Mar 08
Image above: Map of Europe, National Library of Ireland, Flickr Commons For those of you who live in the Portland, Oregon area, I’m writing to recommend Dr. Evguenia Davidova’s spring class, “The European Union.” This is a thoughtfully designed face to face class with wonderful readings, as you can see from the book covers below; just …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.introtoglobalstudies.com/2019/03/spring-class-at-portland-state-university/
Mar 05
I generally try not to simply repost articles on this blog, but Noelle Lenoir’s recent post, “France’s burning hate” does a good job placing France’s Yellow Vest movement into context. Her perspective is sympathetic to Macron. In this depiction, the Yellow Vest movement is an increasingly violent force, which hearkens back to the anti-Semitism and …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.introtoglobalstudies.com/2019/03/frances-yellow-vest-movement/
Mar 01
What is the single most important factor in shaping global health in the developed world? Interestingly, it does not appear to be access to the most technologically sophisticated medical technology. In the chapter on health in our textbook, I start by saying: “Chile, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Guadalupe, Hong Kong, Israel, Malta, Martinique, Singapore, and the …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.introtoglobalstudies.com/2019/03/diet-and-global-health/
Dec 07
Norman Ohler’s Blitzed is a disturbing, engaging and insightful look into how drugs shaped the lives of both soldiers and leaders in Nazi Germany. At the same time that drug addicts were being sent to the concentration camps, military researchers in Germany were testing the effects of Pervitin -a brand name for methamphetamine- upon soldiers. When …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.introtoglobalstudies.com/2018/12/blitzed-a-book-review/
Oct 25
Every year I cover an appropriate international mystery for Halloween. For example, last year I talked about ghosts of Hong Kong and Macau. Earlier this month I talked about the ghost ship the Baltimore, which was found with only a single survivor, a woman, who soon vanished from Nova Scotia and was never seen again. This year …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.introtoglobalstudies.com/2018/10/book-review-of-wylding-hall/
Oct 20
Every Halloween I do a post on global folklore or an international mystery, from a haunted building in Hong Kong, to the mystery of the ghost ship Baltimore. This year I’m doing some additional posts on this theme, because I want to share a wonderful BBC podcast, the Supernatural North. Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough travels to Norway …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.introtoglobalstudies.com/2018/10/scandinavian-supernatural/
Jan 15
I have a colleague who teaches a course on the rise of populism in Europe, which is an increasingly important topic. What is interesting to me is how quickly populist and nationalist movements have emerged and flourished in the region. Anne Applebaum had an article in the Atlantic on this topic titled “Polarization in Poland: …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.introtoglobalstudies.com/2018/01/the-rise-of-populism-and-europe/
Aug 04
Luke Harding’s, A Very Expensive Poison, describes how Russian security services murdered dissident Alexander Litivenko in 2006. While the study of the assassination itself is detailed, riveting, and depressing, the true horror is the picture that the book paints of the Russian state. According to Harding’s detailed and well-sourced account, Russia’s senior leaders -including Vladimir Putin …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.introtoglobalstudies.com/2017/08/a-very-expensive-poison-a-book-review/
Jun 16
Traveling is difficult work: obtaining a visa, planning the flight, booking the hotels. Then there is all the information that you need once you arrive. For this reason, it’s great to have to have a single source that can provide the essential information that you need. If you are planning to travel to France, my …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.introtoglobalstudies.com/2017/06/resources-for-ed-abroad-in-france/
Jan 25
Europe is currently facing myriad challenges, including a wave of migration from the Middle East and Europe, bank debt in Italy, the enduring financial problems of Greece, as well as Brexit. Still, at the heart of many of these challenges has been the deep economic inequalities between Europe’s north and south. A better understanding of …
Permanent link to this article: https://www.introtoglobalstudies.com/2017/01/map-of-innovation-in-europe-draft/
