CALS International Comparisons Requirement

Overview

The CALS International Comparisons requirement is designed to ensure that students in all CALS majors situate scientific and sociological knowledge within the larger context of current international issues. It prepares CALS students to engage global challenges with openness, curiosity, and respect.

The list of courses that satisfy the CALS International Comparisons requirement can be found in Guide. 

Themes

Courses explore global questions through one or more of the following five themes:

1. Improving Human and Animal Health
   • Focus: Nutrition, disease prevention, genetics, and population health
2. Feeding the World Sustainably
   • Focus: Agriculture, food systems, plant and animal production
3. Understanding Life and Living Systems
   • Focus: Biological discovery, life sciences, and biotechnology
4. Protecting the Planet
   • Focus: Environmental science, conservation, climate resilience, bioenergy
5. Connecting Science and Society
   • Focus: Science communication, development economics, community sociology

Learning Outcomes

Courses fulfilling the CALS International Comparisons requirement must enable students to:

1. Analyze complex international challenges related to one or more of the themes listed above, drawing on scientific and sociocultural perspectives to understand causes, impacts, and how to mitigate those challenges. 
2. Compare and contrast a variety of approaches to global issues with openness and respect.
3. Discuss international issues with peers, academic audiences, and/or broader populations from the countries or regions covered.

Course Criteria

• To satisfy the 3-credit CALS International Comparisons requirement, courses must:
  • Be clearly connected to one or more of the five themes
  • Reflect the required learning outcomes in course specific learning outcomes and student assessment 
  • Include substantial international comparative content; there must be extensive discussion of at least two distinct countries (or at least two geographically or culturally distinct regions outside the U.S.) 
  • Include substantial non-U.S. content (typically >50% of course material, assignments, or grading)
  • Facilitate active student engagement aligned with the learning outcomes and university assessment standards (such as participation, discussion, research presentations)
  • Fulfill 3 credits (via a single course or a sequence of two courses)

Requests from Departments for Courses to Satisfy the CALS International Comparisons Requirement

• A link to the application for courses to meet the CALS International Comparisons requirement can be found here. 

This requirement was reviewed and updated by the CALS Curriculum Committee on November 11, 2025 and the changes are effective fall 2026.