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International StudiesCOURSES Introductions to International Studies Open to first- and second-year students. Any one of these courses serves as a strong introduction to the major. 110 INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: GLOBALIZATION—HOMOGENEITY AND HETEROGENEITY Globalization is upon us, resulting in unprecedented cultural interpenetration and civilizational encounter. Most of what animates this condition is old. However, the contemporary velocity, reach, and mutations of these forces suggest a new “world time,” full of contradictions, perils, and promises. This course introduces students to globalization by asking What is globalization, and how does one study it? What are the principal forces (social groups, ideas, institutions, and ecology) that shaped and propel it? What are its consequences, and how do we respond? Open to first- and second-year students. Every fall. (4 credits) 111 INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: LITERATURE AND GLOBAL CULTURE One of the most significant trends of the current era has been globalization: the shrinking of distances, the greater interpenetration of the world’s peoples, and the rise, perhaps, of global culture. Yet it is too simple to say, “it’s all a big mix,” for the questions of how the mixing is done, and who mixes, are complex. The study of literature illuminates these questions. By reading important recent texts, this course tackles “world” questions: what does it mean to be from a certain place? what is a culture? and who are we in it? We’ll link personal readings in dialogue with the world. Texts will be drawn from U.S. multicultural, “world,” and travel literature, and rich theoretical readings. Open to first- and second-year students. Every year. (4 credits) 112 INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: GLOBALIZATION, MEDIA, AND CULTURAL IDENTITIES This course investigates the effects of the globalization of media and popular culture on the identities and identifications of the world’s peoples. We will interrogate where cultural identity and symbolic communities come from and consider the politics and possibilities of common cultures. Combining theory, and case studies of worldwide media (film, video, digital media, music and more), we will explore numerous paradigms (modernization, cultural imperialism, post-modernism, post-structuralism) as frameworks of understanding. Every year. (4 credits) 113 INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: GLOBALIZATION IN THEORY AND CONTEXT This course develops a base of knowledge, concepts, and analytical skills for engaging with International Studies’ multi-dimensional concerns. Ranging across disciplines but with an emphasis on social science, we study global theories of interaction and conflict between human groups, situate globalization historically, and explore sites and implications of increasing encounter. Focusing on culture, people flows, nationalism and ethnicity, democratization, security, religious fundamentalism, gender, and the environment, we examine how particular cases reflect broader processes. Open to first- and second-year students. Every year. (4 credits) 114 INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: INTERNATIONAL CODES OF CONDUCT Can we all live by one set of rules? This course investigates the broad field of global study by addressing fresh and age-old issues in international law from the personal to the global, including borders, sources and enforcement of international law, law of the sea, immigration and asylum, post-national federation, colonization, world order, and global citizenship. Readings include case studies, memoirs, fiction, and other texts focusing on individuals, cultures, and states. Open to first- and second-year students. Next offered in 2010–2011. (4 credits) Intermediate Courses 202 GLOBAL MEDIA INDUSTRIES (Same as Humanities and Media and Cultural Studies 202) We view the world and its peoples primarily through the “consciousness industry” of the media. As such, the way it is organized vitally impacts how we understand the world and our place in it. When did global media industries emerge, how are they organized, who owns them, and how have they transformed? In this course, we will investigate historical and contemporary forces of media production, explore theories for understanding the role of media in society, as well as consider paradigms that contest both practices and discourses of media globalization. Offered 2009–2010. (4 credits) 225 COMPARATIVE ECONOMIC SYSTEMS (Same as Economics 225) This course examines the workings of economic systems from the perspective of the incentives facing the firm and consumer. The course provides an introduction to the economics of information and organization which is used to evaluate resource allocation under the specific institutional environment of different economic systems. Our understanding of the incentive system is then used to evaluate the overall economic system. The focus of the course is primarily on the U.S., Japan and the former Soviet Union/Russia. As time permits the course may examine China, Germany and Central Europe. Prerequisite: Economics 119. Offered every year. (4 credits) 245 INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS This course offers a theoretical and practical introduction to the study and promotion of human rights. Using broad materials, it focuses on the evolution and definition of key concepts, the debate over “universal” rights, regional and international institutions, core documents, the role of states, and current topics of interest to the human rights movement. Open to first- and second-year students. Every year. (4 credits) 253 COMPARATIVE MUSLIM CULTURES (same as Anthropology 253) The course introduces students to the diversity of Muslim societies in the Arab world, Europe, Africa, North America, and Asia. It traces Islam as a culturally lived local and transnational experience. The course applies various social-science and humanities theories to complex case studies to illuminate connections between Islam and ethnicities, gender, media, travel, migration, citizenship, politics, and social change. Concurrently the course aims to undo the many stereotypes about Islam and Muslim societies. Offered 2009–2010. (4 credits) 265 TRANSLATION AS CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION (Same as Russian 265) When communication takes place across language barriers, it raises fundamental questions about meaning, style, power relationships, and traditions. This course treats literary translation as a particularly complex form of cross-cultural interaction. Students will work on their own translations of prose or poetry while considering broader questions of translation, through critiques of existing translations, close comparisons of variant translations, and readings on cultural and theoretical aspects of literary translation. Advanced proficiency in a second language required. Alternate years. (4 credits) 272 POST-NATIONALISM: THE POST-SOVIET SPHERE (Same as Russian Studies 272) The USSR’s 1991 dissolution ended one of history’s great experiments. Socialism sought to dissolve ethnicity and overcome ethnic conflict with a focus on equality. Instead it exacerbated nationalism and created-separated identities. But how? Topics include ethno-creation, control, and resistance; ethnic animosities and the USSR’s destruction; new states after 1991; “diaspora” populations beyond ethnic homelands; local rebellions; new “native” dictatorships; and recent international organizations. Alternate years. (4 credits) 275 WORK, ETHICS AND VOCATION IN THE ERA OF GLOBALIZATION Macalester students widely seek to do “global good.” Yet the concrete effects of many transnational careers are unclear. Positive worldly transformation? Imposition of Western values? This course examines ethics and consequences in international elite agency, focusing on cosmopolitan lives and selected professions, capped by a highly tailorable final project. Recent Macalester alumni serve as resources to support rich inquiry in transnational vocation. Alternate years. (4 credits) 280 INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ MOVEMENTS IN GLOBAL CONTEXT (Same as Sociology 280) During the last three decades a global indigenous rights movement has arisen within the United Nations and others international bodies, challenging and reformulating international law and cultural understandings of human rights. The course examines the tensions between indigenous rights and national sovereignty and how global processes have shaped efforts to institutionalize indigenous rights, among other issues. Students in the course will develop a case study of an indigenous peoples movement of their choosing and situate it in the context of competing theoretical perspectives on globalization and global processes. Next offered in 2009–2010. (4 credits) 285 ETHNICITY AND NATIONALISM IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE This course explores ethnic nationalism’s causes and consequences in Eastern Europe. Drawing on several disciplines, we begin by examining the core concepts and theories in the contemporary study of nationalism. We then explore both the historical roots of Eastern European nationalisms, and their implications for democracy, minority inclusion, regional stability, and European integration. Alternate years; next offered 2009–2010. (4 credits) 286 MEDIA AND CULTURAL STUDIES OF LATIN AMERICA (Same as Latin American Studies 286) This course explores cultural and media industries and texts—including folktales, art, performance, sport, film, and television—within their socio-political and historical context in Latin America. Organized around case studies that will allow us to apply learned cultural theories and methodologies to specific texts and historical moments, this class is imagined as a cultural studies “laboratory” in which we will collectively investigate varied topics in the field. No prerequisites. Offered every year. (4 credits). 288 RACE AND ETHNICITY IN JAPAN (Same as Japanese 288 and American Studies 288) One of the founding myths of the modern Japanese nation-state has been the illusion of racial and ethnic homogeneity. This course aims not only to challenge this myth but also to historicize and contextualize it by investigating various racial and ethnic minorities in Japan: Ainu, Burakumin (outcasts), Okinawans, Koreans, African Americans, Nikkeijin (South Americans of Japanese descent), and Caucasians. These groups pose fundamental questions about the boundaries of “Japan” and about the meanings of “race” and “ethnicity” as categories of identification and difference. The purpose of this course is two-fold: 1) to familiarize students with the history of minority discourse in Japan, and 2) to encourage students to think critically and comparatively about race and ethnicity in general. All readings are in English or English translation. No prerequisites. Every year beginning 2010–2011. (4 credits). 317 WRITERS AND POWER: THE EUROPEAN EAST IN THE 20TH CENTURY Eastern European writers and filmmakers have long been prominent figures, reflecting their confrontation with the 20th century’s three most powerful ideologies: fascism, communism, and democracy. This course explores the interactions between writers and these systems of power in the works of major figures such as Ionesco, Kundera, Havel, Milosz, Forman, and Kusturica. We follow written and cinematic engagements with power at both social and individual levels, and extend to broad questions of history and community. Alternate years. (4 credits) 323 ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING IN LATIN AMERICA (Same as Economics 323 and Latin American Studies 323) This course uses economic principles to examine the transition from Import Substitution Industrialization to trade liberalization in Latin America. The goal of the course is to understand the economic antecedents to free trade as well as the resulting impact on workers and resource allocation. The course also addresses peripheral aspects of economic restructuring, such as the drug trade, migration, and the maquiladora industry. Requires an Economics 200 level course, Economics 221 preferred. Every year. (4 credits) 325 CHINA, RUSSIA AND CENTRAL EUROPE IN TRANSITION (Same as Economics 325) This course surveys the theoretic and empirical literature on Soviet-style central planning and the transition to a market economy. The economic history of central planning is examined with emphasis on the experience of the Soviet Union and its variants in Eastern Europe and China. The tool of analysis is the branch of economics known as the economics of organization and information, which will be used to analyze the operation, strengths, and limitations of central planning. The legacy of central planning forms the backdrop for an examination of the transition to a market economy. Prerequisites: Economics 119 and one 200s level Economics course; Economics 221 or 225 are recommended. Alternate years. (4 credits) 345 ADVANCED THEMES IN HUMAN RIGHTS This course closely investigates critical issues facing today’s human rights movement. Using a case-study approach, it explores the cultural, historical, and political context of human rights violations, and the philosophical and practical dilemmas involved in constructing responses. We first focus on broadly contested rights, and then examine reasons for and responses to massive human rights tragedies. Every spring. Prior coursework on human rights, or instructor’s permission, required. (4 credits) 362 CULTURE AND GLOBALIZATION (Same as Anthropology 362) The world is far more interconnected today than ever before, but what does this mean in terms of culture? This course looks at the impact of globalization on cultures and at examples of global cultures such as tourists and immigrants, media and popular cultures, world cities, and transnational intellectuals, ethnicities and ideologies. It also looks at the way cultures interact at geographic borders and in the margins of society. Alternate years. (4 credits) 364 CULTURE AND REVOLUTION (Same as Russian 364) This course examines the relationship between cultural and political change during three very different revolutions: France 1789, Russia 1917, Iran 1979. How do people change when governments are overturned? How do revolutions shape popular consciousness? Do people understand events as revolutionaries intend? To answer these questions, we will examine symbols and political ideologies, mass media, education, social identities, the culture of violence, popular participation and resistance, and other issues. Readings will include revolution-inspiring works of Voltaire and Rousseau, Marx and Lenin, Khomeini and the Koran. We will read sympathetic and antagonistic contemporary accounts, and look at popular culture to see how events were understood. Fashion and etiquette, comics and caricatures, movies and plays will be used. Alternate years. (4 credits) 367 POSTCOLONIAL THEORY (Same as Humanities and Media and Cultural Studies 367 and English 367) Traces the development of theoretical accounts of culture, politics and identity in Africa, South Asia, the Caribbean and related lands since the 1947–1991 decolonizations. Readings include Fanon, Said, Walcott, Ngugi and many others, and extend to gender, literature, the U.S., the post-Soviet sphere, and Europe. The course bridges cultural, representational, and political theory. Prior internationalist and/or theoretical coursework strongly recommended. Next offered Fall 2009. (4 credits) 368 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND THE GLOBAL FUTURE (Same as Environmental Studies 368) This course thoroughly examines the concept of sustainable development. We will define the term, examine its history, and evaluate its political, philosophical, scientific, and economic significance. Implementation of sustainable development in both the world’s North and South are considered. Close attention is given to non-governmental organizations and nation-states, the loss of global biodiversity, and existing and proposed remedial actions. Prior coursework in international, development, political, scientific, and/or environmental issues is strongly recommended. Every spring. (4 credits) 372 POST-NATIONALISM: THE EUROPEAN UNION The European Union aims to overcome nationality for the common good. Its successes have challenged traditional customs and identities, and it has stumbled over cultural questions, foreign policy, and constitutional foundations. Topics will include genesis of the EU; erosion of national sovereignty and consequent anxieties; European institutions vs. local control; cultural norms confronted with EU economic, political, and human rights; incorporating new member-states, and the very notion of “Europe.” Throughout we will ask whether one can get “beyond nationalism.” Alternate years. (4 credits) 374 CULTURE AND GLOBAL CAPITALISM (Same as Latin American Studies 374) From the colonial sugar plantations of the Caribbean and new continental tastes for sweets, to Ford’s mass production lines and Fordist mass consumption, to Sony’s multinationally produced video technology and Sonyism’s transnational networks of information societies, the worlds of capitalism and culture have been closely intertwined. This class will study forms of global economic exchange, and their associated systems of international relations, cultural texts, and popular resistances. No prerequisites. Offered every year. (4 credits). 384 LANGSTON HUGHES: GLOBAL WRITER (Same as English 384) The great African American writer Langston Hughes (1902-1967) is best known as the poet laureate of the Harlem Renaissance. But his career was vaster still. He was a Soviet screenwriter, Spanish Civil War journalist, African literary anthologist, humorist, playwright, translator, social critic, writer of over 10,000 letters, and much more. This course engages Hughes’s full career, bridging race and global issues, politics and art, and makes use of little-known archival materials. Alternate years. (4 credits.) Advanced Courses Students should have at least two courses in international studies including an Introduction to International Studies, or the permission of the instructor. 477 COMPARATIVE ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT STUDIES (Same as Environmental Studies 477 and Geography 488) A concern for the relationship between nature and society has been one of the pillars of geographic inquiry, and has also been an important bridge between other disciplines. By the 1960s, this area of inquiry was referred to variously as “human ecology” or “cultural ecology.” Over the last decade certain forms of inquiry within this tradition have increasingly referred to themselves as “political ecology.” The purpose of this seminar is to review major works within the traditions of cultural and political ecology; examine several areas of interest within these fields (e.g., agricultural modernization, environmental narratives, conservation, ecotourism); and explore nature-society dynamics across a range of geographical contexts. Towards the end of the course students will explore how one might begin to think in practical terms about facilitating development in marginal environments. Prerequisite: Geography 232 or permission of instructor. Fall semester. (4 credits) 480 PARADIGMS OF GLOBAL LEADERSHIP Leadership is among the deepest features of associational life, pervading every profession and institution, especially in the age of complex global change. Thus this seminar explores leadership. We begin with the relationship between structure and agency, and then focus on vision and invention, integrity and legitimacy, flexibility and decisiveness. Readings draw from Western, Islamic, and Chinese sources. The main paper will focus on a major individual from any century or locale, chosen by the student. Open to juniors and seniors in any department. Spring semester. (4 credits) Senior Seminars 485 SENIOR SEMINAR: CONFRONTING GLOBAL HATRED Drawing on several disciplines, this course confronts global hatred from three angles. The first is the hater’s internal world and looks at how human nature, genetic structure/instincts, and individual psychology may foster hatred. The second is external, exploring the role history, culture, ideology, social structure, religion, and mass psychology play. The third seeks to apply the insights gained from the first two, asking: how might we break the devastating cycles of hatred so present in our world? Next offered Fall 2009. (4 credits) 488 SENIOR SEMINAR: UNIVERSALISM: CONFRONTING GLOBAL THOUGHT Rapid globalization in all areas of modern life raises afresh the question of universalism: do we live in one world or many? This course reviews attempts at thinking the world as one. Varying from year to year, the course ranges across world-historical studies, geographic and regional studies, theories of Weltliteratur, debates in the Americas and the Caribbean, contemporary cultural theory, and other topics. Throughout, we will ask: in whose interest is the universal? is there any local left? does global mean homogeneous? is it possible to be cosmopolitan? A course less about research or fact than about thought. Not offered 2009–2010. (4 credits) 489 SENIOR SEMINAR: PARADIGMS OF WORLD ORDER The end of the Cold War eliminated a large bifurcation of international society. However, the initial shock of this event have given way to fresh arguments about transnational life. For some, the situation is seen as the disappearance of an aberration, and the return of the “natural” Western modernization, progress, free markets and liberal democracy. Others see a moment of truth: the unveiling of deeper, more complicated divides, requiring fundamental rethinking and a new world order. Through various readings, this senior seminar interrogates these and other interpretations of the interregnum and their correlative visions. Prerequisite: senior standing. Not offered 2009–2010. (4 credits) 604 TUTORIAL Closely supervised individual or small group study for advanced students on a subject not available through regular offerings. Every semester. (2 or 4 credits) 614 INDEPENDENT PROJECT An opportunity for advanced students to pursue independent research under the supervision of a sponsoring faculty member. Prerequisites: an Introduction to International Studies, junior standing, and a written proposal to the faculty supervisor and department chair. Every semester. (2 or 4 credits) 624 INTERNSHIP Internships join the intellect with practical internationalist experience. Students first identify a specific placement, and agree on objectives and means to gauge progress, including a 1500-word objective midterm report and 3000-word final reflective essay. Prerequisites: an Introduction to International Studies, sophomore standing, and I.S. faculty sponsorship. Course is pass/fail (S/D/NC) only, but may be included on I.S. major plans. Every semester. (4 credits) 634 PRECEPTORSHIP Work assisting a faculty member in planning and teaching a course. Prerequisite: advanced proficiency in the area of study and invitation by a faculty member. Every semester, depending on instructor need. (4 credits) 644 HONORS INDEPENDENT Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of a senior honors thesis. Every semester. (2 or 4 credits)
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