Course Description

Global Voices                                                               

Course Description                                                                                                        Spring 2013

John Wensman  Office 421 Classroom 323   jwensman@spa.edu

Class Periods  2, 7 & 8         Prep Periods 3,4, 6

Through contemporary novels from the nonwestern world, we will explore how global interactions affect diverse cultures.  After working toward a definition of globalization, we will examine the rapid movements of people, capital, and ideas that distinguish contemporary globalization.  We will track the impacts of these changes in many areas but will focus on human migration and cross cultural contact, the struggle between tribalism and cosmopolitanism, and the global marketplace.   In addition to reading and research, students will explore these ideas through creative, comparative, analytic and personal writing.   Students will lead seminar discussions and will create websites to share research into the cultural context of each novel.

Essential Questions:

            What is globalization?

            What characterizes this phenomenon?  Is it new?

            What are the causes and effects of migration?

            How does migration affect individuals, families and communities?

            Why are fundamentalism and tribalism common responses to globalization?

            What is cosmopolitanism?

            What are the economic effects of globalization on different peoples?

            How do individuals respond to the rapid changes of globalization?

            How can we gain accurate, specific information about the lives of people in these places?

Texts:  Links                                                    Nuruddin Farah  (Somalia)         

            Graceland                                             Chris Abani    (Nigeria)                          

            Sightseeing                                            Rattawut Lapcharoensap  (Thailand)       

            White Tiger                                          Aravind Adiga   (India)  

            Behind the Beautiful Forevers                 Katherine Boo (India)

            The Fountain at the End of the World   Robert Newman (Mexico/USA)  *Juniors only!!              

Evaluation:      Essays and projects                    50%

Daily work                                20%

Tests & quizzes                          15%

Seminar/discussion                    15%

Class Blogs:

Each student is responsible for creating a blog that culls and comments on social media occurring in the country of one of the texts.  The blog should be updated weekly and should contain news stories, tweets, video links, and any other.  This also means that everyone must have access to a group or individual twitter account.

Class policies & expectations:

• All work must be your own.  Any ideas or specific language appropriated from another source without proper citation will earn no credit according to school policy.
• As per English department policy, all late work will be penalized one grade increment per day, and all major assignments must be completed to pass the course.
• You are expected to bring your OWN BOOK to class each day.   
• Text annotations are both useful tool and essential practice.  You should have a system of annotations that you maintain for all reading.  These should be a tool for class discussions.  You are also expected to add to annotations during class conversations and presentations.  These will be checked randomly.

Essay Policies, Expectations & Grading:

• Assignment sheets will be available on the class blog  Please pay attention to the big picture by looking at the assignment sheets to avoid Veracross Syndrome….
• ALL ESSAYS will be submitted electronically to the course drop folder.  I aim to have them marked and returned in two weeks.
• DROP folders are found on the G drive in the network under the course name. To place a file in the folder you must drag and drop it here.  The file should be named with your last name and the assignment.  You will not be able to see it, unfortunately.  You’ll have to trust your drag/drop skills.  I will place completed essays in your own folder for your review.
• If we edit in class, bring your laptop.  The edited copy will be turned in for credit.
• If for some reason an essay was not your best effort, please come see me and discuss it.  I encourage rewrites if needed and average the original grade and the rewrite grade for a final grade.