IDST 2205 Global Issues in the Twenty-First Century
Wednesday 2:00-3:50
First Hour Classroom: A&S 3-70
Instructors: Second Hour Office Telephone/ Office Hours
Classroom Email
Dr. Dwight Call A&S 3-70 222 Lanier 445-0875 M-F 8-5 dwither@mail.gcsu.edu
Dr. Eustace Palmer A&S 3-51 A&S 3-06 445-5557 M-F 10-11
epalmer@mail.gcsu.edu"The Century’s Decline" by Wislawa Szymborska [1996 Nobel Prize for Literature]
Other useful Global Issues information may be found at http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/gissues/style.htm
The class will explore the state of the world at the beginning of the twenty-first century from the perspective of various disciplines, and will focus on four major areas:
(A) DEVELOPMENT & POVERTY
(B) GENDER ISSUES & FAMILY ISSUES
(C) CONFLICT & DIVERSITY
(D) HEALTH & THE ENVIRONMENT
Assigned Texts:
- Jackson, Robert M. Global Issues 99/00. Dushkin/McGraw Hill (Guilford, CT: 1999).
- Dangarembga, Tsitsi. Nervous Conditions. Seal Press (Seattle: 1988).
- International news from The Guardian Weekly, subscribe $53 / 6 months on line at http://www.guardianweekly.com
- The World Guide 1999/2000: A View from the South. Oxford: New Internationalist Publications, 1999. Copies available on reserve.
- Other readings available on reserve.
- Kushner, Tony. Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes; Part One: Millennium Approaches and Part Two: Perestroika. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1992. [Optional Reading]
Course Description:
The course will include experiential exercises, panel discussions and guest lectures. Students will be assigned to discussion sections of twenty students. Each discussion section will be led by one of the course instructors, and readings will be discussed in large class or small-group discussion each week. Multiple-choice tests will be administered during the small group discussion periods of Sessions 8 and 15 and will include all readings and discussions. These tests will serve as the course’s Midterm and Final Exams. For each of these tests, students will need to bring both blue scantron answer test sheet B (form #19641) and a #2 pencil. There will be no Final Exam during finals week.
Small groups will discuss articles from The Guardian Weekly, as well as what is happening in individual countries, each student choosing a country to research from a list of available options. Students will explore each week’s issues from the perspective of their assigned countries. At each discussion session, students should be prepared to tell others what is going on in their countries with regard to the issues currently being discussed and/or to analyze and respond critically to an article in The Guardian Weekly on the issue being considered that week. During Sessions 12, 13 and 14 students will give 5-8 minute oral presentations on the issues confronting their countries. At the session when a student presents her/his country, s/he must distribute a 1-page typed summary of the issues, which can assist other students in studying for the second multiple-choice test. Students are encouraged to interview international students, professors or members of the community from their assigned countries.
At Session 15 each student will submit a 7-page analytical paper on one of the issues considered during the course (Issue Paper). The instructors look for substance, creativity and critical thinking in classroom discussions, in the oral presentations and in the final papers. Footnotes and bibliography should be included as appropriate.
As the semester progresses, some of the weekly discussion topics listed below are subject to change. Students will be notified in writing of any substantive changes in requirements.
Grade Distribution:
20% Attendance / Class and Participation
40% 2 Multiple Choice Tests
20% Country Presentation
20% Issue Paper
Evaluation Notes:
- Weekly attendance, participation and punctuality are required.
- Late papers will be graded down 10% for each day late.
- Dates of exams and papers are not negotiable.
Grade Breakdown:
100-90: A 89-80: B 79-70: C 69-60: D 59- : F
Session 1 (1/12): Introduction
Syllabus
Introduction to geography of the world
- DEVELOPMENT & POVERTY
Session 2 (1/19): Globalization / Political, Cultural and Technological Development
Video: "Avon in the Amazon" by Michael Moore
Assigned Readings:
- "What Is Globalization?" World Guide 1999/2000: 63-64. [RESERVE]
- Huntington, Samuel P. "The Many Faces of the Future." Global Issues 1999/00: pp. 15-18.
NOTE: Following is one of several opportunities for extra "participation" credit this semester.
Thursday, January 20, Russell Auditorium
8:00 pm Special Concert: "Uppitty Blues Women."
Friday, January 21, A&S Auditorium
Special Symposium: Women’s Anger: Why Is Everybody So Afraid of It?
10:00 - 10:50 Understanding the Psychology of Women's Anger
11:00 - 11:50 Exploring Cross-Cultural Expressions of Women's Anger
1:00 - 2:15 Appreciating Women's Creative Redirection of Anger through Art, Music, and Comedy
2:30 - 3:30 Discovering How Anger Has Motivated Activism and Protest
Session 3 (1/26): Poverty and Economic Underdevelopment
Case study of Sierra Leone; rich North versus poor South; culture of poverty; child labor
Assigned Readings:
- "The Fiction of Development." World Guide 1999/2000: 62-63. [RESERVE]
- "The Speculative Economy Takes Control." World Guide 1999/2000: 69-73. [RESERVE]
- Ransom, David. "The Dictatorship of Debt." New Internationalist May 1999: 1-4. [RESERVE]
- "Child Labor." World Guide 1999/2000: 51. [RESERVE]
- Bellamy, Carol. "Child Labor: Rights, Risks, and Realities." Global Issues 1999/00: 186-189.
Session 4 (2/2): Technological Development
Genetic engineering; cloning; information revolution; global uses and issues
Assigned Readings:
- "Communications: From Telephones to Satellites." World Guide 1999/2000: 57-59. [RESERVE]
(B) GENDER ISSUES & FAMILY ISSUES
Session 5 (2/9): The Economic and Social Positions of Women in the World
Handcrafted puzzle of women at work in Africa.
Panel Discussion of International Students on women’s and men’s roles in different countries, in different religious traditions and cultures
Assigned Readings:
- Jacquette, Jane S. "Women in Power: From Tokenism to Critical Mass." Global Issues 1999/00: 210-216.
- Van Der Gaag, Nikki. "Women: Still Something to Shout about." Global Issues 1996/97: 260. [RESERVE]
- "Women: Building Upon Diversity." World Guide 1999/2000: 32-34. [RESERVE]
Session 6 (2/16):Violence Against Women and Children
Assigned Readings:
- Andersen, John Ward, and Molly Moore. "The Burden of Womanhood." Global
Issues 1998-99: 170-173. [RESERVE]
- Nelson, Toni. "Violence Against Women." Global Issues 1997/98: 200. [RESERVE]
- Cojean, Annick. "Women Living in the Shadowlands." Guardian Weekly March 21, 1999. [RESERVE]
- Goldenberg, Suzanne. "A Matter of Honour." Guardian Weekly June 6, 1999. [RESERVE]
- "Children: Poverty and Discrimination: The Biggest Causes of Death." World Guide 1999/2000: 46-47. [RESERVE]
- Dyer, Clare. "Parents Keep Right to Smack Children despite Euro Ruling." Guardian Weekly October 10, 1998, p. 10. [RESERVE]
Session 7 (2/23): Family and Multiculturalism
History of the family; extended family; diversity of the family
Assigned Readings:
- Okin, Susan Moller. "Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?" and 14 responses.
http://www-polisci.mit.edu/bostonreview/BR22.5
(C) CONFLICT & DIVERSITY
Session 8 (3/1): New Sources of Conflict
Shifting of power; conflicts within nations; case studies of Kosovo, Chechnya, Sierra Leone, Indonesia
*Multiple Choice Test
Assigned readings:
- Klare, Michael T. "Redefining Security: The New Global Schisms." Global Issues 1999/00: 27-31.
- Sadowski, Yahya. "Ethnic Conflict: Think Again." Global Issues 1999/00: 144-149.
- "International Relations: UN Taken by the Great Powers." World Guide 1999/2000: 78-79. [RESERVE]
Session 9 (3/8): Political and Economic Sources of Conflict
Migration; refugees; disempowered; prisons
Assigned readings:
- Brauman, Rony. "Refugees: The Rising Tide." Global Issues 1999/00: 49-53.
- "Refugees: Victims of Human Catastrophes." World Guide 1999/2000: 79. [RESERVE]
- Bales, Kevin. "Modern Trade in Disposable People." Guardian Weekly June 20, 1999. [RESERVE]
- Wacquant, Loic. "From Welfare State to Prison State: Imprisoning the American Poor." Le Monde Diplomatique September 1998. [RESERVE]
Session 10 (3/15): Conflicts Caused by Differences in Sexual Orientation; Diversity
Panel Discussion by Members of Macon Pride
Assigned readings:
- "The Right That Dares Not Speak Its Name: Homosexuality." New Internationalist Jan.-Feb. 1998: 22-23. [RESERVE]
- "More Clues to Homophobia." Health Nov.-Dec. 1996. [RESERVE]
- Wolfe, Alan. "The Homosexual Exception." The New York Times Magazine: February 8, 1998, pp. 46-47. [RESERVE]
- [Optional Reading] Kushner, Tony. Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1992. There will be an optional field trip to Macon to see the play.
Session 11 (3/22): Religious Sources of Conflict
BBC Audio Lecture: "Islam and the West"
Assigned readings:
- Ahmed, Akbar S. "Towards the Global Millenium: The Challenge of Islam." Global Issues 1998/99: 186-190. [RESERVE]
- Fuller, Graham E. "Islam, A Force for Change." Le Monde Diplomatique September 1999. [RESERVE]
Session 12 (4/5): Discussion of Nervous Conditions
*Oral Presentations
(D) HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Session 13 (4/12): Health / Disease Issues
Guest Speaker: Dr. Harold Katner
Assigned Readings:
- "Health: The Limits of Biomedicine." World Guide 1999/2000: 42-45. [RESERVE]
- Galpin, Richard. "Rubbing Salt into Their Wounds." Guardian Weekly January 3, 1999. [RESERVE]
- Platt, Anne. "Water-Born Killers." Global Issues 1998/99: 58-64. [RESERVE]
*Oral Presentations
Session 14 (4/19): Environment / Pollution / Sustainable Development
Guest Speaker: Dr. Dan Caldwell, Emeritus Professor of Biology
Assigned Readings:
- Glantz, Michael H. "The Global Challenge." Global Issues 1999/00: 64-67.
- Calvin, William H. "The Great Climate Flip-Flop." Global Issues 1999/00: 68-75.
- "Water: A New Source of Conflict." World Guide 1999/2000: 24-25. [RESERVE]
- O’Kane, Maggie. "Victims of a War They Never Saw." Guardian Weekly January 10, 1999. [RESERVE]
- Brown, Lester R. "We can Build a Sustainable Economy." Global Issues 1999/00: 81-85.
*Oral Presentations
Session 15 (4/26): Conclusions
Ethical considerations: What is reasonable? How do we show respect for all persons? Who is responsible?
Assigned Readings:
- Richardson, Miles. "Turning Tears into Nothing." The Naked Anthropologist: Tales from Around the World, edited by Philip R. DeVita. Wadsworth Publishing Company (Belmont, CA: 1992), 107-111. [RESERVE]
- Winter, Paul. "Who Killed Neni Bai." The Naked Anthropologist: Tales from Around the World, edited by Philip R. DeVita. Wadsworth Publishing Company (Belmont, CA: 1992), 100-106. [RESERVE]
- Kidder, Rushworth M. "Universal Human Values: Finding an Ethical Common Ground." Global Issues 1999/00: 192-196.
*Issue Paper Due
*Multiple Choice Test
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Guidelines and Policies:
- Any student requiring instructional modifications due to a documented disability should make an appointment to meet with the instructor as soon as possible. An official letter from GC&SU documenting the disability will be expected in order to receive accommodation.
- If you want or need to discuss your progress in the course outside of class, please make arrangements to see your instructors during their office hours.
- You are invited to investigate a wide variety of study abroad programs at the International Services & Programs Office (#223 Lanier). Students can receive credit for study abroad, and generous scholarships are available.
- Please familiarize yourself with the Student Academic Dishonesty Policy on pages 94-95 of the Undergraduate Catalogue. Academic dishonesty – including both plagiarism and cheating on examinations -- will not be tolerated.
- In case of fire drills, leave the classroom, exit the A&S Building by the stairway nearest your classroom, and regroup on the front lawn for a head count.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the
Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories."
PREAMBLE
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,
Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,
Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,
Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,
Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,
Now, Therefore, THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.
Article 1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.
Article 4. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.
Article 5. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
Article 7. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
Article 8. Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.
Article 9. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
Article 10. Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
Article 11. (1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense. (2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
Article 12. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
Article 13. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.
Article 14. (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. (2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 15. (1) Everyone has the right to a nationality. (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.
Article 16. (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. (2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses. (3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.
Article 17. (1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. (2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.
Article 18. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
Article 19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article 20. (1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. (2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.
Article 21. (1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. (2) Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in his country. (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections, which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
Article 22. Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.
Article 23. (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection. (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
Article 24. Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25. (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
Article 26. (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace. (3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.
Article 27. (1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits. (2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.
Article 28. Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.
Article 29. (1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible. (2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society. (3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.
Article 30. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.
