Individual Chapter Resources
Chapter 1: Introduction
General chapter observations:
Students have distinguished between a global citizen and a globally minded citizen. This distinction is worth bringing up because of the tension between being a citizen of a country versus a citizen of the world. At this early point in the course, it is appropriate to ask students to look over the McIntosh definition and to write about one dimension of it. Is it something that fits them or not? While this is included in the text activities, it will probably be something to use class time for.
This is also an appropriate point in the course to discuss the notion of positioning. How is it that authors make their ideology clear?
In the text’s articulated goal of helping the students link local and global issues and commodities, change appears positive. However, as one student put it, “I can never look at a chocolate bar the same way!” In our experience dealing consistently with the frustration students may feel when discovering information that is related to their daily lives and the commodities they use, it is important to remind students that this is a natural and normal space: it is painful to be in a position in which you are aware of global issues but have not resolved how these issues connect to you.
Additional resources:
Google images (http://www.google.com/images?q=Global+citizenship&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=6AakTMvwG8H7lweDp5HZCw&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CDwQsAQwAw&biw=1016&bih=496) has a variety of visuals that could be incorporated into instructor-designed activities.
YouTube: There are roughly eight posts on global citizenship that may be of use here or in the last chapter.
Additional activities:
This chapter is an ideal place to begin a dialogue with your students about their own conceptions of intercultural competence. In asking them to reflect on the general notion of global citizenship, it is relatively easy to branch into a discussion about what kinds of competencies are helpful in a globalizing world. Dimensions such as flexibility, language competence, and tolerance of ambiguity, along with dimensions reflected in the AAC&U Intercultural competence rubric, are all points to raise with students.
Another dimension of crossing cultures that may be relevant at this point in the course is the notion that all of us know only what we have been taught; that is, the viewpoints we hold, the information we are familiar with, and the information we are unaware of are all linked to the contexts of our prior education and lived experiences. It is only when conflicting information comes into contact with what we already know that we can begin to process the notion of multiple possibilities or interpretations. This ties directly into Perry’s articulation of the degree to which nineteen- and twenty-year-olds continue to see issues in very black-and-white contexts.
Cirque de Soleil has an extended global citizenship outreach that students may wish to explore at http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/about/global-citizenship/default.aspx.
Chapter 2: History
General chapter observations:
This chapter lays the groundwork for interpretations of globalization in the present day. Many students seem to have a hard time connecting such general themes as empire, colonialism, and postcolonialism with the current events that seem more familiar to them. As an instructor, finding topics that make these connections can enliven the lectures and discussions.
Terms such as “diaspora” are new for many students. The following definition may be helpful. This definition is taken from Wahlbeck, O. 1998 Transnationalism and Diasporas: The Kurdish Example (p. 15):
The concept of diaspora is currently very popular and there are numerous definitions. The range of phenomena supposedly spanned by the concept is such that it is in danger of losing its explanatory power. In order to be able to use the concept analytically, the author has preferred the precise definition presented in the first number of the journal Diaspora, where according to William Safran diasporas are:
Expatriate minority communities whose members share several of the “following characteristics: 1) they, or their ancestors, have been dispersed from a specific original ‘center’ to two or more ‘peripheral,’ or foreign, regions; 2) they retain a collective memory vision, or myth about their original homeland—its physical location, history, and achievements; 3) they believe they are not—and perhaps cannot be—fully accepted by their host society and therefore feel partly alienated and insulated from it; 4) they regard their ancestral homeland as their true, ideal home and as the place to which they or their descendants would (or should) eventually return—when conditions are appropriate; 5) they believe that they should, collectively, be committed to the maintenance or restoration of their original homeland and to its safety and prosperity; and 6) they continue to relate, personally or vicariously, to that homeland in one way or another, and their ethnocommunal consciousness and solidarity are importantly defined by the existence of such a relationship” (Safran, W. 1999. Diasporas in modern societies: Myths of homeland and return. Diaspora 1 (1): 83–99).
Additional resources:
Large timelines such as The timechart history of the world (2009, Third Millenium Press, Ltd.) may be helpful here. This is also an appropriate chapter to introduce consistent map work. The earlier section on map work may be of assistance to you in this chapter.
Websites: one timetables site is www.scholiast.org/history/timetables/index.html. A general search under “timetables of history online” results in numerous documents available online.
Chapter 3: Economic Globalization
General chapter observations:
Some students may need more general information as a base than that provided in the text. Students who have already completed an introductory international politics class, microeconomics, or macroeconomics will be strongly advantaged. Students unfamiliar with a general continuum of political theories should consult an introductory political science or international relations text for sample matrices that lay out political ideologies along a continuum. For all its limitations, Wikipedia is a good resource to start with and has an entry titled “Political Spectrum,” which is a good resource. A Canadian example is available from: www.dpcdsb.org/NR/rdonlyres/E323DFDE-7ACD-4E89…/specact.pdf. In general, one of the challenges with this section of the course may be students’ perceptions that economics is particularly challenging. For this reason, it is worthwhile both stressing the importance of this material as well as the fact that understanding some key concepts and institutions can make this material much easier to follow.
Extensive YouTube clips profile individuals like Joseph Stiglitz, giving academic presentations as well as public venue presentations of globalization. Various venues such as the Trade Forum at Davos, Switzerland, have extensive interviews on YouTube, as well as in archives from media such as Free Speech TV and Democracy Now. Discussions of ideology are very timely when these clips are used.
Additional resources:
Films: Life and Debt (2001, Stephanie Black, director); The End of Poverty? (2010 Cinema Libre Studio, Philippe Diaz, Director).
Additional activities:
To help students situate their lived experiences with the abstract notions introduced in this chapter, it may be useful to push them to make local connections. Can they find individuals who remember press coverage of the WTO Protest in Seattle? Are they aware of musicians or other artists who may have been linked to the protests? One YouTube video clip is from a Seattle group called Blue Scholars. Their song “50 Thousand Deep” commemorates what occurred outside on the street: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egTCngQv66A. Another source is musicians-against-the-wto.blogspot.com/. For a non–North American perspective, two groups of Filipino musicians focusing on WTO issues include Radioactive Sago and Village Idiots.
Chapter 4: Political Globalization
General chapter observations:
One challenge with teaching about political globalization is that students may look at the material with less passion than they do economic globalization. The World Bank and IMF stir emotions that may encourage students to master this material. Few students will have the same connection with issues of political globalization. One useful theme to address in this section is the mismatch between the global architecture of power and the influence of some nation-states, as can be seen in the debates surrounding UN reform. A corresponding theme that is useful for students to keep in mind in this section is the tension between the nation-state and supranational powers.
Instructor activity:
The instructor should find a newspaper article that addresses the mismatch between the formal structures of global power (the G-8, the UN Security Council) and the influence of rising powers. Use this as a means to bring the issues in this chapter into the present.
Additional activities:
Have the students research one regional organization in their regional area of interest. How effective is this particular organization? What are the tensions between this organization and the nation-states that make up its membership?
Look at the UN website: http://www.un.org/en/index.shtml. How easy is it to find information about UN Security Council reform? What factors might shape the availability of this information on the UN website?
Chapter 5: Cultural Globalization
General chapter observations:
This chapter moves quickly through a large number of topics, all of which could be expanded. With respect to Flows of People, examinations of other groups of individuals such as global business people, military, Third Culture Kids, undocumented aliens, and individuals trafficked against their will could all be subjects of further investigation. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) provides a multitude of online and media resources. Two texts that provide practical exercises related to intercultural learning are Maximizing Study Abroad by R. Michael Paige and others (2006, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.) and Becoming World Wise by Richard Slimbach (2010, Stylus, Sterling, Va.). The former text contains both language and culture assessments, while the latter poses more reflective questions at the end of each chapter.
Additional resources:
DVDs and videos: Human trafficking and slavery documentaries are profiled at http://children.foreignpolicyblogs.com/human-trafficking-and-slavery-related-movies-and-documentaries/.
Additional activities:
The first hip-hop center of Cambodia is Tiny Toones (http://tinytoones.org/). It has a Facebook site and numerous YouTube clips. Ask students to examine either the organization’s Facebook site or one of its film clips as well as its website. Scroll down to the bottom of the website and examine the links to NGO support from outside the country. One statement reads: “Six total volunteers from the University of Michigan, Harvard University, the One World Foundation and United World College of Singapore will lead the project to renovate the sites and establish the curriculum.” Ask students to brainstorm what the potential activities will be that these volunteers carry out. How will this experience affect the volunteers’ views of global citizenship?
Chapter 6: Development
General chapter observations:
This chapter focuses primarily on the history of development theories and an extended exploration of the original Grameen Bank microfinance principles. Students do not seem to have had particular difficulty with any aspect of the chapter, even though it is in many respects an extension of the economic globalization chapter and also deals with theoretical issues. There was not space in the chapter to explore principles of Grameen Two, which would be a logical extension of what is already here. An aspect of the Ladakh case study to consider is that it is a fairly optimistic description of a geopolitically fragile area. While resources describing this tension are not very accessible, it is appropriate for students to search for this information.
Additional Resources:
In terms of the Millenium Development Goals, there are two excellent DVD sources, one which is forthcoming. Bullfrog films has a 27-part video series with the following description from their catalog. Library or Inter-library loan would be the appropriate source for this, as the full series costs roughly $2,000.00 (http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/l4.html).
Contact information: 610-779-8226; 800-543-3764
P.O. Box 149, Oley, PA 19547.
DVD description from catalog:
“A Series of 27 Programs: Life 4”
A 27-part series about global efforts to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals. 676 minutes. Produced by Television Trust for the Environment.
Series consultant: Jenny Richards
Series producers: Luke Gawin, Dick Bower
Executive producer: Brenda Kelly
Produced with support from: The European Commission, The Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UN Population Fund, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UNICEF, The World Bank, United Nations Department of Public Information, BBC World.
A documentary titled The End of Poverty?, narrated by Martin Sheen, was released in December 2009 from director Philippe Diaz and is available in two formats. Students can watch the film individually from the Internet Movie Base: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903943/. It is also available for purchase through Amazon and available to rent through Blockbuster and Netflix. Less than two hours in length, the film includes interviews with scholars all over the world and explores most of the themes identified in our text. Poignant case studies are interspersed with the interviews.
The TED series frequently contain strong clips for students. One focusing on poverty is: http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_reveals_new_insights_on_poverty.html.
Chapter 7: Security
Security
General chapter observations:
An earlier version of this chapter included a significant discussion of human rights because states have historically used security threats to justify state terror and repression. Modernity did not lead to the disappearance of torture, as the case of Nazi Germany clearly indicated. Instead, the evolution of the modern nation-state led state terror to adopt new forms. For this reason, discussions of security are interlinked with discussions of human rights abuses. Because of the constraints of space, we removed a discussion of the evolution of state terror, as well as debates about the use of torture by the United States, specifically the CIA tactic of waterboarding. We have also omitted any discussion of the United States’ export of state terror, whether to Latin America during the period of military rule or to Middle Eastern states as part of the war on terror.
Because of space constraints, we also abbreviated the discussion of privacy issues and proposed legislation during the Bush administration, such as HR 1955, the “Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007.” These topics, however, are an integral part of modern security issues and could be explored in class, perhaps with reference to contemporary news items. One of the paradoxes of security is that each state’s effort to make itself more secure can lead its peers and rivals to perceive themselves as being increasingly threatened. Similarly, the efforts of the state to protect its citizens from external threats can leave its own citizens more exposed to state oppression or responsible for human rights abuses. One of our goals for this chapter is for students to reflect upon the complexity of security issues and the need to balance the desire for security against the costs this entails. Another goal would be for students to understand that the definition of security is highly shaped by the social context in which it is discussed. Security for whom? From what? Exploring human rights questions related to security can be a powerful tool to achieve this.
Additional resources:
Politics and Economy:
Transcript: Bill Moyers Interviews Robert Jay Lifton. (http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript__lifton.html). Lifton discusses Islamic terrorism post-9/11 (October 18, 2002).
The Fletcher School (Tufts University) has also begun a blog on human security. This is their description of it:
“After three decades in print, /PRAXIS: The Fletcher Journal of Human Security/ <http://fletcher.tufts.edu/praxis/>, is introducing a new online forum for the discussion of human security issues: PRAXIS PERSPECTIVES <http://fletcherpraxis.blogspot.com>, a blog created and written by our editors. /PRAXIS/ staff members (graduate students at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy) are stepping out from behind the editing desk to share their insights on relevant happenings in the human-security realm. Serving as a supplement to the annual journal, PRAXIS PERSPECTIVES <http://fletcherpraxis.blogspot.com> will be a platform for lively and engaging debates on the intersections between conflict resolution, development, humanitarianism, human rights, and other work that focuses on the world’s most vulnerable populations.
We hope that you find the blog interesting and thought provoking, and we encourage you to use the comments section to start discussions and share links. Please bookmark us and check back often for updates!”
Additional Activities:
Terror and Security
The purpose of this activity is to allow students to draw from chapter definitions of Realism and human security and then take these theoretical distinctions and examine primary source documents, such as transcripts and blog comments from individuals with a variety of perspectives, to try and identify what has shaped these perspectives. The three documents are: testimony from former Navy counsel Alberto Mora regarding the constitutionality of waterboarding, a blog posting from the Long War Journal (www.longwarjournal.org), and a section from an interview between Bill Moyers and psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton on activism post-9/11 (cited above).
Distinguishing Terror from Torture
Terror is the use of fear to achieve a political goal. It differs from repression, which takes place within a legal framework. When people think of torture, they usually think of torment by the police usually used to gain a critical piece of information. While torture is one aspect of state terror, terror also includes abduction, murder, and other forms of violence. Terror is seldom used primarily to gain information, although that is usually its main justification.
This history of state terror may appear distant, but the tension between human rights and state terror in the post-9/11 era is real. We can see it in congressional debates about the use of “enhanced” or “harsh” techniques for interrogation at Guantanamo after December 2002. Examine the following statement of Alberto J. Mora, the former general counsel of the Department of the Navy. Within the context of Realism and human security, what tensions do you see in his identification of waterboarding as torture? Afterwards, take a look at the Long War Journal and its coverage of security issues in the Middle East. Where do you find discussions of human rights on this site?
In general, however, it is beyond dispute that techniques constituting cruel treatment were authorized and applied. Tragically, credible reporting also makes it appear probable that some detainees were tortured. Certainly, the admission that waterboarding—a classic and reviled form of torture—was applied to some detainees creates the presumption that those detainees so interrogated were tortured. (2008, p. 2)
Mora then went on to argue that this torture not only violated the U.S. Constitution but also constituted an important recruiting and propaganda tool for U.S. enemies while undermining the legitimacy of U.S. actions among its allies (Morales, 3–5). These discussions illustrate how historical trends define modern debates. The full text of his testimony is available in pdf form.
Mora, Alberto J. 2008. July 17. Statement of Alberto J. Mora: Senate Committee on Armed Services, Hearing on the Treatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody. Retrieved on October 14, 2008, from http://armed-services.senate.gov/statemnt/2008/June/Mora%2006-17-08.pdf.
The Long War Journal:
This is a moderately conservative website that traces U.S. military activities in the Middle East. This passage that follows is a posting by author Thomas Joscelyn on November 22, 2008, articulating why it IS necessary to use waterboarding with particularly dangerous leaders:
High-Value Detainees
The most dangerous men currently incarcerated at Guantánamo are the 14 “high-value” detainees. The Bush administration gave them this designation because they are uniquely lethal, having planned and participated in the most devastating terrorist attacks in history. Their collective dossier includes, among other attacks, 9/11, the American embassy bombings (August 7, 1998), the USS Cole bombing (October 12, 2000), and the Bali bombings (October 12, 2002). They are responsible for murdering thousands of civilians around the globe, from the eastern United States to Southeast Asia. Had they not been captured, they surely would have murdered thousands more.
The 14 were originally held not at Guantánamo, but at even more controversial black sites. And the “enhanced interrogation techniques” that have sparked international outrage were principally designed for them. One may doubt the necessity and morality of these techniques, including waterboarding, while still recognizing a fundamentally important point: The 14 high-value detainees are not ordinary criminals, but perpetrators of an entirely different order of evil.
It is because of these men, in particular, that the Bush administration initiated the preventive detention regime of which Guantánamo is a part. Processing them as mere lawbreakers would not have advanced the war on terror. To read them their rights and provide them lawyers would have been to throw away their intelligence value. It would have allowed them to carry to the grave many details of still active terrorist plots. The Bush administration chose a different route—harsh interrogations designed to ferret out al Qaeda’s current operations before it was too late to stop them or capture those involved.
Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/11/clear_and_present_da.php#ixzz0yxxxGoVs
We see, then, two opposing perspectives on torture. Which perspective more closely approaches your own thoughts? Given your ideas, how would you respond to Robert Lifton’s recommendation below?
What follows is part of a transcript of an interview between noted psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, who coined the term “psychic numbing,” and Bill Moyers in which perspectives on terror from 9/11 are discussed.
Moyers asks Lifton what people should do in the aftermath of 9/11: “And I remember what you said. You said, become political. Get involved in something that matters. Do you remember that?”
Lifton: “I do, and would repeat it now in a different way. Whatever we do, we can relate to this. You know, if we’re students, or teachers, or if we’re writers, or if we’re workers of some kind. We can relate what we do in life to what’s happening in the world, and we can take a stand that’s informed by our own experience in what we do. So I don’t think we should just forget about our ordinary routine. I think we should bring in our knowledge and experience in opposing war making and violence. ”
(The full transcript is available at:
www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_lifton.html. Also available on DVD: The 11th of September: Bill Moyers in Conversation [Bill Moyers; Julie Taymor; Gregg Henry, director; Wayne Palmer, director]).
Chapter 8: Food
General chapter observations:
The primary focus of this chapter is on commodity chains rather than food insecurity, although the latter issue is profiled at the beginning of the chapter. The ultimate goal of this chapter and those that follow is for students to really begin to focus on their own behaviors, in this case their food choices. Commodity chains are a powerful tool for students to connect the local to the global. To expand this section in lecture or discussion, you might want to take one of the major themes—such as genetically modified crops or unfree labor—and develop it further using a national example. Issues of local and global food insecurity are not developed in this chapter. This would be an appropriate section to expand upon if the course is being taught in a 12–16 week sequence.
Additional resources:
DVDs and videos include: King Corn (DVD 2008), Food, Inc. (DVD 2009), The Future of Food (DVD 2007), Food Matters (DVD 2009), Our Daily Bread (DVD 2009), Ripe for Change (DVD 2005), and Bad Seed: The Truth about Our Food (DVD 2006). The film Price of Sugar (2007; available at www.thepriceofsugar.com) explores work conditions on a sugar plantation in the Dominican Republic. Two DVDs focusing exclusively on coffee include Black Gold (2007), available for purchase and also available as small clips on YouTube, and Black Coffee (2008). A documentary focusing specifically on sugar and slavery is profiled on the blog http://children.foreignpolicyblogs.com/human-trafficking-and-slavery-related-movies-and-documentaries/.
Additional activities:
- Chocolate tasting. This activity requires a bit of preparation and searching for single-source chocolate. The cost for a class of roughly sixty students is $50.00. Materials: gloves and serving plates for roughly eight to ten types of chocolate and small plates or napkins for students. Eight to ten chocolate bars from various niche marketing sources. Searching for milk chocolate to dark chocolate only as mixed essences (e.g., almond chocolate) will prevent students from tasting the difference. Aim for a gradation of percentage of cocoa from roughly 35% (milk chocolate) to 85% or higher (dark chocolate). Try and find a variety of Fair Trade and locally produced chocolate. Try and gather samples from the full Equatorial Belt (Caribbean, African, Asian), single-sourced as much as possible. Sometimes wild chocolate is also available. Prepare with gloves and small chunks all labeled from the least percentage of cacao/chocolate to the highest. Ask students to sample the full range and comment on their findings. Once students determine their favorites, they can search business and confectionary websites to find out more about the level of production and marketing strategies in particular countries. An example of an unusual source is the Pacific Island community of Vanuatu, which exports a great deal of both cacao and vanilla.
- Assignment: research another product—for example, rooibois or a spice—and determine its importance to the economy of its exporting state and what patterns over the past five years have occurred in terms of sales/exports.
- Buy a product discussed in this chapter. Using the packaging information, identify where the product was produced, where it was packaged, and where the packaging came from. How far did the product travel from its harvesting to your door?
Chapter 9: Health
General chapter observations:
The sections at the end of the chapter related to diabetes and obesity are areas students may be familiar with. Allowing them to look at the experience of particular people who have suffered from these illnesses might be an additional area of exploration. How have these illnesses impacted their families or communities? Health is usually in the news, whether it be a cholera outbreak in Haiti or the onset of H1N1 in Mexico. Including such material in lecture discussions enables students to connect this theme to current events. One topic not explored in depth in the text is the issue of comparative health-care systems, an area in which there is an extensive literature. This might be a useful area for possible exploration in class, perhaps comparing the health-care systems of three developed countries.
Additional resources:
Ebola: The Plague Fighters (2007) is cited in the chapter as one of the possible global-health films to use. If so, the following class guide may be helpful:
Video Notes: Ebola: The Plague Fighters
1996 NOVA
Directed by Ric Esther Bienstok
- Historical Context
1976: First documented Ebola (hemorrhagic fever) outbreak: Yambuku, Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo); 9–10 people died; 400 victims total.
1989: Reston, Va., research facility: 400 monkeys were killed off by the military after the virus spread through vents at a primate research facility.
1995 outbreak: Kikwit, Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo); 316 cases; 244 deaths (77% mortality rate).
May 2004: Sudan 5–20 deaths.
November 2007: Uganda 37–149 deaths.
- Medical SWAT team in Kikwit for 18 days
Team of global physicians and researchers:
Dr. Dona Mupapa (Zaire)
Dr. C. J. Peters—Special Pathogens Branch, CDC
Dr. William Close—author, Ebola
Dr. Peter Kilmarx—Epidemic Intelligence Service
Dr. Ali Khan—Epidemiology Unit, CDC
Dr. Pierre Rolin
Dr. Robert Swanepoele (South Africa)
Dr. Russell Coleman—U.S. Army Medical Institute, Infectious Diseases
John Krebs, Ecology Investigation Team, CDC
Dr. Mungala Kipasa (Zaire)
- Dr. Ali Khan refers to a “chain of death”: “To break this up, it is necessary to violate cultural norms, separate family members, stop people from attending funerals and conducting traditional burial rites.”
- What is the difference between isolation and quarantine?
- What is barrier nursing?
- 6. William Close: “When you have communities living in abject poverty, exposed to all the diseases, the diseases are going to recur and they’ll keep on recurring, and we have to turn our attention to that. At this point, I put my money on the bugs.” What is your reaction to this statement?
- From Dr. George Rutherford, UCLA SARS and Avian Flu (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3P2Aqp5Axs )
- Plan for secondary effects
- Know the duration of the implementation of the protocol
- Intervention fatigue
- Socioeconomic disparities
- Impact of sustained absenteeism on the economy
- Activities to reduce epidemics/pandemics
- Expenditures on experimental vaccines
- Stockpiling antivirals that may be outdated when put to use
- Stockpiling supplies (just in case)
- Identify the impact of social distancing (e.g., school closures) on the overall economy
- Examine the Ebola chronology that follows and is available from the Centers for Disease Control: (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/ebola/ebolatable.htm)
Additional activities:
It is difficult to find much written about neocolonialism in health policy that is accessible at the undergraduate level. One brief paragraph available online is contained in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 55 (2001): 153–55. This quotation from page 153 illustrates the issue: “[T]he USAID report illustrates how epidemiological assessments are imbued with theoretical assumptions shaped by the institutional setting under which the research is conducted thus resulting in a neocolonial practice of epidemiology.”
Other possible topics to explore in the health chapter are the notion of the “Circle of Poison,” a term referring to both drugs packaged and sold differently throughout the world and chemical pesticides banned or severely restricted in the United States and Canada but sometimes return on fruit and vegetables marketed from countries that have purchased the banned chemicals at home even though they cannot be bought in more developed nations. The text Circle of Poison (1981), by Mark Weir and David Shapiro, provides specific data on both issues. The commercial film The Constant Gardener also deals with this issue.
Chapter 10: Energy
General chapter observations:
This chapter lends itself particularly well to students exploring their own lives: What is their energy use and that of their friends and family? What changes could they make? For most students, realistic knowledge of the biggest energy exporter to the United States (Canada) is a complete surprise. Typically, it has been in the area of energy where global and local events occur during a course term. Be it mine safety (Chile, China) or decisions to drill or build in formerly pristine areas, local news carries perspectives students can identify and then compare with their own.
Additional resources:
There are a tremendous number of websites and YouTube clips devoted to the Canadian Oil Sands. Those sponsored by mine and petroleum companies include the following: Chevron Oil Sands (www.Chevron.com), Shell Oil Company (www.Shell.com/athabasca), OilSands Info Mine (OilSands.InfoMine.com), and Heavy Oil (www.HeavyOilinfo.om). Most YouTube clips present contrary points of view. One of relevance to students may be the following, as it presents a group of indigenous activists working with students in Canada and the United States: http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=P-KiN33hUHQ. The group profiled is called “Canada-US Tar Sands Action.”
Chapter 11: Environment
General chapter observations:
This chapter not only presents strong arguments made by developing nations, which mistrust the way the West has approached environmental assistance, but also clearly describes Bjorn Lomborg’s dismissal of global warming claims. Given the focus of the text, this chapter would be an appropriate one to continue explorations of ideology and the type of defense provided by scholars and activists for their points of view. As this is the final chapter to explore a particular global issue, it would also be appropriate to ask students to rank which global issues seem to be the most pressing to them, such as Food, Health, Energy, and the Environment. Which of these topics are most connected to their everyday lives? One topic that we did not explore in depth in this chapter was water. Yet this is emerging as a critical issue, from Australia to the Middle East. For this reason, we have included films that focus on water in our additional resources section.
Additional resources:
Lomborg’s blog is in English and is available at: http://www.lomborg.com/. Recent articles on Lomborg in the press can be found at: http://www.lomborg.com/news/latest_news/?PHPSESSID=b1b89c19070dfd3849d4d782dc4d22af.
Another source in the same vein as Lomborg is: Bailey, R., Ed. 2002. Global Warming and Other Eco-Myths: How the Environmental Movement Uses False Science to Scare Us to Death. Roseville, Calif.: Prima Publishing (member of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.).
Films: A good resource for films on water is Food and Water Watches’ “Water Film” library: www.foodandwaterwatch.org/waterfilms. This website also has a wide range of further activities and resources, including material on chemical contaminants and local water facts.
Captured Rain: America’s Thirst for Canadian Water. Films for the Sciences and Humanities. Princeton, N.J. (www.films.com).
Flow: How Did a Handful of Corporations Steal Our Water? Oscilloscope (www.oscilloscope.com).
For a review of Flow, see: http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/12/flow_for_love_of_waternew_film.
Blue Gold: World Water Wars. Narrated by Malcolm McDowell. Purple Turtle Films (www.purpleturtlefilms.com/index_purple.html). This documentary won multiple national and international awards.
The following film, Water First, is a powerful documentary that looks at the millennium development goals and the role that water plays in achieving each of them. The film profiles one individual who has chosen to make a difference:
Water First: Reaching the Millennium Development Goals. Bullfrog Films (www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/wfirst.html).
Documentary on climate refugees—trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2ULoJYTsrM.
For a powerful documentary on the Amazon, see the following:
The Charcoal People. Directed by Nigel Noble. Vanguard (www.vanguard-cinema.com).
Chapter 12: Where to Go Next
General chapter observations:
It is important to help students identify how international studies relates to prospective employment. While some instructors may balk at using class time to identify future prospects, it has been our experience that students crave this information—the earlier the better. Helping them identify specific campus resources, whether in Career Development or the Office of International Education, allows them to link curricular with cocurricular activities.
Chapter 13: Conclusion
General chapter observations:
Although much of this chapter focuses again on the notion of global citizenship, it is important to work to identify the attitudes students in your classes hold toward global issues. Are they suffering from a type of fatigue or fear of their ability to make a difference? This chapter puts the most stress on course instructors to find a way to finish the course on a hopeful note.
Additional resources:
Additional portraits of both Bono and Kofi Annan follow. Other leaders in issues such as global health—for example, Paul Farmer—have extensive YouTube clips and written articles tracing their global contributions. Biographies of those who have won either the Right Livelihood Award or the Nobel Peace Prize could easily form the basis for further explorations of what makes a global citizen.
Additional Biographies:
Paul David Hewson (Bono)
As the lead singer of the Irish rock band U2, Paul David Hewson—better known as Bono—has long been known for writing lyrics with political and social meaning. But most singers have short careers in the pop world and don’t usually spend their time with international leaders and politicians. In the late 1980s, Bono faced threats that came from his condemnation of the Remembrance Day bombing (Wikipedia, “Bono” entry, 2007). In the late 1990s, however, his focus shifted from Ireland, and Bono became increasingly active as a spokesperson for the needs of developing countries, those in Africa in particular. In 2002 Bono toured Africa with U.S. treasury secretary Paul H. O’Neill in order to increase support for debt relief. In the aftermath of the trip, O’Neill claimed that the trip had changed how he thought about aid for Africa (Stevenson).
Bono has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and named as Time magazine’s Person of the Year. His “supporters even lobbied—unrealistically—to have him installed as president of the World Bank” (Zeller). His prominence has also led to attacks by critics who question not only why a white European has become the face of Africa, but also why Bono has partnered with American conservatives (Zeller; Kahn). But Bono continues to attract support and criticize those who forget their obligations. In May 2004 Canada’s prime minister at the time, Paul Martin, pledged $50 million “to the Irish rock star Bono’s global anti-AIDS efforts, doubling Canada’s contribution to this fund, founded to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, particularly in Africa” (New York Times, May 13, 2004). While Martin likely wished to reap political benefits, the result was a publicity disaster, and the funds were not delivered. An angry Bono, believing that Martin had gone back on his word, “had the audacity to share Mr. Martin’s office phone number with 18,000 fans at a rock concert in Vancouver, urging them to lobby the prime minister to help starving countries” (Kraus). Despite the controversy surrounding him, Bono is perceived by many people as the West’s conscience in Africa.
Kofi Annan
Never walk into an environment and assume that you understand it better than the people who live there.
Kofi Atta Annan and his twin sister, Efua Atta, were born in Kumasi, Ghana, in 1938. His father, Henry Reginald Annan, was a cocoa executive with a subsidiary of Unilever, and in his later life, he went on to become chairman of the Ghana International Bank and hold leadership roles in his own Ashanti Province, ultimately serving as governor. His son Kofi, who later became the secretary general of the United Nations, never expected to leave Ghana to study in Minnesota. After his undergraduate degree in economics, he thought that he would return home to Ghana to work for the multinational food giant Pillsbury. However, Kwame Nkrukmah, Ghana’s president, gave the Pillsbury contract to another nation, Bulgaria (Meisler 2007). Annan thus never began his business career. Instead, he headed off to Geneva, Switzerland, where he studied at the Graduate Institute of International Studies. Once there, he acquired a position as a budget officer for the World Health Organization. He then finished a graduate degree in management at the MIT Sloan School of Management and went on to work in his home country as its director of tourism (1974–76) followed by various stints at the United Nations (in Human Resources, Security, Program Planning, and Peacekeeping) before becoming the UN secretary general between 1997 and 2007.
As secretary general, Annan was responsible for promoting the creation of a global AIDS and Health Fund, for pushing for extensive reform of the UN, and for pressuring the world (sadly without success) to resolve the crisis in Darfur, Sudan. For his efforts, Kofi Annan and the UN were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001. Meisler (2007) suggests that one of his most important accomplishments is the establishment of “the right of the international community to interfere when a government abuses its own people” (p. 316). Meisler also stressed how Annan strengthened UN peacekeeping and international relief efforts (2007, p. 316).
In his Nobel Prize address, Annan stated: “In the twenty-first century I believe the mission of the United Nations will be defined by a new, more profound awareness of the sanctity and dignity of every human life, regardless of race or religion. This will require us to look beyond the framework of states, and beneath the surface of nations or communities. We must focus, as never before, on improving the conditions of the individual men and women who give the state or nation its richness and character” (reproduced in Meisler 2007, p. 323; copyright held by the Nobel Foundation, 2001). Whether we are leaders of organizations or simply connected members of our communities, we can all play a role in this improvement.
Not all of Annan’s times as a leader were smooth: there were issues regarding the oil-for-food program when his son was implicated in a scandal; times when his stands on various issues confronted the United States head-on; and times when decisions regarding UN employees charged with graft and sexual harassment disappointed those around him (Wikipedia, accessed July 16, 2007). But he remains a respected global figure. In addresses to his alma mater in 1994 and 1998, he urged the undergraduate community to do five things: “trust the natives, follow your inner compass, think beyond borders, choose to serve, and build your courage” (Macalester College brochure, n.d.). Remember this advice and look in your own toolbox to see if any of these are part and parcel of what you do.
Meisler, S. 2007. Kofi Annan: A Man of Peace in a World of War. Hoboken, N.J. : J. Wiley & Sons.
- Additional Material: Chapter 14: Language
If you are in need of an additional chapter due to the length of the term, consider drawing from the additional chapter available at IntroToGlobalStudies.com. It focuses on various dimensions of language in international studies. There are specific sections looking at how the U.S. government views critical languages and national security and how future shifts in biodiversity affect language as well. Weaker students who may need the scaffolding of more detailed reading comprehension questions will find them at the end of the chapter. There is also a case study at the end of the chapter that explores what has happened in Oaxaca, Mexico. The 27-page Language chapter is available in PDF format for viewing, printing, and downloading at http://introglobal.wpengine.com/tools-for-teachers/additional-chapter.
Sample Exam Questions for Chapter 14: Language
- Cobarrubias identifies five statuses that a language can hold within a country. Define two of these statuses and provide examples. Does this notion of language status relate to anything in your current or future life? If so, please comment. If not, indicate that there is no apparent connection.
- Why do some scholars look upon the power of English as hegemonizing, while others see it in more neutral terms as a language of wider communication? Which of these two perspectives most appeals to you and why?
- What is the relationship between nation-states deemed critical to U.S. security and languages deemed critical to U.S. security? Identify one pair (a nation-state and a language) and discuss why these will likely remain important to U.S. security interests.
- What is the relationship between biodiversity and linguistic diversity? Discuss one example of a nation-state with high biodiversity and high linguistic diversity. What are critical issues to their future?
- Using the Mexican state of Oaxaca, identify three language issues occurring here that should matter to students of international studies.
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