GLOBAL STUDIES 112 --
OUR WORLD TODAY II: RESOURCES,
CONFLICT, COOPERATION
M. Farrell 10:10 MTWF East 101
Office: East 210
Office Hours: 11-12MTWF; 1:30-2:30MTW
Spring, 2001
Syllabus and Schedule
Welcome to the second half of this year-long core
course in Global Studies. Global Studies majors are required to complete both
halves of this sequence; other students may complete their global studies
distribution requirement through this sequence. However, the courses need not
be taken in numerical order. The basic premise of this course, and the entire
program which surrounds it, is the recognition that higher education must come
to grips with the dramatically accelerating interdependence of our world in
every sphere. Students who will live the bulk of their lives in the
twenty-first century must be prepared to take advantage of the many new
opportunities for cooperation and mutually beneficial partnerships which
transcend national boundaries. They must also understand that global
compression and radical increases in mobility -- of people, resources and
information -- will simultaneously create some negative reactions and new
arenas of conflict. If we are to maximize the possibilities and ameliorate the
difficulties of this new era, the coming generation of educated men and women
must have a broad and deep comprehension of the cultural, social, political,
economic and scientific forces which are shaping it.
Clearly,
such comprehension must stem from interdisciplinary educational experiences.
Toward this end, this course, this course will focus primarily on the social
and natural scientific aspects of accelerating global interdependence. Specific
topics are listed in the Course Schedule below.
COURSE
REQUIREMENTS
READINGS:
The following books, available for purchase in the College Bookstore, will be
required.
Robert M. Jackson, ed., Global
Issues 99/00
Thomas L. Friedman, The Lexus and
the Olive Tree
OTHER MEDIA: As indicated in the Course Schedule, below,
course materials for which you will be responsible will also include class
handouts, World Wide Web and other computer-based materials, CD-ROMs, video
documentaries, slide presentations. You will also be able to earn extra credit
by attending the Sunday night International Films. The class will participate
in an on-line conflict and cooperation simulation in April.
Our Common Future: Sustainable or Degraded
Ten Years After the Wall by Mark Porubcansky.
Friedman’s Computer Analogy for Success in Today's Global System
Citing
Sources in Academic Research Papers
WRITTEN REQUIREMENTS: Several short papers or other smaller
projects, two-hour exams, a major research project and write-up, and a final
exam. Final grades will be calculated based on the following weights: Short
papers = 20%, hour exams = 20% each, research project and write-up = 20%, final
exam = 20%.
ATTENDANCE: Regular attendance and participation will be essential
to success in this course. Attendance will be taken daily; those with zero or
one unexcused absence will have their final grades raised one step while those
with more than four will be penalized one step for each four unexcused
absences. Anyone accumulating more than 12 unexcused absences will immediately
and automatically be dropped from the course (following the procedures outlined
on p. 31-32 of the 2000 -02 Ripon College Catalog).
COURSE
SCHEDULE
January 16 -- 26: Introduction and Overview: perspectives
on globalization, winners and losers, changing concepts of security
Global Issues, pp. 9 -- 31.
Thomas Friedman, The Lexus and the
Olive Tree, pp. ix – 119.
January 29 -- February 9: Contemporary Population Issues:
Malthusians v. Cornucopians, population and. poverty, birth control and
abortion, refugees, new diseases and epidemics.
Global Issues, pp. 32 -- 59.
Mark Hertsgaard, Earth Odyssey,
pp. 189 – 220.
Video Documentary, Six Billion and
Counting
February 12 --23: Resources and Global Environmental
Issues: types of pollution and debates over their effects, global
climate change: factor fiction?, raw materials and energy resources, food and
hunger, sustainability.
Global Issues, pp. 60 -- 85.
Mark Hertsgaard, Earth Odyssey,
pp. v – 188; 221 -- 335.
Martin F. Farrell, "Our Common
Future: Sustainable or Degraded?"
**HOUR EXAM
February 26 – March 23: Economic Development and Global Political
Economy: The nature, conditions and trade-offs of economic development;
women in development, East Asia: Dragons or Dragdowns?, free trade v. fairtrade
(NAFTA, WTO et al.), investment v. exploitation; the protests in Seattle
and their aftermath.
**March 9: Research Project topic
statement and preliminary bibliography due
Global Issues, pp. 86 -- 121.
Thomas Friedman, The Lexus and the
Olive Tree, pp. 123 – 378.
Video Documentary, Emerging Powers.
March 26 -- April 13: New Arenas of Conflict and Cooperation:
The Cold War and its aftermath, trends toward democratization, new security challenges,
national sovereignty and supranational organizations (UN, EU, NATO,ITO, NGOs, etc.),
military interventions, humanitarian aid.
Global Issues, pp. pp. 122 -- 173.
Handouts and WWW-based articles on
current world flashpoints and ways of dealing with them
**HOUR EXAM
April 16 --May Day: Values and Visions of a Global Future:
global citizenship, human rights, emerging foundations of world culture.
Global Issues, pp. 190 -- 216.
**April 27: RESEARCH PROJECT DUE
** FINAL EXAMINATION: 8:30 AM, Saturday, May 5
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