Framing “Global Civilization”
Prof. Noémi Giszpenc
Montclair State University
Globalization 101 Users’ Conference
Levin Institute, New York, May 18, 2009
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…
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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?
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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
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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.
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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
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Process for gathering class material
 Brainstorm: What shapes my understanding of what is going
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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 Fareed
Zakaria’s The Post-AmericanWorld, what are related books?
Go to the library
 Found Reinventing the Bazaar by John McMillan,
Illicit by Moisés Naím, The Economics ofWar by Paul Poast
 Subscribe to YaleGlobal Online (yaleglobal.yale.edu) and
other site feeds for current events and latest research
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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
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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
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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)
My goals for student learning
Knowledge
Major global issues from many perspectives
Basic economic principles
World bodies now, historical roots
Skills
Reading and understanding journalism, essays, and primary sources
Finding relevant information and summarizing salient points
Thinking of opposing viewpoints and how to address them,
constructing cohesive arguments
Attitudes
Role as citizen in society;
responsibility to be active, informed participant
Acceptance of complexity versus simplicity
Appreciation for non-U.S. / non-parochial interests and points of view
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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.”
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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 TransformedWorld
by the National Intelligence Council
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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
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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
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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!
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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
Thank you. Questions?
Noémi Giszpenc
www.giszpenc.com/globalciv
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