Globalization Blog
In this assignment, you will think critically about global issues within a cultural context by exploring an area of interest to you and sharing your research via a Blog. Beyond the class context, this assignment is important because, in today’s world, there is a demand in business and industry to hire people who can work with people of other nations and cultures and, if need be, can travel independently internationally to promote their business or industry. In addition, the world faces global challenges that will take interdisciplinary groups to solve; providing access to clean water for everyone on this planet and making clean, renewable energy affordable, to name a few. These global challenges will need to be solved by gathering and sharing knowledge across disciplines, institutions, and on a global scale.
This assignment provides opportunities to use/practice these learning outcomes:
Demonstrate an understanding of global interconnectedness and critically examine your own positions in these global processes.
Evaluate and apply knowledge and skills of cultural anthropology to cultural practices, real-world issues, and current global processes.
Demonstrate the ability to engage with literature in an objective manner, support arguments with research, critically examine the views of others, and produce coherent conclusions regarding globalization.
Steps to complete the assignment:
Select your topic. It is supposed to be current, so please do not go back more than 1 year.
We spent the last two weeks discussing anthropology, culture, and globalization. What piqued your interest? What are you interested in exploring in more detail? Depending on your chosen topic, you will want to be specific in terms of location. For example, if I am interested in learning more about how renewable energy projects impact indigenous societies, rather than looking at renewable energy in a broad sense, I would explore how solar energy impacts the Quechan Tribe.
It is not enough to simply report about an issue you read. You need to dig deep and discuss the cultural impacts the society is facing as a result of your chosen topic.
I have provided a few questions below to help get you started.
How has globalization impacted indigenous peoples?
How has globalization impacted specifically on women and gender roles?
Discuss the origins and consequences of the privatization of water as a result of globalization.
What is the relationship between globalization and the rise of militarism?
How are college students using their clout to fight for social justice? What current initiatives have captured the attention of college students today?
Explore NGOs and discuss how they are helping local communities in their fight against globalization.
What is the connection between the World Bank and IMF policies and the increase in political repression and militarization in the developing world?
2. Research your topic. You will be required to have four sources. Please remember that internet sources can be quite unreliable. If you find an online article that provides relevant information for your research topic, you should take care to investigate the source to make sure it is valid and reliable. Some things to consider when researching your topic on the internet:
a. If the information is linked to an organization, try to determine the reliability of the sponsoring organization. One tip is the URL ending.
If the site name ends with .edu, it is most likely an educational institution. Even so, you should be aware of political bias.
If a site ends in .gov, it is most likely a reliable government website. Government sites are usually good sources for statistics and objective reports.
Sites that end in .org are usually non-profit organizations. They can be very good sources or very poor sources, so you will have to take care to research their possible agendas or political biases if they exist.
Other sites with the .org ending are advocacy groups that are highly political. While it is entirely possible to find reliable information from a site like this, be mindful of the political slant and acknowledge this in your work.
A reputable journal or magazine should contain a bibliography for every article. The list of sources within that bibliography should be pretty extensive, and it should include scholarly non-Internet sources. Check for statistics and data within the article to back up the claims made by the author. Does the writer provide evidence to support his statements? Look for citations of recent studies, perhaps with footnotes, and see if there are primary quotes from other relevant experts in the field.
Every television and print news source has a website. To some extent, you can rely on the most trusted news sources such as CNN and the BBC, but you should not rely on them exclusively. After all, network and cable news stations are involved in entertainment. Think of them as a stepping stone to more reliable sources.
