This course serves as an introduction to contemporary global issues as well as an introduction to International Studies. Over the past decade various observers have described the 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.

International Studies examines broad global trends and does so from an interdisciplinary and nonhierarchical standpoint. While we are interested in "big" global developments such as economic globalization and global governance, we are equally concerned with the daily lives of ordinary people throughout the globe.


Organization

After discussing theory and history, this course is organized around four forces moving across the globe today: global political flows and structures, economic flows, flows of people, and flows of culture, informationa and techology. We examine these separately, but with the knowledge that they overlap and contribute to each other in various ways.

 Also note this course is a "W" or writing intensive course. Among the goals are teaching students to write a research paper in international studies.



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