Complex Questions: Global Challenges & Social Justice
The beginning of enlightenment is to learn what we do not know.
The Global Challenges and Social Justice curriculum at Union College (introduced for the Class of 2026) therefore aims to create opportunities for critical and deep learning through diverse perspectives of major areas of human understanding. Our commitment to this innovative conception of the liberal arts together with engineering creates an inclusive community for intellectual growth, experimentation, and academic success that emerges from engagement with diverse and global perspectives.
This curriculum combines Union’s longstanding college-wide commitment to lifelong learning with social purpose. Faculty teach students how to learn through problem-based and critical inquiry-focused practices in their core academic experiences. Through these evidence-based practices, students discover how to learn more deeply, how to become lifelong learners, and how to lead with wisdom, empathy and courage, in ways large and small, now and across multiple tomorrows.