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Pathways

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Pathways | Faculty and Advisors

HELPING STUDENTS CHART THEIR COURSE

Pathways consist of a series of courses drawn from UA’s core curriculum, interconnected by a broad topic that students can explore from multiple perspectives. Through Pathways, students learn how different disciplines approach a similar line of study. They also gain a clearer understanding of the value of general education and liberal arts study. Students who take courses that are tied together by a shared theme, or Pathway, will begin to see how everything they are studying can create a wholistic learning experiences that is greater than the sum of its parts. Readings, assignments, and conversations become meaningful together – not just as pieces of separate academic knowledge and background that students are required to obtain.

PATHWAYS STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

1.    Integrate Core Concepts: Students will be able to integrate insights from multiple academic disciplines to develop a comprehensive analysis of complex human questions, showcasing the ability to synthesize diverse approaches and perspectives.

2.    Evaluate Discipline-Specific Approaches: Students will be able to evaluate how different fields apply their unique skills and methods to investigate and propose solutions for common societal and global challenges, identifying strengths and limitations of each approach.

3.    Investigate Interdisciplinary Solutions: Students will be able to compare and contrast interdisciplinary approaches to global problems, analyzing how combining methods from various fields can enhance or complicate the understanding and resolution of those problems.

Pathways Requirements

Global Engagement: 9 credit hours
  • 3 hours of social and behavioral science or history from the core curriculum that is a part of this Pathway.
  • 3 hours of fine arts, humanities, world language or literature from the core curriculum thats a part of this Pathway.
  • 3 hours of course work that is not in the General Education Core Curriculum.

Description

The “Global Engagement” Pathway exposes students to the critical analysis of global issues, focusing on the dynamic interplay between local and global forces. Students will investigate intercultural dependencies, evaluate how various influences shape cultural interactions, and assess methods of cross-cultural communication. By engaging in debates and exploring these multifaceted topics, students will gain a nuanced understanding of global engagement and its impact on human interactions.

Rationale

This program is designed to develop students’ ability to articulate and analyze complex global issues and their effects on cultural interactions. By emphasizing investigation, evaluation, and communication skills, the program prepares students to effectively engage with and contribute to an interconnected world. This Pathway can be offered using the courses that are currently offered in UA’s general education core curriculum. This Pathway is also benchmarked across numerous universities as being in high demand from students and employers.

Pathway Course Eligibility Requirements

A course must fulfill three (3) of the following requirements:

  1. Gather and analyze historical and contemporary knowledge on the nature of global affairs. This can include engagement with political, cultural, local, and national forces.
  2. Debate and/or present on the most critical issues pertinent to global engagement between humans in the modern era, including the relationship between local and global forces.
  3. Identify historical or contemporary definitions of human engagement (this can include anthropological, philosophical, religious, literary, and linguistic perspectives).
  4. Explore intercultural dependencies, investigating how human cultures rely on and/or influence each other.
  5. Demonstrate skills that foster the communication and interaction of people from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and identities.
  6. Demonstrate how social, political, cultural, historical, and economic forces shape the ways that cultures interact.

Pathway Student Learning Outcomes

  • Discuss/Debate Global Issues: Students will be able to articulate and debate critical issues related to global engagement, demonstrating an understanding of the interplay between local and global forces.
  • Investigate Intercultural Dependencies: Students will be able to explore and explain how human cultures rely on and influence each other, highlighting key intercultural dependencies.
  • Analyze Cross-Cultural Communication: Students evaluate the ways that people from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and identities communicate—demonstrating an understanding of what communication methods lead to increased cross-cultural dialogue and what methods impede the development of dialogue.
  • Evaluate Influences on Cultural Interaction: Students will be able to evaluate how social, political, cultural, historical, and economic forces shape the interactions between different cultures.
Executive Systems & Structures Pathway: 9 credit hours
  • 3 hours of social and behavioral science or history from the core curriculum that is a part of this Pathway.
  • 3 hours of fine arts, humanities, world language or literature from the core curriculum thats a part of this Pathway
  • 3 hours of course work that is not in the General Education Core Curriculum.

Description

Executive Systems and Structures” program encourages students to delve into the political, physical, and cultural frameworks shaping the contemporary world. Students will critically analyze the forces influencing these structures, explore the ethical dimensions underlying large systems, and assess how these frameworks are inherited and perpetuated. The program also emphasizes the importance of critiquing structural perspectives and understanding how individuals and groups can affect social change.

Rationale

This Pathway provides a broad examination of the structures that define and influence global and local systems, preparing students to understand and challenge these frameworks. By focusing on both the critique of structural perspectives and the potential for individual impact, the program equips students with the tools to engage thoughtfully and effectively in shaping societal change. This Pathway can be offered using the courses that are currently offered in UA’s general education core curriculum. This Pathway is also benchmarked across numerous universities as being in high demand from students and employers.

Pathway Course Eligibility Requirements

A course must fulfill three (3) of the following requirements:

  1. Identify how structures are historically and/or discursively determined.
  2. Identify the larger political, economic, social, cultural, historical, or physical structures that define and shape the contemporary world.
  3. Identify and debate the forces that create and moderate the larger structures and systems of the contemporary world.
  4. Explore the ethical and philosophical issues undergirding the functioning of large social, political, economic, cultural, or physical systems in the contemporary world.
  5. Examine how understandings of physical, legal, cultural, and ethical structures are inherited, cultivated, and perpetuated locally and globally, and how they animate and orient human experience.
  6. Explore the ways that individuals and groups are able to question social, political, and physical structures and play a critical role in creating change.
  7. Identify how structures are historically and/or discursively determined.

Pathway Student Learning Outcomes

  • Discuss/Debate Structural Forces: Students will be able to identify, debate, and evaluate the forces that create, moderate, and influence the larger structures and systems of the contemporary world.
  • Explore Ethical Issues: Students will be able to explore and articulate the ethical and philosophical issues underlying the functioning of large social, political, economic, cultural, and physical systems.
  • Critique Structural Perspectives: Students will be able to critique structural understandings of societies, paying attention to how such frameworks may essentialize human behavior and overlook individual and group nuances.
  • Assess Role in Social Change: Students will explore and evaluate how individuals and groups are able to challenge understandings of how physical and social structures work.

FAQ

Are Pathways optional?

Yes. Students can complete graduation requirements without doing a Pathway. We encourage them to do it, however, since it can be completed without taking any additional courses and provides a useful credential on their transcript.

How does a student add/drop a Pathway?

Students will be able to add/drop a Pathway through an online form. This link will be available before fall 2025 registration begins. The link will be accessible through the Add/Drop Majors and Minors page on mybama.ua.edu and will be included here as soon as it goes live.

How do we advise a student on their progress through a Pathway?

Students will be able to see their progress through a Pathway in Degree Works.

How can we see what courses are in a Pathway?

View all courses in each of the Pathways below.

A PDF of the Pathways courses can also be viewed in Degree Works once you have added the Pathway

What supplemental activities and opportunities are available for students who enroll in a Pathway?

Each semester, all students in a Pathway will be invited to attend guest lectures and social events. Students will interact with people from across the university and have chances to make new connections and friendships.

How does a course get added to a Pathway?

For the 2025-26 and 2026-27 catalogues, courses are added through direct negotiations between departments and the Office for General Education. Starting in 2027, departments will be able request to have a course added to a Pathway through the Course Inventory Management (CIM) system. Please contact Dr. Margaret Peacock, Director of Pathways, at mepeacock@ua.edu, for more information.

Will there be any more Pathways?

Yes. Two more Pathways are projected to rollout in the fall of 2026. They are currently being debated and reviewed by the Core Curriculum Oversight Committee and the Undergraduate Council. Final decisions on these Pathways will be made by the end of spring 2025.

Can a student’s third, non-core, Pathway course also have a U.S. and Global Citizenship (USGC) or Writing (W) attribute? 

Yes. The third course can have a USGC and/or W attribute, as long as it also has the needed Pathway attribute. 

How will Pathways be assessed?

Students in the Pathways will receive benchmarking assessments when they register for a Pathway, and then again when they complete the Pathway. Students will be assessed on their acquisition of their respective Pathway’s student learning outcomes.

What are the key points we should make in advising a student to do a Pathway?

It is good to mention that the Pathway can be done without adding more classes (assuming there their third, non-core course, is in their major or minor). Remind students that market studies have shown a desire for these skills among employers and that they will receive a credential on their academic transcript (as well as a graduation cord!).

Who do I contact if I have Pathway questions?

Please send all questions to Dr. Margaret Peacock, Director of Pathways in the Office for General Education, at mepeacock@ua.edu.