Framing “Global Civilization”

1. Framing “Global Civilization” Prof. NoémiGiszpenc Montclair State University Globalization 101 Users’ Conference Levin Institute, New York, May 18, 2009

2. Intro to class: “Global Civilization” • Not necessarily a course on “globalization” • Freshman honors program seminar on contemporary issues • Twice-weekly 75-minute class meetings • About 15 students per class, from all majors • Multi-disciplinary • Taught by various professors: each designs own course • Backgrounds include political science, sociology, anthropology, history, literature, economics • Students choose section based on interest, but also schedule…

3. What’s your first instinct? • Quick! Teach “Global Civilization” to a class of freshmen. • What do you put in? • What do you leave out? • What do you want students to know? • How will they learn it? • Do you need a “hook”? • Should you narrow the topic down to a smaller slice? • Can you enlist students’ passions?

4. Some answers from MSU profs • “Learn how to inquire about politics, how to understand politics in different parts of the world, and how to generate and test hypotheses to explain politics.” Using graphic novels! • Tony Spanakos, political science professor • “Consider the 21st century from the perspective of East Asia. The experiences of China, Japan, and Korea provide the lenses through which our contemporary age is viewed.” • Ken Olenik, history professor • Students write a report “conceived as a stimulative work-in-progress to facilitate discussion – and to promote action – concerning the new forces of Globalization shaping and altering the planet’s present and future course.” • Glenn Alcalay, anthropology professor

5. My take: economic development • Healthy respect for laws of economics • What is possible/impossible; probable/improbable • Healthy skepticism of current predominant institutions, given the evident problems facing world • Tempered by appreciation for ambiguity, distaste for revolution • Due consideration to social factors, politics, history, etc.

6. My starting goals for the course • Focus on big, important issues that cross or transcend borders, occur between countries • E.g. trade, war, environment, health • Don’t take an overly U.S.-centric view • Give basic facts about the global landscape • Learn durable concepts from contemporary events

7. Process for gathering class material • Brainstorm: What shapes my understanding of what is going on? What tools help me to understand? What’s important? • Ask all my friends and family for advice and opinions • Browse Globalization 101 site • Browse Amazon.com—starting from a book like FareedZakaria’sThe Post-American World, what are related books? • Go to the library • Found Reinventing the Bazaar by John McMillan, Illicit by MoisésNaím, The Economics of War by Paul Poast • Subscribe to YaleGlobal Online (yaleglobal.yale.edu) and other site feeds for current events and latest research

8. Topics that I settled on • Intro to Global landscape: countries, institutions, history • Forces at Work: Microeconomics & Macroeconomics • Trade: Supply Chains, Agreements, Potential Benefits • Finance: General and current crisis • Development: What is it? How is it promoted? Sustained? • Environment: Climate Change, Water • War & Peace, & Money, & Arms Smuggling • International Crime: Situation & Response • Women, Demographics, Health, and Education • Culture, Identity, Language & Religion

9. Pros and Cons of Topic List Pros • Hits most of the big topics on the news and affecting global civilization • Somewhat coherent: all the topics relate to one another • All of them interest me (passion can be infectious) • If a student doesn’t like one topic, quickly move to next Cons • Any one of these topics could be a whole course/book/dissertation • Hard to design assignments and lessons that convey gist without being too simple or overwhelming • No simple answers (but that’s part of the point)

10. My goals for student learning

11. What students say they learned “I learned that what happens around the world DOES affect me, and I need to become more politically aware of these issues so that I can make informed decisions as a citizen of the United States.” “Everything has a good side, a bad side, and a gray side. Our world is constantly changing and all of our choices can have a multitude of effects, good, bad, and anything in between.” “I feel as if I became more knowledgeable about how much of a say other countries have on the global stage. Prior to this class, my mindset was that the United States pretty much controlled everything that happened in the world, but through this class, I learned that other countries, such as the country I was assigned, China, have their own share of the vote regarding global issues.”

12. Most successful class components • Homework: • Weekly news summaries on class topic in assigned country • Lessons: • Interactive class participation or visual aids, e.g. the “iPod class” • Resources: • Students especially appreciated “The Crisis of Credit Visualized” by Jonathan Jarvis, www.crisisofcredit.com • Readings: • Global Trends 2025: A Transformed Worldby the National Intelligence Council

13. Principles • Start from where the students are • E.g. “How am I globalized?” • In tension with presenting unknown material • Students learn most from doing; next from seeing; least from hearing • Small-group discussions of 2-4 students most effective • Energy level increases if students get a chance to move • Specific, concrete examples more interesting than abstract theories

14. Discussion is key. How to do it? • Insufficiently structured discussions can be “hijacked” by a few particularly talkative people • “Covering” too many topics leads to shallow, if any, learning • Hard to get students to interact outside of class, online • Challenging to bring students just out of their comfort zone • E.g., some students complained about economics content, but many also reported that although they found the topics difficult, they appreciated having a better handle on current events and being able to discuss issues more intelligently • With such complex topics and few “packaged” lessons, preparation time can grow to unbearable proportions

15. Recommendations for framing Do’s • Focus on what interests you within global civilization • Pick small, manageable slices students can grasp • Keep up-to-date on current developments • Give students continuity • Share your work with the world! Don’ts • Try to teach everything you know about it • Be afraid to tackle complex subjects • Get side-tracked too much by today’s news • Limit variety of sources

16. Thank you. Questions? Noémi Giszpenc www.giszpenc.com/globalciv