Roanoke College
Department of Public Affairs
Global Politics & Globalization (INQ 260PS G1)
SPRING 2015
Instructor: Dr. Jonathan Snow
Contact: snow@roanoke.edu
Office: West 208
Office Hours: M & W 3:30-5pm and by appointment
Class Meeting: M/W/F 12PM-1PM
Course Objectives & Learning Objectives:
This course will focus upon the nature and dynamics of contemporary globalization. How
globalization impacts both the conduct of international politics and the lives of individuals will
be examined. Political science methodologies and perspectives will be used to study the
continuing evolution of the nation-state system. We will examine what factors drive
globalization; whether the effects of globalization are positive and/or negative as well as why
they would be so judged; and what students, as either individuals or members of communities,
might do to affect the course of globalization. Focus will be not only on how global, macro level
processes impact people, but on how micro level action and thinking influences the nature and
understanding of global, systemic trends and behavior.
Upon conclusion of the course, students should be able to: identify the main factors which have
caused contemporary globalization; identify the reasons why there is debate concerning the value
and impact of globalization; define the concept of nation-state sovereignty and describe how
globalization has affected the contemporary meaning and practice of sovereignty; and identify
either orally or in writing, the actors/issues involved within specific case studies of globalization.
Additionally, all sections of INQ 260 share a common set of learning outcomes related to the
skills students will develop in this course. These include:
1) Students will be able to describe and apply social science methodologies appropriate for
the course’s discipline and topic.
2) Students will be able to write about course topics clearly and effectively.
3) Students will be able to communicate effectively about the course topic in an oral format.
4) Students will be able to articulate how the course’s content explores a global perspective.
Required Readings:
Lechner, Frank J. and John Boli, The Globalization Reader, 5th Ed. (Malden, MA: Wiley
Blackwell, 2015). ISBN 978-1118733554
Tétreault, Mary Ann and Ronnie Lipshutz. Global Politics as if People Mattered, 2nd Ed.
(Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009). ISBN 978-0742566576
Daily newspaper or comprehensive news overview (such as Foreign Policy daily newsletters);
and additional readings listed and available on the course website.
Required Writing Manual:
Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference: Roanoke College Edition, 6th Ed. Boston: Bedford/St.
Martin’s, 2007.
Attendance Policy:
Attendance and participation are critical elements of this course. Sign in will take place at the
beginning of each class session. Students should make every effort to arrive on time. Students
arriving late are responsible for ensuring that their presence has been noted on the sheet if
attendance has already been taken.
Frequent tardiness will result in a warning from the instructor, and any late arrivals after that
warning will be counted as an absence.
Absence from examinations or scheduled presentations without prior permission from the
instructor will result in a grade of “0”. No make-up examinations will be given. Additional written
assignments will be utilized to replace any exams missed due to an excused absence.
Students are permitted up to three absences from regular classes, regardless of cause, without
penalty. The fourth missed class will result in a one point reduction from the final grade. The fifth
and sixth missed classes will each result in additional two point reductions.
Seven absences will result in dismissal from the course with a failing grade (DF). A DF has a
negative impact upon a student’s cumulative GPA. A formal written warning will precede such
dismissal. With this in mind, and since you can never predict when an unexpected crisis or
illness will come up, please reserve your quantity of permitted absences for true emergencies.
Grading:
Final grades for the course will be based on:
1) Class Participation (10%)
2) Current Events Discussions (5%)
Class sessions will generally begin with a ~10 minute discussion of a current event. Each
student will be responsible for leading 1-2 sessions about a topic of their choosing. They
should supplement this with either a short article (emailed to the class at least the night
before or distributed in print format to all students in class) or a short video or audio clip
to bring the other students up to date with the event.
3) Midterm Examination (20%) – 2/13
4) Oral Presentation on 2/23, 2/25, or 2/27 (20%)
In order to build oral communication skills, students will be divided into groups of 2-3
and assigned to argue a specific side of a globalization issue during an in-class debate.
Two class sessions will be devoted to group work time, but students will also need to meet
outside of this to complete their preparations. Specific instructions will be distributed and
discussed in class in early/mid February.
5) Global Controversy Research Paper (20%) – Due 4/6
The focus of this project is for each student to identify and address an aspect of the
current nature and operation of the globalization process which (arguably) needs reform
or revision. Students will use political science methodology to explore their own thesis
argument and to propose possible changes that could lead to improvements. Specific
instructions will be distributed and discussed in class, but students should note the
following dates: Topics must be submitted by no later than 3/11 for approval; Rough
drafts must be completed by 3/30 for in-class workshopping; Final papers are due in
hard copy and via turn-it-in on 4/6.
6) Final Examination (25%)
Grading Scale: A = 93 and above; A-: 90-92.9; B+: 87-89.9; B: 83-86.9; B-: 80-82.9; C+: 7779.9; C: 73-76.9; C-: 70-72.9; D+: 67-69.9; D: 63-66.9; D-: 60-62.9; Below 60 = failing.
Late Work: All assignments must be turned in by the required date and time, in the format
specified in the instructions. Any late assignments will be marked down by 2 points for every
day that they are late, except in cases of a documented illness or personal emergency.
If your participation in intercollegiate athletic competition conflicts with any of the requirements
for the course, please provide a letter from the Director of Athletics stating the dates of these
conflicts no later than January 30th. Student athletes whose participation does conflict with the
standard course obligations will have to agree to and sign a specific alternative plan of action for
completing all course requirements. This plan will be designed to assure that such students are
full participants in the class despite any necessary absences. As such, additional alternative
assignments may be necessary to ensure that athletes are completing the same amount and level
of work as their peers. Any such agreement must be finalized and signed before the first graded
assignment.
Plagiarism/Academic Honesty: All students in this course are expected to adhere to the highest
academic integrity as outlined in the Academic Integrity at Roanoke College Handbook. Any
instance of suspected academic dishonesty will result in referral to the Academic Integrity
Council.
Academic dishonesty includes (but is not limited to): plagiarism, either by quoting without
including quotation marks or paraphrasing without citation; using any material during an exam
that is not explicitly authorized; copying from another student; buying papers; borrowing papers;
lending papers; using a paper in two classes without the permission of both instructors; and
buying or selling any lecture notes, exams, papers, or any other course materials.
While students are encouraged to discuss ideas and concepts with other class participants, all
written work should be solely produced by the individual student. Students may consult the
writing center or other campus resources for advice, but papers are not a collaborative project.
If you are ever in doubt about whether any action violates this policy, please do not hesitate to
contact the instructor. Neither ignorance of these policies nor the lack of an intention to cheat or
plagiarize will be considered a legitimate defense. Raise questions you have before problems
arise and remember it is always better to turn an assignment in late than it is to cheat or
plagiarize (although it is certainly much better to plan ahead and not turn it in late at all).
Class Cancelation: In the case of college-wide class cancelations, students will be informed via
email and/or the course website of any course-specific adjustments. If a cancelation is required
particular to this class, students will also be informed electronically, and make-up plans will
follow.
Disabilities and Learning Differences: If you need academic accommodations because of a
documented disability, please be aware that the instructor must be provided with an official
“letter of accommodation” or other formal notice from The Office of Disability Support
Services, located in the Goode-Pasfield Center for Learning and Teaching in Fintel Library. Such
letters should be received no later than one week prior to (the first of) any assignments for which
the student wishes to receive accommodations. For questions about documenting a disability of
any sort, or requesting academic accommodations, please contact Rick Robers, M.A.,
Coordinator of Disability Support Services, at 540-375-2247 or e-mail robers@roanoke.edu.
Electronics: New technologies provide both terrific opportunities for more engaged learning,
and the pitfalls associated with constant distractions. A plethora of studies in recent years have
investigated the effects that electronics and perpetual connectivity have on student learning.
Most have concluded that individuals are considerably worse at multitasking than they believe
they are and that distractions in the classroom are having a profoundly negative impact on
student learning.
The use of electronics in the classroom can be distracting to both the user and those around him
or her. Based on these scientific studies, it is my belief that students should substantially limit
their use of electronic devices in the classroom and take notes by hand, since other studies have
shown that retention of new information is generally much greater when an individual has
handwritten notes. But this is merely a strong suggestion; students may experiment with taking
notes via computer or tablet if they wish. However, I reserve the right to forbid the use of any
electronics at any time in the future if students abuse these policies. In particular, students who
chose to use electronic devices should limit themselves to activities directly related to the class
(i.e. NO FACEBOOK, email, or chat) and take care to ensure that their use is not a distraction to
others. Students caught using electronics for non-class related activities will lose their individual
privilege to use such devices in future classes, and will be marked absent for the day. In addition,
since the use of laptops/tablets is approved only for class related work, their use will be taken as
an indication that said students are actively engaged in the material, and thus the rule is that
anyone whose laptop is open has volunteered to answer a question. Cell/smart phones are never
permitted, and should be turned off before class.
Recording Lectures: All lectures and class discussions/presentations for this class are private
and cannot be recorded without the explicit permission of the participants. If you wish to record
any element of this class, you must first seek written permission from the class instructor, and all
students in the class (as well as guest speakers) must be informed that audio/video recording may
occur. If these conditions are met, recording of lectures or class presentations is solely authorized
for the purposes of individual or group study with other students enrolled in the same class.
Permission to allow the recording is not a transfer of any copyrights in the recording. The
recording may not be reproduced or uploaded to publicly accessible web environments.
Schedule of Classes:
This course looks at issues surrounding globalization from a number of perspectives and topics.
The schedule of classes will loosely follow the sequence presented in the main course text
(Lechner), but will be broken up with readings from the other book (Tétreault) which focuses
more on individual actors, and will occasionally diverge from the order of Lechner in order to
address issues in a manner that is timed with outside events.
The daily schedule below is meant to give students a sense of what the flow of the course is
likely to look like, but participants should keep abreast of announced changes since the schedule
will be adjusted in order to improve the course flow, as necessary. The readings below are each
listed over two class periods, so that students have some flexibility in their time management.
Whenever possible, it is recommended that students complete as much of the reading as possible
by the first date for which an assignment is listed, but in all cases the readings must be finished
before the second class meeting on a subject. All course readings, whether specifically discussed
in class or not, are potential material for exams, along with lectures, class discussions, and other
assignments.
Daily Schedule
Note: Subject to change. Please pay attention to revisions announced in class or on the course
website since not all readings are listed below.
1/12 – Course Introduction
1/14 – What is Globalization/Debating Globalization [Lechner, pp.1-49]
1/16 – What is Globalization/Debating Globalization [Lechner, pp.1-49]
1/19 – Explaining Globalization [Lechner, pp.51-104]
1/21 – Explaining Globalization [Lechner, pp.51-104]
1/23 – The Nature of Social Science Inquiry [Reading: TBA]
1/26 – Experiencing Globalization [Lechner, pp.105-162]
1/28 – Experiencing Globalization [Lechner, pp.105-162]
1/30 – People and States as Economic Actors; Decisions and Actions: The Agency-Structural
Debate; Concepts of Power [Tétreault, Ch.1-3]
2/2 – People and States as Economic Actors; Decisions and Actions: The Agency-Structural
Debate; Concepts of Power [Tétreault, Ch.1-3]
2/4 – Globalization and the World Economy [Lechner, pp.163-226]
2/6 – Globalization and the World Economy [Lechner, pp.163-226]
2/9 – The Evolution of the Nation-State System; The Impact of Sovereignty on Territorial
Borders, Economics, and Conflict [Tétreault, Ch.4-7]
2/11 – The Evolution of the Nation-State System; The Impact of Sovereignty on Territorial
Borders, Economics, and Conflict [Tétreault, Ch.4-7]
2/13 - MIDTERM
2/16 – Introduction to Oral Presentations
2/18 – Group Work Time
2/20 – Group Work Time
2/23 – Oral Presentations
2/25 – Oral Presentations
2/27 – Oral Presentations
[Break]
3/9 – Global Environmentalism [Lechner, pp.497-542]
3/11 – Global Environmentalism [Lechner, pp.497-542]
3/13 – Climate Change [Reading: TBA]
3/16 – People as Agents of Globalization; Globalization and Justice [Tétreault, Ch.8-10]
3/18 – People as Agents of Globalization; Globalization and Justice [Tétreault, Ch.8-10]
3/20 – Globalization and the Nation-State [Lechner, pp.227-264]
3/23 – Globalization and the Nation-State [Lechner, pp.227-264]
3/25 – Global Governance [Lechner, pp.265-307]
3/27 – Global Governance [Lechner, pp.265-307]
3/30 – Paper Workshop Day
4/1 – Globalization, INGOs, and Civil Society [Lechner, pp.309-360]
4/3 – NO CLASS
4/6 – Globalization, INGOs, and Civil Society [Lechner, pp.309-360] – PAPER DUE
4/8 – Globalization and Media [Lechner, pp.361-411]
4/10 – Globalization and Media [Lechner, pp.361-411]
4/13 – Globalization and Religion [Lechner, pp.413-455]
4/15 – Globalization and Religion [Lechner, pp.413-455]
4/17 – Globalization and Identity/Flex Day [Lechner, pp.457-495]
4/20 - Conclusion
4/22 or 4/28 – FINAL EXAM [Note: Students in either section of the course may choose to take
the required final exam during either the 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. block on 4/22 or the 2:00 p.m.5:00 p.m. block on 4/28, but must sign up before the last class meeting if they wish to take the
exam in the slot designated for the other course. Seniors are strongly encouraged to use the
earlier exam date and are required to do so if they are in the Block 4 section of the course. The
two exams will be the same material and structure but will consist of different questions.]