GLS 102.1: Global Controversies in Heritage Conservation
Diane Barthel-Bouchier, Sociology
Diane.Barthel-Bouchier@stonybrook.edu
Day: TU 2:20pm-4:20pm
Location: SBS N405
The definition of World Heritage has come to include everything from archaeological fragments to works of fine art, from cultural landscapes to national film industries. As the definition of heritage has expanded, so too have the controversies. In this seminar we will examine the different United Nations conventions governing heritage and questions such as 1.) whether art works taken by colonial powers should be returned to the developing nations of Africa and Asia, 2.) whether tourism is a constructive or destructive force when it comes to preserving heritage, and 3.) whether the film industries of other nations should be protected against the globalizing power of Hollywood.
Note: This class meets for 2 hours a week for the first 7 weeks of the semester.
GLS102.2: The Global Prison Industrial Complex
Eduardo Mendieta, Philosophy, Latin American & Caribbean Studies Center
Eduardo.Mendieta@stonybrook.edu
Day: M 12:50pm-2:50pm
Location: SBS N-320 (LACS gallery)
The United States has the largest prison population of the developed world, and also one of the most extensive systems of imprisonment, detention, and correctional facilities in the world. It is a system that extends across the United States, Guantanamo, and the secret prisons the US maintains for the purpose of its Global War on Terror. This punitive system is meshed with the immigration detention centers that hold non-criminal immigrants. This seminar looks at the role of prisons in American society and how it links up with recent policies of torture, extraordinary rendition and massive imprisonment in Iraq that the CIA, the FBI and the Security Agency are pursuing as part and parcel of US foreign policy. We will also look at the growth in prison related industries and market. We will read recent works by Loic Wacquant, Angela Y. Davis, Christian Parenti, Marc Mauer, and Marie Gottschalk.
Note: This class meets for 2 hours a week for the first 7 weeks of the semester.
GLS102.3: War and Film
Michael Zweig, Economics
Michael.Zweig@stonybrook.edu
Day: W 2:20pm-5:05pm
Location: Library S 1410D
This course looks at political, social, and military aspects of war as represented in documentary and dramatic films. At each session we will view one film and then discuss its point of view, impact, and effectiveness. Students will write reaction papers to each film.
Note: This class meets for 2 hours and 45 minutes a week for the first 8 weeks of the semester.
GLS102.4: Media Representations of the Other
John Bailyn, Linguistics
John.Bailyn@stonybrook.edu
Day: W 2:20pm-4:20pm
Location: Tabler 104
This course will look at how the media represents other cultures and other societies, taking as its primary example coverage of the Russian Presidential election, to be held March 2, 2008. Attention will also be paid to how ethnic conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere are represented. There will be very short newspaper and internet readings and the class will consist primarily of discussions of US and other Western media representations of events surrounding the Russian elections. Online and other media sources will be used regularly.
Note: This class meets for 2 hours a week for the first 7 weeks of the semester.
GLS102.5: Understanding the War in Iraq
Michael Schwartz, Sociology
Michael.Schwartz@stonybrook.edu
Day: TU 3:50pm-4:45pm
Location: Stimson College Penthouse Classroom
This course will look at various aspects of the war in Iraq, attempting to compare the public discussions of the war with the actual events. Among the subjects covered will be: (1)What are the real causes of the war—is there a difference between the public justifications and the actual motivations for invading Iraq; (2) What is America trying to accomplish now—is our government trying to bring democracy to Iraq or get Iraqi oil for American oil companies, or neither; (3) What does the war actually look like—who is getting killed and who is doing the killing; (4) Who are the insurgents—are they mostly foreign “jihadists” terrorizing the Iraqi people or are they righteous patriots trying to expel a foreign invader, or neither; (5) Is the mass media as biased as so many people say it is—is Fox distorting things in favor of the Bush administration, with the New York Times against it, or neither.
GLS102.6: Understanding the War in Iraq
Michael Schwartz, Sociology
Michael.Schwartz@stonybrook.edu
Day: TH 3:50pm-4:45pm
Location: Stimson College Penthouse Classroom
This course will look at various aspects of the war in Iraq, attempting to compare the public discussions of the war with the actual events. Among the subjects covered will be: (1)What are the real causes of the war—is there a difference between the public justifications and the actual motivations for invading Iraq; (2) What is America trying to accomplish now—is our government trying to bring democracy to Iraq or get Iraqi oil for American oil companies, or neither; (3) What does the war actually look like—who is getting killed and who is doing the killing; (4) Who are the insurgents—are they mostly foreign “jihadists” terrorizing the Iraqi people or are they righteous patriots trying to expel a foreign invader, or neither; (5) Is the mass media as biased as so many people say it is—is Fox distorting things in favor of the Bush administration, with the New York Times against it, or neither.
GLS102.7: Gender, War, and Peacemaking in Film
Lisa Diedrich, Women's Studies Program
Lisa.Diedrich@stonybrook.edu
Day: W 2:20pm-4:20pm
Location: Greeley College Penthouse Classroom
In this course, we will view several documentary and feature films on the topic of gender, war, and peacemaking. In particular, we will explore the changing experience and event of war in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries as it is depicted in film. Wars are no longer fought only by soldiers trained to fight enemy soldiers; wars are now fought by entire populations. Indeed, the overwhelming majority of killed and wounded in recent wars have been civilians not soldiers. With that fact in mind, we will take a wide-angle approach to war, analyzing the experience of civilians as well as soldiers, those fleeing from as well as fighting in the battlegrounds. We will also emphasize the way experiences and events of war both sustain and challenge conventional attitudes about gender and sexuality.
Note: This class meets for 2 hours a week for the first 7 weeks of the semester.
GLS102.8: What in the World Do We Do with Radioactive Waste?
Nicholas Fisher, Waste Management Institute, Marine Sciences Research Center
Nicholas.Fisher@stonybrook.edu
Day: TU 3:50pm-4:45pm
Location: Library N3090
One of the greatest environmental challenges facing modern man, and one that calls for extraordinarily long-term planning, is the problem of discarding radioactive wastes. This course will consider relevant geochemical and engineering approaches as well as economic, political and risk assessment issues. We will explore some fundamental aspects of radioactivity and discuss strengths and weaknesses of proposed options. Students will be encouraged to devise their own solutions to this complex problem.
Note: This class meets for 2 hours a week for the first 7 weeks of the semester.
GLS102.9: Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation in Africa
Bill Arens, Anthropology, International Academic Programs
William.Arens@stonybrook.edu
Day: TH 5:20pm-6:15pm
Location: Library S1410D
This seminar's concern will be with instances of civil conflict in Africa and the manner in which they have been responded to by the relevant countries themselves and the international community in the form of the UN tribunal. Instances to be considered include Rwanda, South Africa, and the Sudan. Parallel examples from Europe will also be relevant concerns.
GLS102.10: Where in the World? Or, Yonkers is not Upstate
Bill Godfrey, European Languages
Aaron.Godfrey@stonybrook.edu
Day: W 11:45am-12:40pm
Location: Humanities 1051
Americans are very unfamiliar with geography and tend not to know the actual locations of cities, states, and nations. Using a basic geography text, we will locate states in this country, nations in the western hemisphere, Europe, Asia, and Africa, and discuss the peoples and resources of each.
GLS102.11: The World Without Us
Kamazima Lwiza, Marine Sciences
Kamazima.Lwiza@stonybrook.edu
Day: M 6:50pm-7:45pm
Location: Hendrix College Lounge
The seminar explores what happens just days after humans disappear from the Earth. We will discuss the distinct ways that organic and chemically-treated farms would change, how billions more birds would flourish, and how cockroaches in unheated cities would disappear without us. The course is based on the book by Alan Weisman, ‘The World without us’, which draws on the expertise of engineers, atmospheric scientists, art conservators, zoologists, oil refiners, marine biologists, astrophysicists, religious leaders from rabbis to the Dalai Lama, and paleontologists.
GLS102.12: Critical Issues in International Relations
Harsh Bhasin, Asian & Asian American Studies
Harsh.Bhasin@stonybrook.edu
Day: W 10:40am-12:40pm
Location: Library S1410D
Professor Bhasin is a veteran diplomat. This seminar will critically examine the leadership-deficit that has failed to resolve such critical issues in international relations as the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Kashmir issue between India & Pakistan, ongoing terrorism, the control of nuclear-weapons proliferation (e.g. the case of Iran & North Korea), global environment issues (incl. Global Warming, Kyoto Protocol etc.), the crises in Africa, and issues related to outsourcing, etc. Students will be expected to participate actively in the Seminar with a view to identifying the elements of leadership required – nationally within/among the countries’ concerned, and internationally through the UN - to overcome these long-standing crises in global politics, as the world stands at the dawn of a new millenium
Note: This class meets for 2 hours a week for the first 7 weeks of the semester.
GLS102.13: Where Art and Literature Meet: A Global Perspective.
Stephanie Dinkins, Art
Stephanie.Dinkins@stonybrook.edu
Day: W 11:45am-1:45am
Location: TBA
Artists often influence each other in unexpected ways. Visual artists and writers often look to each other for inspiration or as a starting point for the content of their work. In this class we will take a look at some of the connections shared by visual art and literature from a variety of global perspectives. Books like, Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, Girl With A Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier and The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison will be looked at in relation to the work of artists like Shirin Neshat, Vermeer, and Jeff Wall. Each week students will read a short except from a work of global literature. The readings will be supplemented by presentations of visual art that relates to the text. Through discussion and assignments the class will work to gain an understanding of how, and to what extent, the visual and written works are related.
Note: This class meets for 2 hours a week for the first 7 weeks of the semester.
GLS102.14: What is Globalization?
Gary Mar, Philosophy
Gary.Mar@stonybrook.edu
Day: M 12:50pm- 1:45pm
Location: Harriman 213
Is globalization a market force for economic growth and prosperity or a force for spreading Americanism around the globe? Is globalization a historical process that spreads technological access and democratic freedoms or one that spreads environmental devastation and exploits labor migrations caused by the collapse of foreign currencies? Does globalization increase respect for diverse religious traditions or has it provoked recent ethnic warfare and religious fundamentalisms? Clearly, globalization attracts controversy. What is less clear is what globalization is and how it works. In this class we will engage in conversations about current events in ways that encourage you to dig for relevant facts and develop your own analyses of the complex issue of globalization in the 21st century.
GLS102.15: Tourism and Globalization
Daniela Flesler, Hispanic Languages and Literature
Daniela.Flesler@stonybrook.edu
Day: TH 2:20pm-4:20pm
Location: Keller College Penthouse Classroom
Tourism and travel are central dimensions of globalization. Tourism, especially, offers us a useful lens to analyze global issues of intercultural encounters, identity and heritage, commoditization, historical and cultural representation, authenticity and ownership, inequality between and inside nations, gender relations, and more. This course will explore tourism not only as an important human activity and industry (the world’s largest), but also as a way of achieving a better understanding of the complex relationship between globalization and culture.
Note: This class meets for 2 hours a week for the first 7 weeks of the semester.
GLS102.16: Global Feminism GL
Tracey Walters, Africana Studies
Tracey.Walters@stonybrook.edu
Day: TU TH 2:20pm-3:15pm
Location: Stimson College Penthouse Classroom
Global Feminism 888 explores the various ways women throughout the world have been sexually, physically, and emotionally assaulted. This one credit course introduces students to the works of women writers from across the globe from countries such as Dominican Republic, Nigeria, America, China, Russia, England, and so on. Students will learn about subjects such as virginity cults, war and the oppression of women, women’s radical movements. There will also be stories about triumph and emancipation.
Note: This class meets for 2 hours a week for the first 7 weeks of the semester.
GLS102.17: English as a Global Language
Kamal Sridhar, Linguistics, and Asian & Asian American Studies
Kamal.Sridhar@stonybrook.edu
Day: TU 2:20pm-4:20pm
Location: Humanities 1043
This course is primarily a discussion course. Through assigned readings and leading questions which the students will read before coming to class, the class will be exposed to the various aspects surrounding the phenomenal spread of English. The purpose is to examines the explosive spread of English among those for whom it is not the “mother tongue” but the “other tongue” (Kachru 1982). As such, it focuses on the current worldwide Sociolinguistic profile of users and uses of English. It addresses three sets of issues: (1) The remarkable sociolinguistic and geolinguistic changes that have been and are still occurring in the English language; (2) The existence of a fast developing interdisciplinary domain that has subsequently come to be called “English as an International Language (EIL); and (3) The growing solidarity and sophistication of the intellectual studies, descriptive as well as empirical, generated under the EIL rubric.
Note: This class meets for 2 hours a week for the first 7 weeks of the semester.
GLS102.18: Globalization in a Flat World: Medieval Europe meets Asia (Marco Polo, the Mongols, and Prester John)
Daniel Finer, Linguistics.
Daniel.Finer@stonybrook.edu
Day: F 10:40am-11:35am
Location: Library N3090
This seminar will look at various 12th-14th century reports of Asia from European travelers, traders, crusaders, liars, heretics, and fabulists. The inventory of wonders that were told of included vast kingdoms, rivers of emeralds, and creatures with the bodies of humans and the heads of dogs. This combination of fact, fiction, legend, rumor, and hearsay helped to shape the late medieval and early Renaissance picture of the world as exploration, commerce, and colonialism emerged.
GLS102.19: Christianity, Islam, and Politics in African States
Olufemi Vaughan, Africana Studies, History
Olufemi.Vaughan@stonybrook.edu
Day: TU 2:20pm-4:20pm
Location: Wagner College Penthouse Classroom
The seminar seeks to explore how Christianity, Islam, and indigenous religious beliefs shaped the formation of modern states and societies. We will discuss the role of these religious structures in the context of four important moments in modern African history: religion and state formation in the turbulent nineteenth century; religion and colonialism; religion and decolonization; religion, postcolonial state, and globalization. Drawing from short internet sources, students are required to write and present interpretive papers on how Christianity, Islam, and indigenous religious traditions intersect to define social relations in specific African states. We hope to provide an intellectually engaging forum where through studies of the historical processes of state-society relations, students can explore multiple forms of religious tension, conflict, and reconciliation.
Note: This class meets for 2 hours a week for the first 7 weeks of the semester.
GLS102.20: Women’s Lives: A View from the Caribbean
Winnifred Brown, Africana Studies
Winnifred.Brown@stonybrook.edu
Day: W 9:35am-10:30am
Location: Library S1410D
In this course, we will explore numerous issues and debates that have animated Caribbean feminist scholarship in the region, making it a rich and vibrant area of intellectual inquiry. We resist a conception of women as a monolithic group. Instead,
we will examine women's lives in the Caribbean with a particular emphasis on the ways in which gender interacts with race, class, sexual orientation and ethnicity. Through the assigned readings, lectures, class discussions and films this course will introduce students to current debates within Caribbean feminism on issues of reproductive health, violence, family, sexuality, globalization, and labor. Each week students will read a short essay that will serve as the primary focus of class discussions. Through these discussions and the readings students will gain an understanding of Caribbean feminist theory and the complex experiences of women in the Global South.
Note: This class meets for 2 hours a week for the first 7 weeks of the semester.
GLS102.21: Modernizing China: National Interests and Global Concerns for the 21st Century
Gregory Ruff, Asian & Asian American Studies, and Anthropology
Day: MW 10:40am-11:35am
Location: Library N3090
This seminar explores domestic and international challenges posed by China's rise to prominence as an influential global power. Topics include food and energy demands, water resource consumption, management of waste and pollution, environmental degradation from rapid economic development, public health and education, migration and employment, international investment, military modernization, ethno-nationalism, tourism, and preparations for the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Note: This class meets for 2 hours a week for the first 7 weeks of the semester.
GLS102.22: Misunderstanding China
Iona Man-Cheong, History Department
Iona.Man-Cheong@stonybrook.edu
Day: M 8:30am-10:30am
Location: Library N3090
This course will examine earlier Hollywood movies and through student internet research discuss the historical context and meaning of the movies.
Note: This class meets for 2 hours a week for the first 7 weeks of the semester.
GLS102.23: The Languages We Use at Home
Agnes Weiyun He, Asian & Asian-American Studies
Agnes.He@stonybrook.edu
Day: M 10:45am-11:30am
Location: Humanities 1043
Do you speak or hear a language other than English at home? Do you know of someone who does? Does using a home language delight, enrich, comfort, embarrass or annoy you? Should immigrant languages be maintained? Is the loss of ethnic languages part of the price to be paid for becoming American? What roles do home languages play in families and communities? In what ways can home languages become valuable national resources? This course explores an ecological vision of home languages in the U.S.
GLS102.24: Human Dimensions of Global Climate Change
Sultan Hameed, Atmospheric Sciences
Sultan.Hameed@stonybrook.edu
Day: TU 12:50pm-1:45pm
Location: Library N3090
Global climate change has wide-ranging impacts on society and the infrastructure that supports civilization. Climate change influences patterns of human settlement, energy use, water availability, food production, transportation, industry, environmental quality and disease. This course will study the positive and negative impacts of climate change as they are currently unfolding in different parts of the globe. Factors that differentiate regions in their vulnerability to climate change will be highlighted. Technical options available for minimizing climate change and its negative impacts will be discussed. We will also discuss international political factors that have influenced the development of strategies for mitigation of human-induced climate change.
