Having been the manager of staffing for the Astronautics Group of Lockheed Martin in Denver; it was Martin Marietta at the time and a recruiting manager for Analysts, I can say I never, that is never, hired or recommended for hire anyone who did not have the concrete skills necessary to do a job. Interdisciplinary studies and cross cultural studies are meaningless to the working world.
Employers want people who can perform needed skills. Any Introduction to Business course textbook will tell you the skills that are necessary to help an American business run. These are the skills our graduates need to have as tolsin their employment toolbox.
E Pluribus Unum.
Out of many,one.
A motto worthy of study and debate in light of the American experience since 1776.
Course topics should include the story of how immigrants from all over the world came to America fueled by freedom, and their desire for life,liberty and the pursuit of happiness fueled the rise of America, which is now exporting freedom and has for the last sixty years.
Debate how present trends of "diversity" and "multiculturalism" do not produce a cohesive society, but rather, create divisiveness
Good luck.
I hired 18 people last year - mathematicians, engineers, physicists, and chemists.
I care that they have studied math, science, ENGLISH, economics, and history, in that order.
I don't give a rat's @ss about any multicultural studies.
PS - my cheepest new hire is making 60k, at 22 years of age.
Over the last decade I've been hiring the output of California's colleges and universities. (Perhaps a hundred or more California students total.)
As a first line manager, I need things to get done, run well, and show continuous improvement where possible. I most highly value people who are innovative and have the skills to get things done, combined with an attitude of helpfulness, optimism and drive. The most successful among them are able to communicate well, including mastery of written communications, the tools used for such, and a proper understanding of computer security.
These most successful employees have taken an interest in, and ownership of, the success of our business by sharing their skills and knowledge with others. They get to know the business, the customers and key talent in other departments. They apply "Melting Pot" principles to the office and the company to get things done. They encourage, teach, mentor and take advantage of distributed talent to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. (Now I work for some of them... ;-)
I cannot point to any aspect of these employee's success that arose from any multicultural studies training, however, I do see an opportunity. If you can use Multicultural Studies to show the value and wildly productive power of "Melting Pot" principles, you would be doing your students, and our economy, a huge favor.
**Start rant**
Liberal arts prepares students for a life in academe. It is totally out of synch with what employers want. Should a college "liberal arts" program even care about what employers think?.
Students are customers. You need to consider how you are going to sell this requirement to your customers (and to whomever will foot the bill for the new teaching positions). Are any of your students paying their own way?
Students attend college for different reasons:
1. To prepare for a career in academe as a professor.
2. Or to acquire knowledge/skills necessary for non-academic careers (in science, engineering, etc.).
3. Or because you need a degree (in anything) to get a white-collar job.
4. Or because it's what you do after high school, and if your parents are paying for you to party, why not?
Case #4 won't care what courses you force them to take.
Case #1 will welcome the multi-cult stuff, since it gives them an easy field of concentration as they work their way up the academic job ladder. Plus, they'll form political alliances with the multi-cult profs.
Case #3 may prefer taking easy multi-cult courses rather than rigorous science/math. However, working students may rebel against having to pay for yet another required course on their way to the diploma.
Case #2: The sci/math students will HATE any non sci/math reuirements, especially multi-cult cr*p. The only courses that would appeal to them (and that should fulfill any multi-cult requirement) are foreign languages. The non-sci/math students (education, J-school, pre-law, ...) would probably react like cases #3 and #4.
What is the real reason you want to impose this new requirement on students?
What employers want:
1. Cases #2 and #3. Don't even bother with cases #1 and #4.
2. SKILLS, not theory. What SKILLS will the student acquire by sitting through a required multi-cult course?
I agree with previous posts regarding the importance of knowing international etiquette, and having excellent business writing skills (don't get me started!). Foreign languages, too.
I'm a technical writer, undergrad Biology and grad CS degrees. I cringe every time I see a tech writer's resume that lists a degree in English or Journalism. Not rigorous areas of study. Very likely spent lots of time in multi-cult. And anyone who majored/minored in women's/gender/race studies? Ya gotta be kidding!
Thanks for listening!
**End rant**
Now, "interdisciplinary" can be a cat of another feather, depending on which disciplines are involved. I found a drawing course of inestimable value to a science degree due to a particularly gifted professor who insisted that we drew what we saw, even if it was a wart on a model. But courses that deliberately set out to be "interdisciplinary" often turn out to contain inadequate grasps of either topic, as I was reminded when reading a course syllabus for a "Feminist Science" class that was thankfully never approved.
Beyond that, when I was in the hiring game the most important thing I looked for beyond technical competence in the field was the ability to communicate it. The ability to construct a simple declarative sentence is the most vital interdisciplinary skill of all, and it really counts in the real world. Just my $0.02.