Global issues cross national borders. They are not isolated within single societies or cultures. Still, our understanding of global human issues is greatly enhanced by a careful analysis of how they affect particular people in particular places. In this course we will examine a handful of important global issues in the context of how they impact individuals in a particular place and culture, at a particular time. In keeping with the GE, Area D1 requirement, this class focuses on how people respond to issues as these are filtered through a prism that combines culture, social structure, institutions, ideologies and customary practices. Human responses to global issues will be the focus and primary point of interest in this course. Not all global issues will be dealt with each semester this course is offered. Candidates for coverage include health pandemics, human trafficking, refugees, poverty, hunger and the politics of food and water, human rights, a spectrum of environmental issues, inequality, racism and other fundamentalist ideologies. Determination of the issues covered in any given semester will be made by the professor before the start of the class. This semester we will visit South African, Brazilian, and Chinese cultures, as well as a fictional African village, through the eyes and experiences of people 'on the ground.'

Course readings will highlight the diverse ways humans adapt to global challenges at the local level. Case studies will mostly feature the aubiographies of individuals who have made a significant impact locally as they dealt with a global issue. Cases will illustrate how these persons have had to interact with social systems and institutions as they responded to challenges. Students will spend three or four weeks on each case study, focusing first on prevailing political and cultural institutions, and secondly on the specific actions of individuals who have (more or less) successfully navigated those institutions to meet the challenge. Students will discover how institutions and cultural frameworks impact a person’s or group’s responses to global challenges, and they will learn how people often “bend” forces to meet challenges. They will see how in some instances individuals creatively negotiate solutions that oppose society. At the same time, they will learn how human responses are impacted by social structures that distribute resources and life chances unequally and, some would argue, unfairly.

Course Objectives

1. Students will explore global human issues and people’s responses in a variety of cultures and settings.
2. Students will gain an understanding that people respond to global challenges in their environment using the tools at their disposal: cultural frameworks, social institutions, ethnic politics, religious and other ideological narratives, including artistic media.
3. Students will better understand the systemic causes of global social problems including political and social oppression, poverty, resource shortages and so on.
4. Students will explore how social structures and institutions change as problems are challenged and addressed.
5. Students will learn how responses to global issues are impacted by social structures that distribute resources unequally.
6. Students will learn how different people creatively resist oppressive social structures and institutions.

Course Readings

Autobiography: Unbowed, by Wangari Maathai
Biography: Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Tracy Kidder
Documentary (non-fiction): Fanshen, by William Hinton

*all books available at SSU bookstore
Also available online, through the SSU Library:

Book:Mountains Beyond Mountains
Book: Fanshen.
Book: Witness to Aids

Also, some articles may be provided in class to give students some historical background and current context to each of the issues discussed in class.

Evaluation Criteria

The class will use a combination of assessments, including a final project. Final grades will consist of:

Participation 10%
Exams (2) 30%
Presentation 20%
Research Paper 40%

Thesis statement 15%
Annotated outline 25%
Paper 60%

Class Schedule

Class Policies

There are important University policies that you should be aware of, such as the add/drop policy; cheating and plagiarism policy, grade appeal procedures; accommodations for students with disabilities and the diversity vision statement. (Go to this URL to find them: http://www.sonoma.edu/uaffairs/policies/studentinfo.shtml)