Where on Earth: Foundations in Global Culture & Political Geography

Restricted for rising sophomores, International Studies MajorsWhere on Earth introduces you to the International Studies Program, offering you different approaches to analyzing geographic and historic phenomena in order to understand our current world. Where on Earth: Foundations in Political Geography and Global Cultures draws from the way that the discipline of Geography and the other social sciences understand the production of politics and culture as both locally and globally contingentthat is, no phenomena are discretely produced within the bounds of the nation-state, while simultaneously they reflect localized histories, cultures, and political-economy. We will engage with many themes and topics that explore the structural and interconnected causes of global issues: we will look at histories of colonialism and how they reverberate into the present, at the institutions of borders and nation-states, how economic systems shape our world, how different ideas about race, gender, and class are intertwined with local and global cultural and social forces, developmental policy and debate, the science and politics of climate change, and engage with critical questions of environmental and social justice in an ever changing and globalized world. We will not focus on any one region, instead opting for a global survey of cases that will allow us to critically interrogate the uneven production of space and strive to understand different approaches to addressing global inequality. Students will complete a number of reading reflections and two exams, and work with their peers on collaborative assignments.