Soc 450: Contemporary Global Issues

Fall 2002

Instructor: Dr. Gonzalo Santos
Tue. & Th., 10:30 am - 12:35 pm, DDH-K101
Dr. Santos' Office: DDH-AA205     Phone: 664-2191
Office Hours: 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, Tue. & Th.
Web Homepage: http://www.csub.edu/~gsantos/

Email: santos_class@csub.edu

• Calhoun, Craig, Paul Price, & Ashley Timmer, eds.. 2002. Understanding September 11. New York: Social Science Research Council.

• Hertz, Noreena. 2001. The Silent Takeover. Global Capitalism and the Death of Democracy. New York: The Free Press.

• Tomlinson, John. 1999. Globalization and Culture. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

• Massey, Douglas S., Jorge Durand, & Nolan J. Malone. 2002. Beyond Smoke and Mirrors. Mexican Immigration in an Era of Economic Integration. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Course Content:

This course on contemporary global issues will focus, in the same order as the textbooks listed above, on four broad areas of great importance and urgency to the world today: (a) the post cold war unfinished transition to a newly structured world order for the 21st century, a most traumatic and dangerous process barely begun and barely discernible, exemplified by the September 11 attack and its ripple effects still unfolding; (b) the mega corporate stronghold on what has lately come to be known as globalization, and its tremendous impact on all aspects of social life, including the reorganization of political life away from democratic principles of power, accountability and participation; (c) the perplexing "cultures of globalization", and the challenges posed by the rise of an worldwide consumer culture on all forms of intersubjectivity, such as national identity, local cultures, and the various forms of experiencing everyday life; and (d) the causal relationship between, and immense challenge posed by, accelerated regional economic integration and the modes of human migration, especially unauthorized migration across international borders. We focus on the U.S.-Mexico case.

The course will be run as a seminar. Students in groups of three or four will take turns introducing and analyzing the assigned readings for each session, followed by class discussion. Attendance is mandatory (please, no tardiness or early departures, as these will be penalized) and all students must come prepared to discuss the readings - either with their presentations or with their reading assessments if they are not presenting. The presentations and Dr. Santos comments will take the first hour of class time; after a brief break, Dr. Santos will randomly select questions or comments from the reading assessments so that focused class discussion may ensue. Copies of both presentations and reading assessments must be turned in to Dr. Santos at the beginning of each class session.

The student groups will also produce two research volumes on issues related to the course.

Class Presentations: At the beginning of the course, all students will be organized in groups of three or four. Every class, a student group will present the assigned readings of the day: each presenting student will introduce and summarize his/her own pre-arranged selection of the readings, and raise key issues and questions for subsequent discussion. Time allotted per individual presentation will be 10-to-15 minutes. Each student must provide the class with enough copies of a one-or-two page outline of his/her presentation, including three-to-four questions or focused issues to discuss (please put these at the end). Please put on top your name, the date & class, and identify the reading selection you are presenting on. The outline should use roman numerals for main areas of the presentation (I., II., III., etc.), with lower-case letters -- a), b), c), etc. -- for subtopics; avoid narratives and paragraphs and focus on well-organized titles and subtitles. At least there ought to be an introductory section identifying the topic(s), a bulky section going over the main points or areas or findings, a summary section, and a section for questions/issues for discussion. It is strongly recommended students bring their full presentations written up in cards that follow the order of the topics and subtopics. Visual aids - big charts, overhead slides, etc. - may be included in the presentations.

Reading Assessments: All students must come to class prepared to discuss all assigned readings for the day. To ensure that they do, students who are not presenting must bring to class a written "reading assessment" of the assigned readings for the day of no more than a page and a half. No late reading assessments will be accepted unless the students has an authorized absence from Dr. Santos. This reading assessment must not summarize or describe the readings, but must personally and critically respond to what the student read: it should identify the areas of strong agreement and disagreement with the author, as well as the areas of profound learning interest, or amazement, or perplexity, or surprise. In doing so, you should explain your specific analytical and personal reasons. The reading assessment need not cover every issue found in the assigned readings for the day, but it should demonstrate you read them all. A very bad assessment will reveal the student read very superficially just to do the assignment (it's called "going through the motions")  or read well only a very small portion of the readings. A good assessment will demonstrate the student really read all the material and did a serious effort to critically grapple with it. At the end of the reading assessment, students should list a couple of questions or issues for class discussion.

Research Papers: Each student group will design, research, and write two research volumes on topics related to the main areas of the course. Each volume will contain three or four individual papers related to different aspects of the volume's topic. The first volume must be on the post-September 11 debate regarding the nature, dimensions, and directionalities of the present transition in world (dis)order, as covered by the Calhoun book, and is due on October 31 in class. The second volume can be on any of the areas or topics covered by the other three books, or other equally urgent global issues, and is due on Friday, December 6, before noon, at Dr. Santos' office.

All topics - group as well as individual - must be pre-approved by Dr. Santos: for the first paper, no later than October 15; for the second paper, no later than November 26.

Each volume should be bound and should include a title page and a table of content, listing each paper by title and author. Each individual paper should be between 15 and 18 pages long (excluding the bibliography). For a precise guide on the paper's format and citation style, go to:

http://www.csubak.edu/~gsantos/guide-paper.html

The first research papers may be rewritten and resubmitted for a better grade when the second papers are submitted.

Grading: Each  research paper is worth 35 points (30 for individual work + 5 for group effort). The class presentations are worth 15 points in the aggregate. The reading assessments are worth 15 points in the aggregate. Every absence is penalized by an extra point off besides the zero recorded for either a presentation or a reading assessment (tardiness/early departures by 1/2 point). The final letter grade will be assigned, on a scale of 0 to 100, as follows:

    94-100 = A           84-86 = B              74-76 = C

    90- 93 = A-           80-83 = B-            70-73 = C-

    87- 89 = B+          77-79 = C+            65-69 = D                 < 65 = F

Dr. Santos' office hours will be 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm, Tu & Th. Visits by appointment are also possible, as well as brief consultations by phone. Email is discouraged for any other business than basic, one-line communications (e.g., will be absent, thank you's, etc.).

My group number is: _________

Other group members' names/phones/email addresses:

1. _______________________________________________________________________________

2. _______________________________________________________________________________

3. _______________________________________________________________________________

My group's presentations will be on:

          Date:                                         My own presentation will be on this selection (pages):

1. _______________________________________________________________________________

2. _______________________________________________________________________________

3. _______________________________________________________________________________

4. _______________________________________________________________________________