teaching

Extensive Reading Assignments in the International Studies Classroom

September 18, 2015 / teaching / ,

Guest Blog Post:
Kimberley Brown
Portland State University

Extensive reading involves a high level of independence for the reader. Texts are assigned and students read on their own, frequently using study questions or reader-response guides. The primary purpose of this type of assignment in a typical lower division undergraduate course is to encourage students to read heavily using a text that draws them in. This post describes one extensive reading assignment used in some sections of our introductory course. The text is The Blue Sweater. It is a memoir written by a women actively engaged in numerous development ventures, who ultimately created her own outreach organization: the Acumen Fund. The title comes from her finding a sweater she had worn as a child in the US being worn by a young child in Africa. The cycle of the sweater’s travels begins her memoir.

I chose to encourage students to become familiar with an individual who chose to make a difference. Her perspective on the power of business ventures to ensure independence and self-help is less represented in many globalization texts than critiques of neo-liberal strategies and was chosen specifically for this reason.

The full APA citation is Novogratz, J. 2009. The Blue Sweater. New York: Rodale Press. …

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Globalization, Internationalization, and English for Academic Purposes

September 7, 2015 / language, teaching / ,

Kimberley Brown
Portland State University
Guest blog post

Many campuses in the US and Canada have formalized comprehensive internationalization plans that call for increased numbers of international students on campuses, augmented numbers of outbound study abroad students, and expanded partnerships with universities around the world. International Studies Programs may have a unique role to play in these efforts on their respective campuses. If you have an ESL program for incoming international students, you may want to consider an on-campus partnership that allows advanced ESL students to use the academic theme of globalization in their courses and to collaborate with your students in your classes.

Recently two former students (who both completed their BAs in International Studies and their MAs in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) decided to use our textbook in Japan and Mexico for advanced level students in their English for Academic Purposes courses. Another MA student, heading off to teach EAP in Germany for a year, chose to work through basic globalization concepts covered in our introductory course and to write a brief reflection on the link between globalization and English for Academic Purposes. His goal in Germany is to introduce globalization concepts in his high level academic English courses that he will be teaching. Chen (2012) looks at the ability of the content area of globalization to serve as a way to introduce students, who are a few terms away from becoming matriculated students at their respective institutions, to the discourse of higher education. …

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Nuclear Aftershocks: A Documentary Review

June 20, 2015 / teaching / , , , ,
Photograph of an original painting by Gary Sheehan. Depicted is his version of the scene when scientist(s) observed the world's first nuclear reactor (CP-1) as it became self-sustaining. Source: Wikipedia Commons
Photograph of an original painting by Gary Sheehan. Depicted is his version of the scene when scientist(s) observed the world’s first nuclear reactor (CP-1) as it became self-sustaining. Source: Wikipedia Commons

In my “Introduction to International Studies” class this spring I showed the video “Nuclear Aftershocks,” which my library had in its Streaming Video database, under “Films on Demand.” This 56 minute documentary begins by discussing the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and the global impact that it had. The work also includes the voices of experts who argued that only nuclear power can provide sufficient non-carbon energy to meet the world’s future needs. The video then shifts to the United States, and the Indian Point reactor, which is located dangerously close to New York City. According to the documentary, the plant also supplies about a quarter of the electricity required by the city. The film finishes by returning to Fukushima, and the challenges that Japan faces in cleaning up the disaster, a process that will take decades. …

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New Course on Digital Globalization

June 29, 2015 / teaching / ,
Globalization Flyer, Winter 2016. The image of Snowden comes from the Freedom of the Press Foundation, which published this photo under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License at https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/about/board/edward-snowden
Globalization Flyer, Winter 2016. The image of Snowden comes from the Freedom of the Press Foundation, which published this photo under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License at https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/about/board/edward-snowden

Now that classes have ended, of course I am excited to work on my course for next winter, when I will be teaching a fully online class on Digital Globalization. The course will be asynchronous, and students may be able to choose the content areas that they wish to focus on: Security, Crime and Privacy; Transformation, Business and Education; or Culture and the Individual. When students login to the course they will take a quiz, which will suggest which area they might want to focus on, and whether they might want to do a group or individual project.

Here is my flyer, which I created using Canva. This is a great way to create visually attractive posters and course flyers. It’s also free, so long as you download your own photos, which the site makes easy to do. The site also has some free photos to use as well. I have no affiliation with Canva; I just want to share a cool tool. See www.canva.com

For a whimsical take on digital globalization (set to the tune of “Video Killed the Radio Star”), please see this music video “Digital Life,” by Amy Burvall of History Teachers. The video starts with the Marshall McLuhan quote, which I’ve stolen for the flyer.

Prof. Smallman, Portland State University

A Syllabus for a fully online “Introduction to International Studies” class

June 24, 2017 / teaching / ,

I have been teaching hybrid courses for nearly two years, but this quarter I taught my first fully online class. Contrary to what people expect, I find that I come to know my students better than in a face to face class. In traditional courses -even in a seminar- four or five students may dominate most of the discussion. In my course, every student has to two discussion posts every week. Because students know that their posts are shared, they tend to put a great deal of thought into what they say. This means that I come to know the students well. Equally important, because the students are broken into smaller discussion groups, they also come to know each other. There is an online community, which I think is meaningful to the students. …

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Map of Mexican Drug Cartels

November 16, 2018 / Latin America, security / , , , ,

I’m currently working on a project that compares the drug trade in Mexico and Brazil. My goal is to try to understand the factors that have made the Mexican trade so bloody in comparison with Brazil’s trade. I believe that part of the reason is the nature of border. Most of the cocaine trafficked into Brazil passes through highly porous borders in Amazonia, which would be impossible to close to the same degree as the U.S.-Mexican border. The Brazilian drug trade is also geographically fractured, despite the existence of major drug organizations such as the First Capital Command (PCC), Red Command, Pure Third Command, and “Amigos dos Amigos.” The Mexican drug trade also overlays a major movement of migrants from southern Mexico and Central America to the United States; this both creates a population vulnerable to crime, but also develops networks that move people from south to north outside the control of the state. There is no parallel migration in Brazil. One issue I face with this project is the large number of variables that make the drug trade different in these nations. …

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Video Reviews: Amazon Games

April 18, 2015 / indigenous peoples, Latin America / , , , ,
"Amazonian Macaw - Ara Ararauna In Front Of A Blue Sky" by xura at freedigitalphotos.net
“Amazonian Macaw – Ara Ararauna In Front Of A Blue Sky” by xura at freedigitalphotos.net

This fall quarter I taught a hybrid class on Modern Brazil, which had both a History and International Studies section. We spent three weeks during the course covering modern Amazonia, during which we discussed Indigenous issues in depth. One of the videos that we watched was Amazon Games, which was available through the streaming video service at the Portland State University library. The documentary described a modern sporting event in the Amazon River basin that brings together different nations throughout the region for an annual contest. The video (released in 2005) began by showing two different Indigenous nations (Enawanes and Matis) preparing to travel for the games, then followed them to the competition itself.

The selection process for the games was a fraught one, as was the decision to take part in the competition. Some Aboriginal peoples in one nation were concerned what would happen to their people if the plane taking the competitors to the games crashed with all of their best hunters. Obviously, another risk would be that the Indigenous participants might bring back disease. But the Aboriginal people themselves were excited to participate, and clearly discussed the risks of travel. My students thought that overall the games were positive for the athletes, who wanted to engage in the competition and meet other Indigenous peoples. They also hoped to make money by selling handicrafts. There was a great deal of good natured banter about who would go, and the scene in which the Indigenous peoples were seeking to make latex balls -a difficult process- was a funny one. …

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Map of other countries overlaid upon the United States

April 17, 2015 / teaching / ,
World map from CIA factbook, 2004
World map from CIA factbook, 2004

I love maps and use them in my “Introduction to International Studies” class frequently. I also use the maps from the textbook in a series of classroom exercises, to encourage students to think critically about how maps portray data, such as different visions of security. So I was delighted to come across this webpage, which is intended to put the United States into perspective. The webpage provides nineteen maps of states or nations overlaying the United States. My favorite map is actually the first one. It’s hard to understand the size of Alaska until you see a map of the state superimposed over the mainland, with the Aleutian islands reaching into northern California, while southeastern Alaska touches northern Florida. The map of Brazil -which reaches from central Saskatchewan to southern Mexico- also conveys the immensity of that nation. I won’t describe the other maps, except to say that Chile’s size would allow it to reach from New York to Bogota, while Africa’s immensity becomes clear. In the spring I’m teaching a fully online “Introduction to International Studies” course, and I think that I’ll need to create a class activity around this site.

Shawn Smallman, Portland State University

Syllabus for an online “Introduction to Latin American Studies” course

November 15, 2018 / teaching / , ,

This winter I am teaching an “Introduction to Latin American Studies” course in a fully online format. In order to create a sense of community, I have scaffolded a number of assignments around a slideshow presentation that students will upload in the final week, which will entail students sharing their work throughout the course. I have no text assigned for the course. Instead, I have assigned articles accessed through permanent links to the library database, while the videos are accessed through the streaming video feature of my university library. Please note that for this reason almost all links in this syllabus will not work for people outside the Portland State University system. I hope that this syllabus gives some of you ideas as you work on your own syllabi. I also want to thank Christine Boyle, whose own outstanding syllabi and course inspired my own class.

If you are interested in Latin America, you might also wish to see my own book on military terror in Brazil.

Shawn Smallman, Portland State University

Global Perspectives: Latin America

University Studies, UNST 233/INTL 240

A fully online class

 

Professor Smallman                                            Graduate mentor: TBA

Rm. 345, East Hall

Phone: 503-725-99XX

E-mail: smallmans@pdx.edu

 

Office Hours: Monday 1-3pm using Google Chat.

 

Introduction:

 

With Latinos/as now the largest minority group in the United States, and Brazil’s economy larger than Britain’s, Latin America is attracting considerable attention in the United States. While its people struggle to preserve the region’s artistic, literary and cultural heritage, Latin America also is experiencing rapid political and economic change. This class explores the rich diversity of peoples, histories and cultures that together define Latin America, from the Caribbean to the Southern Cone. This class will also give you a foundation from which to choose classes in the Global Studies cluster, if you decide to pursue it. Bienvenidos! Sejam Bemvindo! …

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Second Edition of the Textbook

October 22, 2014 / teaching /

After a great deal of work, the second edition of our Introduction to International and Global Studies textbook is available for course adoption this January. Curious to take a look? Click here. Once you are on the website, you can “look inside” within the image of the textbook on the left. Exam/desk copies will also be available from the press this January as well.

Shawn Smallman, Portland State University

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