My global economy and global governance concentration comprised of classes that allowed me to develop an inclusive view of the world. These classes exposed me to the histories and current events of the world around me, economic foundation on which many problems arise, how authorities make perpetuate these problems and how people rebel. I also was able apply the general ideas taught in classes such as Intermediate Economics to serious economic situations that have led to citizens rebelling against their own government. I was able to take these major themes and think back to the current issues taught in World Politics as well as the old events on the steppe. Overall, these classes worked together and has allowed me to view current issues for all of its moving parts and the structures that hold them together.
Coursework Descriptions
This class focused on exploring how and why individuals and social groups rebel against authority. Primarily, we investigated the conditions that evoke rebellion against oppressive regimes, shared conditions, and social norms. We also explored the multiple forms that resistance and rebellion can take. For example, I got to research Ukraine’s Euromaidan Revolution: why protestors did what they did and how authorities reacted. Historical topics that we discussed included rebellion during U.S. slavery, rebellion during the holocaust, and the GI movement in the Vietnam War.
This class focused on the history of the modern state system, how it came to be, and the various political developments during the past few decades. We learned about the basic concepts and analytic frameworks that can be used to understand world politics. Through this knowledge, I gained greater insight to international institutions and was able to better understand the important roles they play in world politics. We explored current issues, most specifically North Korea and Iran. What I wrote about during the class was first strike capability and the Iran Nuclear Deal.
Throughout this course, we learned about economic policies that have led to destructive outcomes, policies that have fostered growth and the indicators that are used to measure development and poverty. With a primary focus on low and middle income economies, we covered topics including population growth, employment, agriculture, industry, health, education, income distribution, capital accumulation, migration, and government role in the economy. I was able to focus the topics of this course in a group research project about Turkey and their economic development. At the end of the presentation we had to outline a plan for Turkey to increase their economic development. We did this using knowledge of how governments and institutions shape these economies with their policies.
In this course, we learned about how individual households, managers, and firms make choices. Also, we examined how their decisions interact in the market to determine prices and allocate resources. By learning economic activity and analyzing the effects of policy, I am now able to view economic issues in other countries with a strong foundation to build off from. This course is an introduction to the basic notions of microeconomics. The material that I learned in this course can be applied to the majority of brand economic topics like labor, industry, international trade and public finance.
I took this course the spring semester of my freshman year. This course set the tone for what was expected of me as a global studies. I learned the overarching themes facing the world and how everything affects each other, especially what decisions made in western countries impact people across the world. In this course we focused heavily on globalization and how we see its effects all over the world. In order to analyze this we looked at economic, political, cultural, and ecological factors to arrive at certain conclusions concerning globalization’s benefits to modern society.
Other Relevant Courses
This course focused on Turkey specifically, and expanded on all facets of culture and society. We analyzed case studies from literature, film, music, and social media sources to discover major issues and experiences of people in Turkey. We discussed the significance of language and how it expresses culture. Likewise, we focused on religion, especially as it become a more decisive topic in the country; class readings illustrated ideological currents like secularism, Islamism, and nationalism. This class ties in perfectly to my Rebellion Against Authority class, as we discussed the ‘Gezi protests’ in great detail. We also learned about folktales, favorite pastimes, culinary traditions and holidays.