2019.

Academic Senate Resolution: AS-883-19 "Resolution on Updating the United States Cultural Pluralism (USCP) Criteria" (PDF). Approved 16 January 2020.

Academic Senate Resolution: AS-910-21 "Resolution on Updating the United States Cultural Pluralism (USCP) Educational Objectives" (PDF). Approved 12 March 2021.

Cal Poly Catalog: United States Cultural Pluralism (USCP).

Updated 3/15/24