Spring 2022 | GLOS 3145 Section 001: Global Modernity, the Nation-State, and Capitalism (52846)
- Instructor(s)
- Class Component:
- Lecture
- Instructor Consent:
- No Special Consent Required
- Instruction Mode:
- In Person Term Based
- Enrollment Requirements:
- soph or jr or sr
- Meets With:
- GLOS 3145H Section 001
- Times and Locations:
- Regular Academic Session01/18/2022 - 05/02/2022Mon, Wed 10:10AM - 11:00AMUMTC, West BankBlegen Hall 5
- Enrollment Status:
- Open (65 of 150 seats filled)
- Also Offered:
- Course Catalog Description:
- This course provides an introductory overview of core theories and concepts that prepare students for successful completion of the Global Studies curriculum. In this half of the Global Studies core course sequence, students will investigate questions pertaining to the emergence of global modernity, capitalism, and the nation-state, with particular focus on theoretical concepts and institutional forms. Drawing on a wide range of interdisciplinary sources including critical theory, philosophy, and texts from the social sciences, these questions may include: How did reason and culture emerge as key concepts in modernity, and how were they associated with transformations in time and space? How did the nation-state become a dominant political unit in the West, and how do postcolonial African states challenge its structure? What is the relationship between the Western liberal tradition, secularity, and violence? What are the histories and internal dynamics of the capitalist economy? Students will meet twice a week for lecture and attend a weekly recitation section, with assignments that include short writing exercises, a group project, and midterm and final examinations. This course will contextualize and trouble aspects of the global that are easily abstracted and taken for granted, while giving students the conceptual vocabulary and critical skills to prepare for subsequent Global Studies courses. Prereq: soph, jr, or sr Units: 3.00
- Class Description:
Spring 2022: This course introduces students to intellectual debates on colonialism and the rise of capitalism, the making of Empires and their resistance, national independence movements and questions of development, as these practices have unfolded around the world. We start from the assumption that in order to adequately address questions today of poverty and wealth, war and peace, global climate crisis and its alternatives, and social equity and justice, we need to better understand the rise of global modernity, the nation state, and global capitalism. We will do so through close readings of course materials, lectures, guest speakers, and film clips in our Monday/Wednesday lecture meetings, as well as in Friday discussions in smaller groups. The goal is to better understand the roots of global wealth production and global social (and ecological) inequities and deprivations, asking how certain aspects persist while some are stamped out or transformed.
Concretely, we will read texts on Belgian King Leopold colonizing of the African Congo; Empire making across Southeast Asia and its resistance; national independence movements across Africa and the rise of international projects of development; 20th century political relations between the U.S. and countries in Latin America; and a close look into the 21st century 'war on terror' as an opportunity to rethink ways of understanding current political (and intellectual) challenges. By discussing these and other questions, we will be "doing theory," or thinking through concrete political-economic and social-ecological tensions in ways that can prepare us for subsequent Global Studies courses, and more importantly, for challenges we face in the world.- Who Should Take This Class?:
- Required for Global Studies majors and anyone interested in foundational knowledge on Global Studies and the ideas swirling around the concept of globalization.
- Grading:
- graded on weekly discussions section participation and assignments, on four course papers, and on the final paper.
- Class Format:
- Monday-Wednesday lectures (built in with discussion, film clips, etc.) and Friday small-group discussion sections.
- Workload:
- A good amount of reading per week (60-80 pages).
22 pages of writing, with a short paper due for each of the four sections of the course, and one final synthesis paper. There are no exams. Discussions sections will assign small exercises for in-class and at-home. - Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/52846/1223
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 1 November 2021
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