INTL 100

The Making of the Modern World -       Gary Baker        MWF   9:30 - 10:20

 

Introduction to themes, concepts and approaches to International Studies from an interdisciplinary perspective. The course explores key concepts of modernity in the context of specific cultural, political, and economic experiences within a historical framework. This course must be taken before the end of the sophomore year.

 

INTL 200.01

Themes and Approaches in International Studies- Taku Suzuki – MW 2:30-3:50/strongly recommended for current or prospective majors

 

The main goals of this course are to expose current and prospective International Studies (IS) majors, who have already taken INTL100 Making of the Modern World, to some of the key themes and theoretical concepts within the purview of International Studies, and help them shape their individual concentrations (i.e., specific research interest and a larger intellectual theme in which the research is located) in the major. The course also provides opportunities for students to understand various issues through an interdisciplinary lens, drawing on both political-economic and cultural analytical frameworks. Finally, the students will gain a basic understanding of the academic research process, i.e., choosing a topic, formulating research questions, finding sources, and justifying the research’s significance for understanding academic, and, when applicable, solving practical problems.

 

Among numerous debates and issues within IS, the course will focus on five broadly conceived themes: economic development, transnational migration, nationalism/national identity, social movement, and mediated/material culture. Although it is unlikely that the all five themes are closely tied to a student’s specific interest, and it is impossible for one course to examine all the scholarly debates taking place in each of these themes in depth, students are expected to be able to formulate, broaden, and contextualize his or her concentration within the intellectual scheme of IS.  

 

INTL 200.02/SPAN415 – Veronica Gonzalez-Lopez MW 11:30-1:20 No FY; Prereq: SPAN 220 & 230 & 315 or consent of instructor

This course is an interdisciplinary course whose main objective is to study and reflect on the interaction between language and individual/group/national/tribal identity (among many others). This seminar focuses on the examination of the principal reasons why an individual or group chooses, either consciously or subconsciously, to use certain syntactic and phonological structures in any given social context. Included in this course is an overview of the most relevant theoretical frameworks that are currently used in the study of language and identity. Some of the main objectives in this course include the acquisition of theoretical knowledge on the topic and the development of critical thinking and in-depth analytical abilities as stated in the Denison’s mission statement. (The course is taught in Spanish).

 

  

INTL 200.03/POSC 345

Human Rights in Global Perspective – Katy Crossley-Frolick MW 2:30-3:50 No FY; Lugar Track 2

This course analyzes the emergence, expansion and enforcement of international human rights norms.   Students taking the course will acquire an enhanced understanding of the role of the United Nations, national governments, nongovernmental organizations, customary international law, treaty law, regional courts, and international tribunals in articulating and enforcing human rights. They will acquire a broad understanding of human rights as a topic of both intellectual inquiry and political action. The first part of the course deals with the emergence and institutionalization of human rights in the 20th century. To that end we survey the evolution of so-called “first” and “second generation” human rights. In the second part of the course, we consider some of the practical (and practicable) dimensions of human rights from a variety of angles. We examine the main features of the contemporary human rights system, both in respect of international, regional and national legal conventions, and in relation to current human rights problems. We also consider the place of human rights in the formulation of states’ foreign policies, and the ways in which international politics affects criticisms leveled at “abuser governments” and the use of non-judicial means to confront human rights abuses from the past. In the last part of the semester we engage in a more in-depth examination of specific human rights concerns. These include organ trafficking, pharmaceutical research, child labor migration, transnational adoption, private sector responsibilities vis-à-vis human rights and the emergence of "third generation" rights pertaining to the rights of peoples, or “solidarity rights.” 

 

INTL 200.04/COMM315

Masculinities in Popular Culture – Alina Haliliuc MW 11:30-12:50 Prereq COMM 280 & 290 or consent of instructor

What is masculinity, who can perform it, and how is it represented in popular culture? In this course we investigate how the media popularize scripts of masculine embodiment and performance in dialogue with historically and geographically-situated cultural contexts. We will analyze popular representations of fatherhood, boyhood, partnership, globalization, work, consumer culture, male body image, male power and violence, as well as the crisis of masculinity. We explore the intricacies of these representations in relation with social markings of male bodies (class, ethnicity, age, nationality, religion, and sexual orientation) and the historical legacies of these markings (e.g. racism, imperialism, globalization). Geographically, we focus on the construction of North American masculinities in the media, as well as on how British, East European, Middle-Eastern, East Indian masculinities are represented in the media of their regions and circulate in a globalized popular culture. Through interviews with men, analyses of popular cultural texts (e.g., films, television shows, music), screenings, as well as final papers that engage one’s particular interests in issues of masculinity, students will gain a complex understanding of the current negotiations of masculinity in the media. There will be a few (cca. 4) out of class film screenings required, with the possibility of watching the films on reserve in the library.

 

  

INTL 200.05/COMM315

Masculinities in Popular Culture – Alina Haliliuc MW 2:30-3:50 Prereq COMM 280 & 290 INTL require consent of instructor

What is masculinity, who can perform it, and how is it represented in popular culture? In this course we investigate how the media popularize scripts of masculine embodiment and performance in dialogue with historically and geographically-situated cultural contexts. We will analyze popular representations of fatherhood, boyhood, partnership, globalization, work, consumer culture, male body image, male power and violence, as well as the crisis of masculinity. We explore the intricacies of these representations in relation with social markings of male bodies (class, ethnicity, age, nationality, religion, and sexual orientation) and the historical legacies of these markings (e.g. racism, imperialism, globalization). Geographically, we focus on the construction of North American masculinities in the media, as well as on how British, East European, Middle-Eastern, East Indian masculinities are represented in the media of their regions and circulate in a globalized popular culture. Through interviews with men, analyses of popular cultural texts (e.g., films, television shows, music), screenings, as well as final papers that engage one’s particular interests in issues of masculinity, students will gain a complex understanding of the current negotiations of masculinity in the media. There will be a few (cca. 4) out of class film screenings required, with the possibility of watching the films on reserve in the library.

 

INTL 200.06/WMST 250-01

Gendered Migration – Isis Nusair TR 3:00-4:20 ; Prereq: WMST 101 or INTL 100 or consent of instructor

 

This course aims to provide students with the ability to understand, critique, and comparatively analyze the politics of gendered migrations in local, regional and transnational contexts in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East and North Africa.  The class traces the constructions of femininity and masculinity and the intersection between gender, race, class, ethnicity, sexuality and nationality in cases of voluntary and forced migrations. It locates
the sites and boundaries (both literal and metaphorical) that we need to cross in order to develop a better understanding of these constructions and intersections. While drawing on feminist practice and theory on border, diaspora, and displacement, the course analyzes
the role of colonization, war and conflict, globalization and neoliberal policies in the gendered movement of people. The class is interdisciplinary and draws on writings by local and global activists and theorists.