Dr. James Floyd DOWNES

 (UGEC2683 is double-coded with GPAD2355.)

This course introduces undergraduate students to the key concepts, theoretical frameworks, and main political discussions/reflections related to globalization. Globalization itself is introduced in a broad sense not limited by the economic aspect but a common experience of social change. For example, global environmental challenges, the common threat of nuclear crisis, the controversy between sovereignty and human rights, and the North-South divide. With both the historical and thematic perspectives, the class engages students with most recent research and debate on the topic. On the one hand, the class encourages students to relate their own experiences and observations in their own societies to digest what globalization is and what its impacts are. On the other hand, it also leads them to reflect on politics and social development in their own societies, in the context of globalization.