Soc 450: Globalization and Social Change Spring 2011                      Instructor: Dr. Gonzalo Santos   Instructor: Dr. Gonzalo Santos Santos_Class@csub.edu Office: DDH-AA205     Phone: 654-2191 Class Time: 10:55 am - 12:15 pm MWF Classroom:   DDH-107G    Office Hours: 9:00 - 10:30, MWF Teaching Assistant: Ms. Ana Montoya Econ865@yahoo.com Office: DDH-AA204 Office Hours: 12:15 - 1:15 pm, Fridays, or by appointment Upon completion of Theme III course goals and objectives, CSUB students will be able to: Goal of Theme 3 Courses:  Use social/behavioral science methods and principles to understand the social world of the United States and the world beyond its borders. Objective 1: Distinguish social/behavioral science methodologies from non-scientific ways of knowing and understanding the social world. Objective 2: Demonstrate knowledge of the basic terms, concepts, and presuppositions of a specific social/behavioral science. Objective 3: Apply social/behavioral science methods and principles to understand significant Global and American economic, cultural, political, and social phenomena and trends.

This course explores the theory and dynamics of global integration in the contemporary social world, how it affects, and in turn is affected by, the world's economic, political, cultural and social structures, trends, and processes. First, using the Roberts & Hite anthology of articles, we'll analyze some of the key theoretical perspectives on the origins, many structural dimensions, consequences, and contemporary trends and challenges of  globalization, from some of the classic and principal contemporary scholars in the field. Then, using the Jones & Mielants anthology, which analyze the past, present, and future of mass migrations in the modern world-system. All in all, we'll read and discuss thirty-eight articles.

Attendance: Attendance is mandatory (no tardiness or early departures please, as these will be penalized, as well as unexcused absences,  by taking one point off the final grade). Furthermore, all students must come prepared to discuss the assigned readings - either when they make their formal presentations, or if they are not presenting, by bringing to class their "reading assessments" (see below).  These reading assessments must be turned in to Dr. Santos at the beginning of each class session.

Class Presentations: The course will be run as a "semi-seminar," whereby in every class session an individual student (or two) will introduce the article(s) assigned, followed by Dr. Santos's lecture and class discussion. Each student presents once in the quarter. Students will be assigned the date for their respective class presentation on the first day of classes. Any article assigned to a dropped student will be covered by Dr. Santos.

Students shall do their presentations in Power Point. Time allotted per individual presentation will be up to 15 minutes. Presenting students will introduce, describe, highlight, and summarize his/her own assigned reading, and on the last slide raise one or two key questions for class discussion. As a precaution, please bring your presentations in a USB-type memory stick and also email it to your own email account or bring it in your laptop. Presenting students should show up early to set up & test their presentations prior to the class starting.

The presentations will be graded based on: (a) the analytical strength and relevance of the presentation, including its depth on the selected key issues and the breath of the overall summary (how well it covers all the main aspects), (b) the quality of the question(s) posed at the end, and (c) the quality of the visual presentation and the poise, clarity, and effectiveness of the oral presentation.

Reading Assessments: To ensure that everybody come to every class prepared to discuss the assigned readings for the day, students who are not presenting must bring to class written "reading assessments" - one for each of the assigned readings on any given day; each reading assessment should be a page to two pages in length, double-spaced, font 12. No late reading assessments will be accepted (nor assessments submitted by email), unless the students has a pre-authorized absence from Dr. Santos.

HOW TO WRITE YOUR READING ASSESSMENTS: In contrast to the presentations, these "reading assessments" must not summarize or describe the readings, but must critically respond to them: express what the you think about them; identify the areas of strong agreement and disagreement with the author, explaining why you do, as well as the areas or topics of most interest to discuss, or anything in particular that caused you amazement, confusion, or surprise. Whatever you write, you should explain your specific analytical (and if relevant, personal) reasons for doing so. The reading assessment need not cover every issue found in the assigned readings for the day, but it should demonstrate you read everything and chose well what to comment on (early topics are always suspect!). A very bad assessment will reveal the student read very little or very superficially just to do the assignment (it's called "going through the motion"). A good assessment will demonstrate the student really read all the material and did a serious effort to select and critically grapple with the main issues involved.

Please always write on top of your reading assessments your name, the date, and the reading you are assessing.. At the end of each reading assessment, you should always write your own question(s) for class discussion - Dr. Santos may randomly select a couple of assessments to be read and/or questions to discuss.

Note: Students presenting on a given day do not need to submit a reading assessment on the text he/she is assessing, but has to submit a reading assessment on any text assigned to be presented that day by another student.

Research Papers: Each student will write a mid-term research paper and a final research paper on pre-approved topics related to the class. The papers need to be submitted in electronic form (in Word) in the course's Blackboard account. The first paper is due on May 6 by class time and the second paper is due on Wednesday, June 8, before noon, at Dr. Santos' office.

All paper topics must be previously discussed with and pre-approved by Dr. Santos.

Each paper should be bound and include a title page and an abstract, be between 6 and 8 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

Plagiarism: To prevent students from wittingly or unwittingly engaging in plagiarism, Dr. Santos strongly recommends students to carefully read and abide by the document CSUB Classifications of Plagiarism found at: http://www.csub.edu/tlc/options/resources/turn_it_in_help_page.shtml

Anyone found guilty of engaging in plagiarism will automatically fail the course and be reported to the Office of Student Discipline and Judicial Affairs for further disciplinary action.

Grading: Each research paper is worth 30 points. The class presentation is worth 10 points. The reading assessments are worth the other 30 points. Every absence is penalized by the zero grade you'll get for either failing to present on your designated date or for missing a reading assessment. The final letter grade will be assigned, on a scale of 0 to 100, as follows:

          Date:                          My presentation will be on:

_________________________________________________________________

My second research paper title: _____________________________________________