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Autumn 2024 Courses

Global Studies I
GLST 23101
Lecture: Mon Wed: 01:30 PM-02:50 PM
Discussion 1: Tue: 02:00 PM-03:20 PM
Discussion 2: Tue: Tue: 05:00 PM-06:20 PM
What is the "globe" in Global Studies? This course introduces the Global Studies major by considering how people have organized and conceptualized political and social difference across space. From World Systems theory and coloniality to the movement of global capital and the problem of the nation-state, we will prioritize approaches offering insight into the unequal distribution and flow of power worldwide. This course will also provide brief introductions to the pressing issues confronting Global Studies today, including public health and infectious disease, borders and migration, climate change, and transnational religious and political movements.

 

Digital Ethnography
GLST 25199/ANTH 21415/ENST 25199/SOCI 20558, MADD 10199
Seminar: Tue Thu: 11:00 AM-12:20 PM
This methods course prepares students for ethnographic research in an online environment. We will discuss practical steps to put together a research project-from research design to data collection and analysis. We will cover epistemological, ethical, and practical matters in online ethnographic research, and read articles and books showcasing methods for the study of virtual worlds (both game and nongame). This is a hands-on methods course: you will be required to formulate a preliminary research question at the beginning of the course, and you will conduct a few weeks of ethnographic research in a virtual field site of your choosing. Each week you will be asked to complete short ethnographic assignments, and to produce field notes to be exchanged and discussed in class. As a final project, you will have a choice between a research proposal or a short paper based on your observations. 

 

"Vampire Money": The Politics of Big Philanthropy under Global Capitalism
GLST 25781
Seminar: Mon Wed: 03:00 PM-04:20 PM
What are the characteristics and contradictions of billionaire philanthropy under capitalism? In this course, we will put "big philanthropy" under the microscope. In other words, we will discuss frameworks to understand and assess the philanthropy of the richest people in the world. We will ask: What are the conditions of possibility for this philanthropy? How has the wealth channeled through such philanthropy been earned, and does it matter? How does big philanthropy frame socio-economic problems, and what solutions does it posit for these problems? Is philanthropy ideologically neutral? What are the impacts of such philanthropy on public policies in health, education, agriculture and more across the globe? What is the relationship between philanthropy, inequality, and democracy? And finally, what are the alternatives to big philanthropy? We will answer these questions through the critical examination of the philanthropic programs and claims of foundations established by Bill and Melinda Gates, the Rockefellers, the Walton Family, and George Soros among others. We will situate this analysis within the theoretical framework of philanthro-capitalism-a framework that offers us ways to understand big philanthropy under the conditions of global capitalism.

 

No Justice, No Speech! Free Speech and Palestine in the University and Beyond
GLST 25850 
Seminar: Mon Wed: 04:30 PM-05:50 PM
Are there-or should there be-limits to free speech? What is the relationship between free speech and hate speech? Does speech deserve special kinds of protections (or limits) in the context of the university campus? In this course, we will critically engage with these questions as they relate to political organizing and political expression on (and in) Palestine. Our course will examine these foundational questions before turning to some of the sticking points in the debate over free speech and Palestine today: What is freedom of expression in Israel-Palestine, and what does it have to do with the politics of US campuses? What is BDS, and is it intended to foster or limit academic freedom? Is anti-Zionism anti-Semitic? To consider these questions, we will do critical readings of primary texts such as the BDS guidelines issued by PACBI (Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel) and the definition of anti-Semitism issued by the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance), as well as ethnographic and other accounts of the problem of political expression in Palestine today.

 

BA Thesis Seminar I
GLST 29800 
Seminar: Fri: 10:30 AM-01:30 PM
This weekly seminar, taught by GLST faculty is designed to aid students in their thesis research. Students are exposed to different conceptual frameworks and research strategies. Students must have approved topic proposals and faculty readers to participate in the seminar. Consent only.