Introduction to International Studies

Transcription

1 Introduction to International Studies IS 100W Michael Clancy Fall 2013 University of Hartford T/R 10:50-12:05 Office: H123b Office Hours: T/R 2-3 Phone: and by appointment Introduction This course serves as an introduction to the field of International Studies. Over the past decade various observers have described the contemporary world as: The Age of Global Terror; The Age of Globalization; A Post-American World and the Asian Century. To what extent does any one of these labels capture the most important characteristics of the world and its future? This course will investigate the nature and trajectory of various forces and flows across the globe as well as debates over how they affect ordinary people. Organization The course is organized around five forces moving across the globe today: Conflict, governance, economic flows and development, people, technology and media. Course Objectives Students will study the primary issues that characterize world affairs today as well as how they have emerged over time Students will gain understanding of the primary forces underlying turbulence in global affairs Students will be exposed to theories and methods commonly utilized in the field of international studies Students will learn to write a research paper in the International Studies tradition Required Books: Harry Chernotsky and Heidi H. Hobbs, Crossing Borders: International Studies for the 21 st Century. CQ Press, 2013 Laurent Dubois, Soccer Empire: The World Cup and the Future of France University of California Press 2010 Dan Smith, The Penguin State of the World Atlas,9 th ed. Penguin 2012 John Jeter, Flat Broke in the Free Market: How Globalization Fleeced Working People. Norton,

2 Requirements The most basic requirement for this course is that students attend class regularly and come to class prepared. This means that students prepare carefully for class, having done all of that day's assigned reading. Most class sessions will be interactive, so you should come ready to discuss! Attendance in class is mandatory. One's participation grade will suffer significantly after two absences. This is a W or writing-intensive course. Students will be asked to write a great deal both inside and outside of class. These will range from in class summaries, postings on Blackboard, take home exams and a research paper. We will also spend time with instruction in college writing. Graded Requirements Assignment Due Date Percentage of Grade Thought Paper 9/15 15% Midterm Paper 10/20 20% Research Paper 12/3 20% Final Exam 12/16 25% Written Assignments % Class Participation % Note: All work is due in class on the specific due dates. Extensions are rarely given and never arranged after the fact. If you have an emergency make arrangements before the due date. All late work will be penalized 1/3 of one letter grade per day. Work handed in more than 10 days late will receive a zero (0). it is very difficult to pass this class with any grade of zero. Note on Academic Honesty: All work must be that of individual students. Whenever you use outside sources of information in your research, you must cite your sources properly. All papers submitted in this course should employ the American Political Science Association citation method as outlined in the Style Manual for Political Science. Papers submitted without complete citations will not be graded. Students caught cheating will receive an F in the course and will be reported to the Dean of Arts and Sciences for further discipline. Electronics Policy I know you all think of yourselves as multi-taskers, delicately balancing the intake of various forms of information from multiple sources. Most of these sources, of course, are electronic in nature. I, too, like my electronic toys and in the past I have been fairly open and flexible regarding electronics. The situation has gotten increasingly out of hand. I find students using laptops or texting to be not only non-engaged, but also distracting other students around them. Therefore I need to enforce a policy that prohibits personal electronics in class. Students are not to use cell phones, laptops, tablets or music players in class. Students observed using these items will upon first offense receive a participation grade of zero for the day, the second offense will bring their semester participation grade down one full letter grade, the third offense will result in them being dropped from the class. 2

3 Schedule Date 3 Introduction No reading Assignment 5 * 8 What is International Studies? Eurovision Joys Deflects Cares for Awhile New York Times C&H, Crossing Borders, pp. 2-7 Special meeting Film: Babel 10 Discussion Babel/ W courses Theory and History Connecting Past and Present Case Study: Soccer Dubois, Soccer Empire, Introduction, ch. 1 Thought Paper Due Soccer, cont. Dubois, Soccer Empire, chs. 3-5 Soccer, cont. Dubois, Soccer Empire, chs C&H, Crossing Borders, pp No Class Soccer, cont. Dubois, Soccer Empire, ch. 11, Epilogue 3

4 In Scotland, the Only Match that Really Matters, New York Times Meyer, Who Gets to be French? New York Times October 1 October 3 October 8 Globalization C&H, Crossing Borders, pp Mark Kesselman, Globalization as Contested Terrain International Studies and Complexity Glover, Compatibility or Incommensurability: International Relations Theory and Complex Systems Analysis Geography/Writing Day C&K, Crossing Borders, maps; pp Smith, pp. Global Political Structures and Flows October 10 October 15 October 17 October 20 October 22 October 24 People, Governments and Politics Smith, pp C&K, pp Democracy Schmitter and Karl, What Democracy Is, and Isn t Diamond, The Democratic Rollback Foreign Affairs March/April 2008 Sources of Democracy Diamond, Why are there no Arab Democracies? Additional readings TBA Midterm Exam due War and Strife C&K, pp ; Smith, pp ; Terrorism C&K, pp Smith, pp. Stratfor, Why the Boston Bombers Succeeded Global Economic Structures and Flows October 29 Mapping the Global Economy C&K, Chapter 6 Smith, pp. 4

5 October 31 November 5 November 7 Global Flows C&K, Ch. 7 Film: Globalization: Winners and Losers Neoliberalism Jeter, Flat Broke in the Free Market, Part I Neoliberalism (II) Jeter, Flat Broke in the Free Market, Part II November 12 Case Study: Chocolate Off, Bitter Chocolate, chs. 1-4 November 14 Writing Day November 19 Case Study: Chocolate Off, Bitter Chocolate, chs. 5-8 November 21 Case Study: Chocolate Off, Bitter Chocolate, chs Flows of People, Culture and Technology November 26 Migration Smith, pp. TBA Sassen, Immigration in a Global Era November 27- December 1 December 3 December 5 December 10 December 12 Thanksgiving Break: No Class Migration and Labor Film: Ghosts Research Papers due Culture C&H, Crossing Borders, Technology and Media C&H, Crossing Borders, pp Media and Culture Jan, Globalization of Media: Key Issues and Dimensions Film: Reel Bad Arabs Final Exam distributed 5

6 December 16 Final Exam due 6