Pablo Picasso, Guernica
Pablo Picasso, Guernica
Alan Fisher
310 Morrill Hall
hrs: M and W 1030-1130
email: fishera@msu.edu
During the 1990s the term globalization entered the vocabulary of politicians, journalists, scholars, and others who commented on the increasingly tight connections linking the world's lands and peoples. By the late 20th century, global transportation and communication networks had become more intricate than ever before, and they supported voluminous trade and systematic interaction among peoples throughout the world. Global links brought problems as well as opportunities: pollution, environmental change, ethnic tensions, political conflicts, and weapons of mass destruction loomed as potential threats to all peoples. Yet even though they are more prominent today than ever before, global interactions and global problems are not new features of world history. To the contrary, there is a long historical context for contemporary globalization, and only in the light of past experience is it possible to understand the contemporary world.
Obviously there have been millions of separate events and developments, and individual actions and activities, which together have produced world history in the past five centuries. In a single course, let alone in a single life, it is impossible to examine even a fraction of these. It is necessary to organize them in themes and broad subjects and topics in order to begin to make sense of the global past, which is the prelude to our present. In turn, it is always important to recognize that our present will soon become someone else's past.
In this course, we will begin the process of this organization of the many pasts into an understandable past. It will be a challenging, interesting, and I hope enjoyable exercise. In the process, we will focus on careful reading and thinking about important subjects. You will have many opportunities for analytical writing - both individually and in groups. The assignments will be on this WWW syllabus as will be some of the readings. Below you will find the reading and writing schedule for this course, information about the grading system that I use, and other information. I encourage you to check this syllabus regularly as I will be updating it from time to time [not changing the assignments or their due dates, however]. I will be evaluating your writing assignments for the most part on email; thus it is important that you keep your mailbox 'thinned out' so that there will be room for messages.
I ask that you 'Register' for this course directly with me - you have registered already with the university. This 'registration' gives me information which will be important for me as I select topics to consider in class. It will also give me your email address. Please log on to the Registration Form and submit to me as soon as possible.