Assignments

SES #	In-class activities	assignments & key dates
4	Discuss Lahiri and Alarcón Globalization: cultural mis-readings	Begin working on Response Paper 1
5	Discuss Menocal	Response Paper 1 due
6	Discuss Chanda Ch. 4 and ISIS, the quest for a contemporary caliphate Elements of good writing: Joaquín	Begin working on Essay 1
7	Discuss Chanda Ch.5–6 and “Gunga Din” Listen to: Connolly, Sarah. “Rule Brittania” (with lyric annotations). YouTube.	Finish first version of Essay 1
8	Discuss Chamoiseau	First version of Essay 1 due
9	Discuss Papi	Return first versions of Essay 1 one day before Session 10
10	Discuss Papi	Reading Quiz 1
11	Guest lecture on authenticy and music by Prof. Patricia Tang	Group project on world music genre
12	Discuss Byrne and group projects Caravana visitors	Final version of Essay 1 due
15	Discuss The Buddha in the Attic	Submit 3 ideas for presentation group
16	Discuss remainder of The Buddha in the Attic Divide into presentation groups	Begin working on Response Paper 2
17	Discuss “The Crisis of Care in the Philippines” Watch “Chain of Love” Short presentation on memos	Response Paper 2 due
18	Work on group presentation memos Discuss Chanda and Patton	Work on presentations
19	Discuss “Contagion” and Ebola Work on team presentations	Presentation memo due Presentation Memo Template (PDF) Begin working on first version of Essay 2
21	Discuss “The Colombian Exchange” and Chanda Ch. 3	First version of Essay 2 due Work on team presentations
22	Discuss Chanda and “No Logo”	Work on team presentations
23	Discuss EU, NAFTA, TPP	Reading Quiz 2
26	Final Discussion	Final version of Essay 2 due

Resources for Assignments

Effective Impromptu Speaking (PDF)

Intellectual Integrity and Defensive Documentation (PDF)

Working Effectively in Groups (PDF)

Fear of Writing (PDF)

Example student work

The Evolution of Jeans and Its Impact on Global Society (PDF - 2.3MB) - Courtesy of Yazan Baara, Rozanne Mungai, and Crystal Pham. Used with permission.

The first version of this essay should be submitted by Session 7. The essay + draft will be worth 20 points: 3 points for the draft, 17 for the final essay.

Guidelines

Include a title and your name on a single line at the top of your essay
Indent paragraphs; do not quadruple space between paragraphs
Double space between lines; use 1" margins all around
Use Times or Times New Roman font; 12 point
Short essays should be between 4–4.5 pages
The essay should have a good, strong arguable thesis

In his Bound Together, Chanda notes: “The relocation of peoples forced by empires brought in new languages, foods, dress, customs and cultures, a skein that would grow into an internconnected world” (192). Chamoiseau’s “The Old Man Slave and the Mastiff” is set in the Francophone Caribbean at a time when it belonged to one of the largest empires in history. Argue either that the characters absorb customs and cultures because of their relocation or that they cling to their past in a way that puts Chanda’s quote into question.
In the article “What Andalusia Can Teach Us Today…” the author, Akbar Ahmed, identifies two different strains of thought that emerged in early Islam after Baghdad was sacked. One, articulated by Rumi, was open and accepting. The other, articulated by Taymiyyah, was exclusionary and aggressive. Based on your reading of Chanda, Menocal and the articles on ISIS, argue either that the Andalusian vision of an inclusive Islamic world can be resotred today or that only a fundamentalist rigid interpretation of Islam cna prevail.
In his introduction to The Ornament of the World, Harold Bloom says: “I come away from a reading of Menocal’s book with a sense of loss, another tribute to her evocative power. Our current multiculturalism, the blight of our universities and of our media, is a parody of the culture of Cordoba and Granada in their lost prime.” What does Bloom mean? Is multiculturalism today different from the tolerance exhibited by the societies of Al-Andalus? Do you agree with him? Either for or against Bloom’s position.

The first version of this essay should be submitted on Session 21. The final version of the second essay is due on Session 26. You must attach your draft to your final paper.

MIT students were required to meet with a writing advisor to work on and improve the first draft of this essay.

Guidelines

Include a title and your name on a single line at the top of your essay
Indent paragraphs; do not double space between paragraphs
Double space between lines; use 1" margins all around
Use Times or Times New Roman font; 12 point
Your essay should be between 4–4.5 pages
The essay should have a good, strong arguable thesis

Infectious disease has long been considered one of the biggest challenges faced by an increasingly interconnected world. Using Chanda, Farmer, Patton and Contagion discuss the conflict between, on the one hand, local responses and assumptions, and on the other, the need for global action. Create a model that balances these competing interests to combat epidemics. Be specific and use evidence from all four sources.
Some critics of globalization argue that the interconnectedness of capital has increased poverty and has created new and larger marginalized populations. State why you agree or disagree with these critics of globalization using all of the following sources: Chanda, Farmer and Parrenas.
In his article “Ebola, the Dark Side of Globalization” MIT"s Trond Undheim says: “We may have understood globalization intellectually, but we have not digested its emotional effects and we, for sure, have not yet experienced the full practical effect of its sting.” Related this squote to health, family and sexuality. Using three of the following sources—“Seeking Asian Female,” Papi, Farmer, and Parrenas—argue that the materials either reflect an understanding of the emotional reality of globalization, or not. Be specific about how they do or do not reflect this reality.

Due Session 5

Choose one of the following questions, and write two pages in response.

Guidelines

Include a title and your name on a single line at the top of your essay
Indent paragraphs; do not double space between paragraphs
Double space between lines; use 1" margins all around
Use Times or Times New Roman font; 12 point

Both Sen and Chanda argue against a notion of globalization as a recent phenomenon emanating from the West. Choose one contemporary issue or debate in which this view of globalization prevails. Using specific ideas from the Sen lecture and the Chanda excerpt, make an argument for how a more nuanced and historical view of globalization might change the debate.
“Honor,” “honesty,” and “respect” are qualities that become extremely fluid in emotional relationships between individuals from different cultures. Pick one or two of these qualities and examine how external circumstances color their meaning in either “Third Avenue Suicide” or Interpreter of Maladies."
Gender roles and expectations play a crucial role in “Quality Street.” Choose one of the main characters and examine how gender roles shape her expectations and those of her peers. How does the post-colonial experience play-out in her relationships with others? With the reader? Be specific.
Music plays a significant role in cultural adaptation. Examine its meaning in either the Jarrar or Adichie short story.

Due Session 17

Choose one of the following questions, and write two pages in response.

Guidelines

Include a title and your name on a single line at the top of your essay
Indent paragraphs; do not double space between paragraphs
Doiuble space between lines; use 1" margins all around
Use Times or Times New Roman font; 12 point

Discuss the disparity between the women’s understanding of their role in the American economy and what Otsuka’s The Buddha in the Attic suggests is the American perception of the Japanese women’s power.
Discuss the complexities and nuances of the relationshiop between the Japanese women and the white women in The Buddha in the Attic. Was it strictly an employer/employee relationship, or something more?
Discuss the portrayal of motherhood in Papi.
Analyze the role of men in the gender economy in either Bales’s “Because She Looks Like a Child” or Brennan’s “Selling Sex for Visas.”
Analyze the relationship between migration and machismo in either “Selling Sex for Visas” or Papi.

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Globalization: The Good, the Bad and the In-Between

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Course Info

Instructors

Departments

As Taught In

Level

Topics

Learning Resource Types