teaching

Eight mistakes teaching International and Global Studies

June 24, 2017 / teaching /
Geo Globe by Christian Fischer. Taken from Wikicommons.
Geo Globe by Christian Fischer. Taken from Wikicommons.

Every year I teach the “Introduction to International Studies” course at Portland State, and refine it based on what I’ve learned from previous classes. After nearly 20 years I’ve come to believe that there are a number of possible traps to be avoided in this course:

  1. Global Problems: It is tempting to teach the course by organizing it around major global “issues.” The challenge with this is that this approach emphasizes problems, which can lead to a depressing class for students. It’s hard to inspire students to study abroad, or to learn about global affairs, if they view the world as a dangerous and problematic place. Unless you want to have a bowl of antidepressants up at the front of the class, it’s important to focus as much on solutions as on problems. If you talk about language loss, also talk about language genesis, such as the creation of Sheng, or other urban languages in Africa. If you talk about global warming and sea level rise, also talk about the falling cost of solar energy. Of course, this approach can be ridiculous if taken too far. But without some balance, the class can become too bleak. …

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Maps and Politics

April 17, 2015 / teaching / ,

I’m teaching an “Introduction to International Studies” course this quarter, and I began by talking about colonialism

"World Map On Brick Wall" by Ohmega1982
“World Map On Brick Wall” by Ohmega1982

and its legacy. As part of this discussion, I talked about the psychological and educational legacies of the imperial period, including how it has shaped our modern world view. I then showed the class three different maps: a Mercator map, a Hobo-Dyer projection, and a map that had south at the top. After class a student shared a link with me, which showed an episode of West Wing, and a map of Africa with the U.S., India and China (amongst others) within it. Here was exactly the exercise I had done with the students, only with much more humor. Thanks to my student Colleen for sharing this, and Rollie Williams for his post, “We have been misled by an erroneous map of the world for 500 years.” Want to see even more maps? Look here.

 

Shawn Smallman, Portland State University

Hope and New Species

April 17, 2015 / environment, teaching / , , ,
"World Map" by xedos4 at freedigitalphotos.net
“World Map” by xedos4 at freedigitalphotos.net

I just attended an excellent conference on Global Studies pedagogy at St. Cloud State in Minnesota. One challenge that faculty in the field discussed is that that our courses can too quickly adopt a “global problems” approach. This encourages students to become overwhelmed by the scale of global issues, and to view the world as a problematic and dangerous place. This is unlikely to either lead them to want to dive deeper into Global Studies or to do Study Abroad. For this reason, it’s important to focus not only on issues but also solutions. When covering key global problems -such as environmental issues- I try to also include models, such as Curitiba’s urban planning, or Bogota’s amazing bus system. I also think that it’s good to not forget positive news, even when focusing on deforestation or ethnic conflict. Once students have a sense that there’s hope, they are more inclined to focus on environmental issues or conflict resolution. …

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Learning outcomes for International Studies majors at Portland State University

April 17, 2015 / teaching /

Our program recently revisited its learning outcomes for our students. I think that it’s important for our students to be familiar with these learning outcomes, so I hand it out with the syllabus at the start of every class. Shawn Smallman, Portland State University

Learning Outcomes for International Studies at Portland State University.

  Core Learning Outcome: Students will demonstrate an understanding of world cultures, politics, and economics, within the context of globalization, as well as developing the skills and attitudes to function as “global citizens.”

…

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Rubric for an Online Quiz

April 17, 2015 / teaching, Theory / ,

I am teaching a hybrid class, “Foundations of Global Studies Theory,” which has a weekly quiz on the readings. Every student is expected to write a two to three paragraph answer every week to a question like this: “What were the strengths and weaknesses’ of Adorno and Horkheimer’s article? One critique of critical theorists is that they can be “culture snobs,” who look down on forms of popular expression (music, television). Do you think that this is a fair critique based on this article? Is this article still relevant to contemporary society, or was its usefulness confined to its historical period?” I try to give every student feedback on their quiz response every week, but it’s challenging to do with 40 students in the class. To help with this issue, I’ve created this rubric, which I’ve found is very helpful:

 

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Seven reasons why online and hybrid classes are better (and more rigorous) than the traditional classroom

April 17, 2015 / academia, teaching /
"Girl Browsing The Internet" by Stuart Miles at freedigitalphotos.net
“Girl Browsing The Internet” by Stuart Miles at freedigitalphotos.net

I’ve been teaching hybrid classes this entire year, and I’m looking forward to also teaching my Modern Brazil class as a hybrid next year. In the long term, I will probably move to teaching mostly hybrid classes.  I’ve been struck by how different these classes are from traditional format classes, mostly in positive ways. But I too often hear some of my colleagues (whom I respect and like- it’s a great department) denounce the move towards hybrid and on-line classes with comments such as “There is no concern for quality!” Or “They want us to be a vocational school!” I’ve spent a lot of time patiently trying to describe the advantages of classes in this format, and how they can be just as transformative and creative as any other class. But I don’t think that I’ve had much success. I have two awards for teaching excellence, and wouldn’t teach this way if it wasn’t good for students. And now I’m tired of this. So here are seven reasons why hybrid and on-line classes are not just as good as other classes, they are better. And more rigorous. …

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Maps for an International or Global Studies Class

April 17, 2015 / teaching /

I love maps, as I’ve talked about before in this blog. So I was enthralled by a recent article tiled “40 more maps that explain the world” in the Washington Post. This collection of maps cover diverse topics, that range from the historical (shipping routes during the colonial period) to the contemporary (a map of income inequality globally). I could imagine using the majority of the maps over the course of my “Introduction to International Studies” class. For example, in my section of postcolonialism, I could use the maps of the Spanish and Portuguese empires, African empires before the European invasions, the “What Africa might have looked like had it never been colonized” map as well as the “1916 European Treaty to carve up the Middle East.”  In my section on economic globalization, I could use the map that shows the commodity chains for Nutella, as well as “Nobel Laureates since 1901, by region.” I also emphasize demographics in my introductory class, so the map on where populations are growing and shrinking globally would be a useful one. It clearly shows the challenges that Germany, Eastern Europe and Russia face. In the week on security, I would certainly use the maps showing “walls,” the Arctic land grab, the territories of Mexican drug cartels, terrorist attacks worldwide as of 2012, naval firepower in the Pacific, as well as territorial claims in the South China sea. There are even a couple of great maps for a new section that I am developing on indigenous peoples. Lastly, the map “World War Two in Europe: Day by Day” is simply an amazing achievement in historical geography. In short, the article is well worth investigating as a possible resource for an introductory class, as well as just to admire some beautiful maps.

Prof. Smallman, Portland State University

Syllabus for a “Modern Brazilian History” class

April 18, 2015 / Latin America, teaching / , ,

I’ve been working to revise my modern Brazilian history syllabus, which I’m attaching here. If you are interested in Brazil, you might also want to look at my book on military terror in that country:

 

                                                       Modern Brazilian History

                                                           HST 463U/INTL 463U

                                                               MWF, 12:45-1:50

                                                        Neuberger Hall, Rm. 222

Professor Smallman

Rm. 345, East Hall

Phone: 725-9978

E-mail: drss@pdx.edu

Office hours: Friday, 10:00-noon

This course will explore such topics as slavery, abolition, messianism, banditry, the Amazon, race, military rule and democratization. Particular emphasis will be given to the differing visions the elites and the masses held of their nation, and how this tension has shaped Brazilian society.  By the end of the course students will have a better understanding of a Latin American culture, and how characteristics such as race and power are defined by history. …

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Rubric for a book review of a novel

May 27, 2015 / teaching / , ,

I want to share a rubric for book review that was developed by Rosie David, an outstanding graduate assistant in our International Studies program at Portland State University. Rosie improved upon a rubric that I had shared with her by rethinking the categories, and creating very detailed guidelines for each section. I hope that this may be useful to some of you in your classes. Prof. Smallman, Portland State University …

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What is International or Global Studies?

June 24, 2017 / teaching /
"Planet Earth" by xedos4 at freedigitalphotos.net
“Planet Earth” by xedos4 at freedigitalphotos.net

One of the most common questions that faculty in International or Global Studies hear is: “What is International Studies?” In the past I used to begin to answer by talking about the history of the discipline, to explain that it is distinct from International Relations in Political Science. If I was really ambitious, I might have talked about the emergence of interdisciplinary programs in the 1960s, and how post-structuralism created spaces for diverse methodological approaches. In my experience over the last 20 years, this is not a successful way to define our discipline. So now I have a simpler answer. …

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