The Global Experience (GST 110)
Fall 2009

Instructor: Dr. Heidi G. Frontani
Office: Lindner 112-D; Phone: 278-6462
Office Hours:  MWF 10:30am to noon
Email: glaesel@elon.edu 
Homepage: http://facstaff.elon.edu/glaesel
NOTE: I go by Dr. Frontani, but retained use of my maiden name for my email address and my homepage after getting married—please keep this in mind when emailing.

Background: I became interested in global wealth differentials after study abroad and travel in Western Europe and Eastern Africa as an undergraduate and immediately upon graduation. For my Master’s Thesis and Doctoral Dissertation I wrote about the poverty faced by local people who lost access to the natural resources upon which they relied for their livelihoods when they were forcibly removed from rangelands and coastal areas to establish parks visited by well-to-do tourists, often foreigners. After coming to Elon, I presented and published papers on the aforementioned topics and designed courses which addressed issues of social and environmental injustice. Most recently I have become more involved in Elon’s Undergraduate Research and Academic Service Learning Programs, mentoring students’ research projects and conference presentations, co-authoring papers with them, and, through the Periclean Scholars Program, working with 32 students in the class of 2010 to address Millennium Development Goals in southeastern Ghana, through, among other projects, the construction of a community health clinic for 10,000 people in the village of Kpoeta (see the Mentoring section of my homepage: http://facstaff.elon.edu/glaesel/mentoring.html including the link near the top of the page to the 2010 class of Periclean Scholars site).

Course description:  In this course we use case studies to understand human rights abuses in mid- to late-twentieth century, with an emphasis on Asia, Africa, and Latin America.  We will note the complex and often common factors which fuel social injustice across world regions. Argentina’s “Dirty War”, the Rwandan genocide, and mass violence in East Timor serve as core cases for comparison.  For each case we will examine the role of the media in our understanding (or even not having ever heard of) the atrocities committed. Secondary studies include China’s invasion of Tibet, modern-day slavery in Thailand, India, and elsewhere, indigenous people’s struggles with major oil corporations in Amazonian Ecuador and Nigeria’s Niger River delta, nuclear contamination of Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, and forced labor and election result tampering in the Belgian Congo and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The role of the United Nations and wealthier countries, the United States in particular, in fostering or curbing abuses will be explored along with opportunities for shaping the future.

 

Course goals:

  1. To gain a greater understanding of ethical decision making in a complex world in which some enjoy many privileges and others experience poverty, state-sponsored violence and/or a lack of civil liberties
  2. Improve writing and critical thinking skills
  3. Improve public speaking and presentation skills
  4. To be intentional learners who make connections between public issues and personal life

Course objectives:

  1. To be able to provide a sophisticated analysis of the causes of human rights abuses across world regions orally and in writing
  2. Write a properly-referenced research paper using the Chicago style
  3. Give a timed presentation
  4. Explain the interconnections between individual action and human suffering in the case studies examined (how to become a more informed and compassionate global citizen)

Required readings:

  • Bales, Kevin 2007. Ending Slavery: How We Free Today’s Slaves. University of California Press.
  • Feitlowitz, Marguerite 1999. A Lexicon of Terror: Argentina and the Legacies of Torture. Oxford University Press.
  • Nevins, Joseph 2005. A Not-So-Distant Horror: Mass Violence in East Timor. Cornell University Press
  • Umutesi, Marie Beatrice 2004. Surviving the Slaughter: The Ordeal of a Rwandan Refugee in Zaire. University of Wisconsin Press.

NOTE:  Assignments and additional required readings are available on our course Black Board site

Grading Scale:  
90 - 100% = A     80 - 89% = B     70 - 79% = C    60 - 69% = D     <60% = F


A

Excellent work. (A- = 90-94, A = >94)

90-100%

B

Solid, university-level work.  (B- = 80-83, B = 84-87, B+ = 88-89)

80-89%

C

Adequate work, lacking in one or more areas. (C- = 70-73, C = 74-77, C+ = 78-79)

70-79%

D

Passing work, with serious deficiencies.   (D- = 60-63, D = 64-67, D+= 68-69)

60-69%

F

Failing, unacceptable work for the university level.

<60%

I

An incomplete (I) will be given if you are unable to complete enough work to be given a fair grade, and where this is justified on grounds of illness, bereavement or other extenuating circumstances approved by the instructor.

 

All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the date due and may only be turned in late without penalty if you have a medical excuse AND spoke with or otherwise contacted AND came to an agreement with the instructor.

Course requirements:


Map quiz #1

Sept. 18th

10%

Research paper proposal due

Sept. 30th

10%

Midterm examination

Oct. 9th

20%

Research paper due

Oct. 23th or Oct 26th

20%

Research presentation

From Nov. 9th  to Nov. 13th 

10%

Map quiz #2

Nov. 20th

10%

Final Examination

During Finals week: Dec. 10-15th

20%

There are many opportunities to attend or participate in cultural events. You are encouraged but not required to take part in them. 

Elon Honor Code:  Each student is responsible for knowing the Elon Honor Code.  Students sent before the Dean of Academic Affairs and/or the Honor Board face consequences ranging from an F on an assignment, to an F in a course, to expulsion from the University. 

Course Outline (subject to change, but this should be pretty close to what we’ll be doing)
Introduction
            The Rise of Global Wealth Differentials
Introduction to Modern-Day Slavery
            Why is slavery widespread in the present day?
            What can be done to curb modern-day slavery?
Autonomy, Religion, Communism, and Anti-Communism
Argentina’s Dirty War
China and Tibet
Indonesia and East Timor
Colonialism, Multinationals, and Ethnicity
Rwanda’s Hutu and Tutsi
Nigeria’s Ogoni
Ecuador’s Cofan and Huaorani
Making Connections across Regions
            DR Congo and the Marshall Islands
Being Part of the Solution
What can you do to promote equity and social justice? (and why should you care)

GST 110 is a core course in Elon’s General Studies Program. All General Studies courses share certain goals and all GST 110 sections share general themes.

General Studies Goals

  • Effective writing and speaking skills
  • Complex quantitative reasoning skills
  • Information literacy skills
  • The capacity to view issues from other cultural perspectives
  • The ability to communicate effectively with people from other nations and cultures
  • An understanding of their interconnectedness with other people and the environment, as well as their responsibility to both
  • A mature understanding of how knowledge is constructed through academic inquiry within and across disciplines
  • The intellectual curiosity essential to life-long learning
  • Ethical decision-making skills to promote the common good
  • A vital and integrated sense of self:  mind, body and spirit

 

Global Experience (GST 110) Themes

All sections of The Global Experience address a significant number of these themes each semester; however, it is up to the individual faculty member to decide which themes will receive priority through readings and assignments in any given class section.

  • The importance of individual responsibility;
  • The relationship of humans to the natural world;
  • Globalization and tribalization as powerful world forces;
  • The impact of imperialism and colonialism;
  • The nature of culture;
  • The plights of disempowered groups.

 

                       
In our particular GST 110 section we will focus most on the 6th theme, but address the other themes as well.

Use the foundation you gained in GST 110 and other first year courses to build your knowledge, write longer papers, present them at conferences on campus or beyond, and apply for PAID summer research projects and more. To learn more about undergraduate research opportunities at Elon visit: www.elon.edu/urp