Global
Issues of the 21st Century: A Systems Approach to Understanding
PROFESSOR
Dr. Denise R. Ames
Center for Global
Awareness
505.344.1892 cell
505.480.0271
website: www.global-awareness.net
OVERALL COURSE
THEME
The
over-arching course theme is interdependence.
This theme links the 13 units into an interdisciplinary systems
perspective. It strives to connect educators
into an interdependent engagement with the urgent global issues of the day that
need to be addressed for future generations to have a just, sustainable,
prosperous, and healthy life.
ORGANIZATION OF
THE COURSE
Each
section of the course is organized into two parts: one section investigates significant content
about pertinent global issues and the second section explores how this content
can be incorporated into the school curriculum.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This
course offers a provocative interdisciplinary inquiry into the complex and
far-reaching changes transforming our world community. Over the past few decades,
the world has increasingly operated as a single integrated system rather than a
mosaic of independent countries separated from one another by national borders.
This phenomenon has multiple meanings but is commonly referred to as
“globalization,” the major trend reshaping social, cultural, political,
technological, environmental, and economic processes and institutional
structures around the world. This
globalization trend has acutely influenced the global issues we will be
covering in this course. Through an
investigation of historical and current global developments, educators are
challenged to deepen their understanding
of how the choices and actions we make in the present profoundly shape our
shared future. We will also explore ways
and devise activities in which the global issues content can be innovatively
incorporated into the school curriculum.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Use a systems approach
to examine information and the interconnectedness of a wide range of vital
global issues that will help enhance an educator’s content knowledge base.
Deconstruct multiple
worldviews and global perspectives about current global issues.
Connect interdisciplinary
perspectives from history, sociology, anthropology, political science,
economics, science, psychology, and philosophy to explore the multiple
meanings, theories, and definitions of globalization.
Synthesize information --
gained through readings, experiences, discussions, videos, primary source
documents, the internet, and other sources -- with the goal of understanding
how globalization is shaping developments within the United States, affecting
people across the planet, distressing the natural world, informing our teaching,
and influencing global issues.
Evaluate, using critical thinking skills, the benefits
and drawbacks of a globalized world and participate in a dialogue about ways to
address and solve critical global issues.
Investigate a variety of learning and assessment tools
and activities -- collaborative groups, case studies, problem
solving approach,
interviews, simulations, presentations, action research project, and others –
in order that our
students are able
to better understand and act upon critical global issues facing us all.
WORKSHOP TEACHING
METHODOLOGY
In
facilitating workshops active methods to engage workshop participants in
the learning process are employed.
Dedicating a limited time to traditional lecture, ample time is devoted
to discussion, hand’s on activities, and small group conversations. I use an
ample number of power point or overhead visuals -- charts, maps, diagrams,
graphs, pictures, and cartoons -- to aid in illustrating my objectives. Appropriate videos – ranging from short clips
to longer videos may be used. If
appropriate and time allows, I may elect role playing exercises, small group
exploratory discussions, individual reflective time, and, as always, there will
be sufficient time for questions and comments by participants.
Links to workshop materials and
additional information is provided to participants on the www.global-awareness.net
website.
WORKSHOP CONTENT (adjusted depending upon length of workshop)
Unit 1: Approaches to Understanding
Globalization: An Introduction
We
will first define globalization and explore its multiple meanings and see how
this process has affected the urgent global issues we face today. We examine diverse worldviews or perspectives
that see the globalization process differently and how these different
worldviews mold the debates about globalization and its implications. A systems approach -- looks at the whole
system not just isolated, individuated parts -- is introduced as a valuable way
of thinking that enables us to systematically study the process of
globalization and global issues from deep underlying structures to surface
events.
Unit 2: Globalization: Investigating the Historical “Big Picture”
Economic
globalization did not suddenly appear over night, as is often commonly
assumed. The phenomenon has long
historical roots that twist and turn over the last 500 years. A systems thinking approach in the study of
the history of economic globalization provides a larger context for
understanding current developments and helps to demystify the project. By linking capitalism, colonialism,
imperialism, development, the rise of the middle class and other events into a
“big picture” we can see how the current system is actually a continuation and
intensification of these larger forces.
Economic globalization is not an inevitable occurrence but a
constructed, historical development with repeating patterns that can give us clues
to future happenings.
Unit 3: The Global Economic System: The Reality
Our
global economic system has not mysteriously formed through the invisible hand
of the market place but has been systematically assembled through the workings
of government policies, tax codes, regulations, subsidies, tariffs, and
institutions such as the World Bank, World Trade Organization, and
International Monetary Fund. We uncover
and analyze the essential factors needed for the operation of the current
global economic system.
Unit 4: Transnational Corporations: Rights and
Responsibilities
A
landmark 1882 Supreme Court case ruled that corporations would be treated as
individuals with the right of due process awarded them. This case has had monumental consequences on
the economic and social structure of our nation. Although there are many responsible
corporations today, this unit focuses on the growing concentration of power and
wealth in transnational corporations (TNCs) that cross national boundaries and
operate outside national regulations and laws.
What are the consequences of this development for our democracy, our
respective countries, environment, and the welfare of all? We examine how TNCs have been able to
concentrate wealth and power and explore ways in which their excesses can be
curbed.
Unit 5: Global Consumerism: The Expansion of a Consumerist Ideology
Economic
globalization is contingent upon the continuation, expansion, and acceptance of
a consumptive way of life. Our
consumerism has expanded beyond the necessities that make life comfortable and
fulfilling to a desire to acquire more without any limitations or reflection
upon its consequences. This consumer
culture and exponential economic growth are now being unrelentingly exported
and promoted around the world as the model for future development. This unit explores our addictive consumer
culture and the deep reverberations our actions have upon our psychic
well-being, our communities, the environment, and future generations.
Unit 6: Globalization and the Nation State
With
the intensification and expansion of economic globalization, the sovereign
nation state -- for many centuries the seat of power and authority -- has been
eroding. This unit explores the
historical roots and rise of the nation state as a source of power to how its
power is eroding and what institutions or entities are replacing or displacing
it. The consequences of the challenge to
the state system, to democracy and human rights, is debated and analyzed.
Unit
7: Global Conflict in the 21st Century
As the world moved from the late 20th
century to the beginning of the 21st, several fundamental changes took place in
the threats and reality of armed conflict that has dominated the world's
attention. This unit is devoted to the study of armed conflicts now
confronting societies and peoples around the world.
Unit 8: A Globalized Society: A Breakdown of Community?
Globalization
has a far-reaching impact on our world’s families, communities, and way of
life. Although a minority of the world’s
people benefit from economic globalization, the majority adversely suffer from
its expansion and intensification, as the gap between rich and poor widens
dramatically. This unit looks at the
impact globalization has had on women, the family and community in both the
core (North/Developed) and periphery (South/Developing) areas of the world.
Unit
9: Globalization and the “Developing”
World
Economic growth, long considered to be the solution to poverty and despair, is
seriously questioned in light of research that shows a large portion of the
world’s population has not financially improved after decades of world economic
growth. In fact, the gap between the
rich and poor has widened during the 1990s decade of substantial economic
growth. This leads to questioning the
effects of the current policies of economic growth and resource distribution on
the so-called “developing” world.
·
Examine
relationship between poverty and current economic policies
·
Effect
of World Bank and IMF policies on the “developing world.”
·
Investigate
the lives of people in the developing world that students can relate to
Unit 10: Globalization
and the Environment: A Realistic
Appraisal
As
we “overshoot” our environmental sustainable limits -- as we have been doing so
since 1980 – the long-term consequences of our systematic destruction of our
fragile environment are yet to be fully realized. Yet, many pay little heed to the dire warning
signs of environmental catastrophe, as the push for economic growth continues
unabated. This unit links our
environmental woes with our unlimited growth and looks at the effect on the
planet, both in the past and the present.
Without thoughtful changes in our minds and hearts and corrective
governmental policies, the future for our children on this planet looks
bleak.
Unit 11: Global Population and
Health, Food, and Water Issues
This unit will examine the world’s population issues, in particular the birth
dearth in the developed world and continuing population expansion in the
developing world. Connected to the
burgeoning world population are health, food, and water issues and who will
control these vital resources.
·
Examine
the current global “population bomb”
·
Link
environment, population, health, food, and water issues
·
Connect
these issues with students’ future lives
Unit 12: Moral and Cultural Issues
Our
modern way of life has separated us from deep roots of community and nature
that has been part of being human for over 99% of our existence. Part of our modern myth is that we have
progressed from our primitive past to a higher level of achievements and
advancements. Indeed our technological, medical,
and educational strides are remarkable, yet our communities, families and
individual lives collectively tell a sad story of isolation, alienation,
depression and unhappiness. This puts
into perspective the trade-offs we have made for a more comfortable, material
way of life. Are there ways to create a
materially sustainable and comfortable lifestyle that reinvigorates our
communities and families? Thinking globally requires that we learn to
think morally, or ethically, about our own actions and about the actions,
policies, and institutions of the communities to which we belong.
Unit 13: Alternatives to Economic Globalizations
As
we have found, following the current model of globalization unchecked, we
cannot continue indefinitely without creating even more catastrophic
environmental destruction and detrimental social consequences. The current form of economic globalization is
not inevitable or a destined fact. As we
found the economic globalization project requires many rules and institutional
support for its continuance. According
to our systems approach, in order to change the system the most critical
leverage points must be located and manipulated. This unit will pose and debate the question,
“Is change necessary?” If the answer is yes, we will explore possible crucial
leverage points and whether pressure applied to these points can bring about
structural change. What alternatives to
the economic globalization script have promise as viable and sustainable
practices?
Unit 14: Evaluate Classroom Activities and Assessment
Tools
This
unit explores how a project-based approach can help to individualize
instruction, encourage students to pursue individual interests, and hone
critical thinking and inquiry skills. It
also encourages group decision making skills, and supports the idea that a
group mind is greater than separate individual minds. This approach promotes a wider and more
in-depth exploration of urgent global issues facing us today. We tackle the thorny issue of what criteria
to use to effectively select content for our projects and wrap up with
considering different assessment tools for these alternative approaches.
Unit 15: Conclusion and Wrap Up Discussion
This
part will be open to discussion and additional ideas and suggestions that would
like to be shared by participants. We
will also assess further resources.