Electronic submissions are preferred.
A. GE component for which course is being proposed:
B. Submitted by Cynthia Toms
C. Ideally, submissions should be discussed by the entire department prior to submittal.
X /Chair has reviewed and approved the course.
D. Course being proposed (please attach syllabus):
Global Studies Interdisciplinary Seminar
E. This course
Has not been modified, but is being submitted to check its suitabilityHas had its syllabus rewritten to communicate the course’s contribution to GE
Has had its contents modified to address the relevant GE issues
X / Is a new course designed to fulfill the GE requirement
F. This course is being submitted as
A Template. Applicable to courses with multiple sections which require only general
training in the discipline. The submission should come from the department chair and should clearly identify what course content and what elements of the syllabus the department has agreed will common to all sections. Upon approval by the GE Committee, any course whose syllabus is determined by the department to meet the specifications of the template is approved to satisfy this area requirement. A copy of each syllabus should be forwarded to the GE Committee for record keeping purposes.
X /An Individual Course. Applicable to courses requiring specialized training in the
discipline or are typically offered by a particular instructor. The course should be resubmitted and reassessed in the event of a change in staffing or syllabus.
G. Statement of rationale:
(Include a list of the area certification criteria (former called GE objectives) and GE Student Learning Outcomes (if applicable). These certification criteria and GE SLOs are listed in the GE Committee Combined document. After each certification criterion and GE SLO, list several course activities (lectures, readings, assignments, etc.) that address it. If it is not completely obvious, explain how the activities relate to the certification criterion or outcome. Please attach a copy of the syllabus which has been annotated to identify the corresponding activities. Electronic annotations are required. Please use the comment feature in Word to annotate electronic copies).
See below for Statement of rationale as well as corresponding syllabus.
Understanding Society (i.e., Sociology, Anthropology, Economics and Business, Political Science, Communication Studies, Global Studies)
Courses develop students’ understanding of society, culture, economics, and/or politics. Students should recognize the dynamic interplay among individuals, groups, institutions, cultural norms, and public policy. Courses provide exposure to a breadth of literature regarding models or theories that explain how we understand society. Students will reflect on how interpretive and objective theories interact with their values, beliefs, and worldviews. Put differently, students will explore questions of “what is?” and “why is it so?” to better inform their vision of “what ought to be.”
The course is designed to meet this goal through exploration of three primary questions:
How do theories of globalization explain cultural, economic, social, and political forces associated with complex challenges facing individuals, communities, and the earth?
How do cultural, economic, social, and political factors influence who we are as a global society and what constitutes good collective action, demonstrating Christian responsibility, in global context?
Interpretive Statement
Ideally, these should be lower division courses. Upper division offerings often require a prerequisite foundation in terms of concepts, methodologies, and theoretical orientations. Upper division courses can be appropriate provided the instructor makes clear that students lacking an introductory level background in the discipline will not be disadvantaged. It is recommended that some course content reflect cross-cultural and comparative perspectives.
This course is currently listed as introductory level to global studies. However, most students enrolling will be returning from a study abroad experience. Consequently, it is lower division course listing which introduces students the concepts and theories of globalization while utilizing a comparative perspective between local and international contexts.
Certification Criteria
Students will be able to
1. identify foundational theories that offer explanations of social, political, economic, and/or cultural phenomena;
2. apply foundational theories to analyze contemporary problems or controversies;
3. make personal and social application of various theories—informed by a biblical perspective.
Student Learning Outcomes are designed to meet serving society requirements as stated from handbook through Student Learning Outcomes and
Course assignments:
Westmont College Criteria: Students will apply appropriate foundational theories to analyze social, political, economic, and/or cultural phenomena
Course Student Learning Outcomes
1. Students will identify key theories of globalization as well as the specific social, economic and political forces that shape a particular global issue of their choosing, including micro-scale individual actors in systems, as well as the multiplex forces shaping modern grand challenges
2. Students will apply appropriate foundational theories to analyze social, political, economic, and/or cultural phenomena.
Understanding Society. Westmont College requires student to complete courses of Common Inquiry, aimed at introducing students to a range of methodological approaches that one might employ in the quest for knowledge. This course fulfills the college’s Understanding Society Common Inquiry requirement through exploration of the following questions:
How do theories of globalization explain cultural, economic, social, and political forces associated with complex challenges facing individuals, communities, and the earth?
How do cultural, economic, social, and political factors influence who we are as a global society and what constitutes good collective action, demonstrating Christian responsibility, in global context?
Globalization is more than internationalization and universalization. It isn’t simply modernization or westernization. It is certainly isn’t just the liberalization of markets. It involves the de-localization and diffusion of ideas, practices and technologies. Sociologists often described globalization as “the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa.”[1] This involves a change in the way we understand geography and experience localness. Consequently, it is of paramount importance that Westmont graduates are offered an opportunity to understand global social, economic, cultural and political processes from a multitude of perspectives that can be captured within the field of global studies.
Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, students will study social phenomena, analyzing and explaining a wide and varied range of human behavior and social institutions and practices. For example, discussions concerning the interplay between global equality, poverty and gender will draw on the discipline of political science (liberalism, political realism, Marxism, constructivism, postmodernism, feminism, transformationalism and eclecticism) as well sociology (world systems theory) to come to an understand of how these social processes are experienced by people living in US communities as well as those living in the Global South. The invited speakers represent each of these realms and will be asked to specifically addresses these theoretical aspects of the discussion in order to build a full picture of globalization in the 21st Century.
Students should recognize the dynamic interplay among individuals, societal infrastructure, and public policy. Students should also understand the processes of the political economy, the nature of technology and innovation as social phenomena, and the interaction of private enterprise and the public sector. Through exposure to a breadth of literature regarding models or theories that explain social phenomena, students will acquire basic competence to evaluate these phenomena through observation, data collection, and quantitative and qualitative analysis. Students should reflect on the applications of contemporary technological advances and their impacts on personal relationships, research methodologies, the inquiry process, and the accumulation and dissemination of new knowledge. [College requirements for Understanding Society]
Course Assignments
Community-Based or Globally focused Research Project that assumes a comparative methodology. (For honors thesis, you will need co-advisor from your major). This is an individual discernment project and you will be asked to meet with the instructor during the first few weeks and at least one more time during the semester to ensure fit.
Possible Options:
o Santa Barbara Food Security (in conjunction with the Food Bank)
o World Vision Peru (working with Global Studies Fellow Scholar, Tito Paredes).
o Immigration in SB & in the region you visited during Study Abroad.
o Community-Based Research of student’s choosing in line with major advisor or equivalent.
Local/Global Connection Profile (Due September 20.): In order to choose an issue and gain perspective, you must consider its do cultural, economic, social, and political factors both locally and in your region of interest. For one assignment, you are asked to read/research/talk with an expert about a particular local-global challenge and write a response paper analyzing the historical, economic, political, and cultural values that shape the issue. Why was the organization founded – and why in this way – to address the issue? How is the leadership structured and how effective do you perceive it to be? What unique factors shape this issue in this community and how is it different from other contexts you have experienced- or expect to conduct research in?
This paper should draw on formal knowledge found in course readings and other academic resources, however, it is intended to gain perspective on the issue from a local community member working to address this challenge or affected by it. 4-5 pages, 12 pt. font, TNR.
These assignments and designed for students to apply theories of globalization to local communities and global challenges
[1] Giddens, Anthony. The consequences of modernity. John Wiley & Sons, 2013. (p. 64)