This document provides the syllabus for an online course titled "International Studies 100: Global Citizenship" taught in the summer of 2015. The course aims to develop students' critical thinking skills through investigating contemporary global issues and perspectives. It will be taught asynchronously online over 12 weeks, with students completing readings, discussion posts, quizzes, and a group presentation. Topics to be covered include globalization, economic interdependence, cultural exchange, poverty, security issues, and environmental challenges. The goal is for students to recognize their roles as global citizens and consider global dimensions of local and individual issues.

1. International Studies 100: Global Citizenship
Summer 2015: On-Line
Professor Richard R. Marcus
Office: LA3-100a
Phone: (562) 985-4714
Email: [email protected]
Skype: richard.marcus (Long Beach)
Course Description
Most, if not all, of us are citizens of particular nation-states. We
also have other communities of belonging, such as local, ethnic,
religious, or perhaps even our Beach pride. In these
communities, we take some level of responsibility for our
fellow members and expect to have a voice in determining the
rules and actions that affect us. In what ways, however, should
we also see ourselves as citizens of the world? How are our
economic, cultural, political, and social lives connected to those
in faraway places? How do our actions affect people living
across the globe? Are these effects positive or negative? How
do decisions made elsewhere affect our own lives? What is our
responsibility to people we have never met and whose language
we do not speak; what is their responsibility to us?
In this course, students will engage in investigation and critical
thinking assignments to unearth their own evidence and create
their own arguments about the global dimensions of our
everyday lives and local communities. Our iPhones, our
clothing, our food, our immigrant families and neighbors, the
truck ahead of us on the 710, last weekend’s blockbuster movie
– all have lives both locally and abroad. Together, we will learn
habits of thought that enable us to engage in arguments and
debates about the global aspects of these and other phenomena.

2. Course Methodology
This course is taught entirely on-line. It is predominantly
asynchronous. That is, there are no fixed periods of time for
classes, quizzes, or assignments. Instead, the work will be
assigned by unit. Each unit will last one week to two weeks.
Where the unit is two weeks the assignments and work effort
will clearly be divided between the weeks. It is your
responsibility to manage your own time and ensure you have
completed all of the course material and assignments for a given
week in that given week. Weeks will run from Monday to
Sunday.
Course Objectives and Outcomes
This course is organized around two main goals: 1) Developing
students’ critical thinking skills, as applied to international
problems and questions, and 2) Increasing students’ awareness
of contemporary global issues and perspectives. Thus, having
successfully completed I/ST 100, students will have expanded
their critical and analytical skills, developed their oral
communication skills, and increased their awareness of their
roles as global citizens.
Upon completion of International Studies 100, students will be
able to do the following:
• Collect firsthand evidence, critically analyze that
evidence, advocate ideas, and explore how arguments are
constructed in contemporary debates about economic, social,
and cultural globalization, global perspectives and global
citizenship. Through a discussion of facts, evidence and
explanation, students will learn about perspectives and biases in
knowledge construction about globalization.
• Take a position about global issues that is logical,
reasonable and well-supported by evidence, and that accounts
for multiple and competing perspectives on the same topic. Key

3. issues for debate and argumentation will include U.S. American
nationalism and identity, power in the creation of knowledge
about the world, the world economic system, global
environmental issues, borders and migration, authority and
sovereignty in a globalized world, the role of the United States
in the world, and the ethics of globalization.
• Critically evaluate discourses of the local and the national
to expose the ways in which they ignore or obscure the global.
Work and assignments
Quizzes (50% of grade)
There will be five multiple-choices quizzes in the course, each
worth 10% of your grade in the course. They will be given via
the “quiz” feature in Beachboard and will test student
comprehension and critical thinking. Quizzes will be instead of
a mid term or final exam.
Discussion Board (30% of grade)
Students will be given an average of two questions per week for
a total of 24 questions. Each student will be required to
respond at least twice to the posts of other students each week
for a total of 24 responses. They can be responses to whichever
question the student chooses. There are thus graded Discussion
Board assignments in this course. Students are required to use
Beachboard’s discussion board to answer questions. As with all
class materials, posts need to be complete before the end of the
week. Because two of the posts are “responses” students should
not expect to be able to wait until Sunday to post.
This material is challenging and the discussion forum is your
space to write through your struggles with it. Discussion posts
will be graded on their engagement with the class material.
They will not be graded on grammar, style, structure, spelling,

4. or mechanics. You may skip two (2) posts (of the 48) during the
semester without any penalty to your grade.
Discussion board comments and responses are to the material
for a given week. There will not be an opportunity to make up
discussion board responses in a future week because we will
have moved on to the next topic.
Presentations (20% of grade)
Students will work in teams of three (3) or four (4) to create the
scripts and images for their presentations and then record an
individual video covering their individual parts. Details will be
posted on Beachboard.
Required Reading
Manfred Steger, Globalization: a Very Short Introduction, 3nd
Edition. Additional readings available on BeachBoard.
Philip Diaz, End of Poverty? Think Again. Documentary Film.
Available in the CSULB library or for rent on Amazon Instant
Videos.
Mark Kitchell, American Masters: A Fierce Green Fire.
Documentary Film. Available online:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/a-fierce-
green-fire/watch-the-film/2924/
Class policies
Academic Honesty
Your oral and written assignments and examinations must be
your own work, written originally for this course.
Plagiarism
Academic misconduct will not be tolerated. In most cases
plagiarism is accidental, but that does not make it any more

5. acceptable. Please carefully review the CSULB definition of
plagiarism: http://www.csulb.edu/library/subj/plagiarism/. If a
student is caught plagiarizing s/he will automatically be given a
failing grade on the assignment or in the course, at the
professor’s discretion, and there are potentially more severe
CSULB actions. Please see the CSULB policy:
http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/research/our/information/poli
cies/cheating/. If you have any questions about how to properly
cite references please see me.
Cheating
All work is expected to be the original work of the student. No
cheating of any sort will be tolerated. Please see CSULB policy:
http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/aa/research/our/information/poli
cies/cheating/. If a student is caught cheating on an exam,
project, or quiz s/he will automatically receive a “0” for the
work. The instructor reserves the right to give the student an
“F” for the course and to report it to the appropriate university
disciplinary authorities for further consideration.
Turnitin.com
Students agree that by taking this course all required
assignments may be subject to submission for textual similarity
review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All
submitted assignments will be included as source documents in
the Turnitin.com reference database solely for the purpose of
detecting plagiarism of such papers. You may request, in
writing from your instructor, that your assignments not be
submitted to Turnitin.com. However, if you choose this option
you will be required to provide documentation to substantiate
that the assignments are your original work and do not include
any plagiarized material.
University Withdrawal Policy
It is the student’s responsibility to withdraw from classes.
Instructors have no obligation to withdraw students who do not

6. attend courses, and may choose not to do so. Withdrawal from a
course after the first two weeks of instruction requires the
signature of the instructor and the department chair or program
director, and is permissible only for serious and compelling
reasons. During the final three weeks of instruction,
withdrawals are not permitted except in cases such as accident
or serious illness where the circumstances causing the
withdrawal are clearly beyond the student’s control and the
assignment of an incomplete is not practical. Ordinarily,
withdrawals in this category involve total withdrawal from the
university.
Grading
The course is graded on points (0 to 100). All grades will be
converted to points on a hundred point scale and then calculated
as a proportion of the final grade in the class according to the
proportions detailed on the previous pages.
CSULB does not use “+” or “-“in final grades. Thus for final
course grades:
90-100 = “A”
80-89 = “B”
70-79 = “C”
60-69 = “D”
<60 = “F”
Late work
All work for this class is time-sensitive, and so no late work is
accepted unless there is a university-approved, documented
excuse. Acceptable reasons for delayed deadlines or missed
exams are the same as those for an excused absence. An
“excused” absence is defined by the CSULB as 1) illness or
injury to the student, 2) death, injury, or serious illness of an
immediate family member, 3) religious reasons (as defined by
California Education Code section 89320), 4) jury duty or
government obligation, 5) university sanctioned activities

7. (artistic performances, intercollegiate athletics, etc.).
Documentation must be provided for an excused absence. The
student is responsible for all missed work. In the event of an
excused absence the instructor will offer make up work. In the
event of an unexcused absence there will be no make up work
and the student will receive a “0” if there is an in-class
assignment grade.
BeachBoard
This course relies entirely on regular access to and use of
Beachboard. Students are expected to make regular use of this
platform and to be familiar with its basic use. If any student has
technology access issues, or is unfamiliar with the basics of
these platforms, he or she should speak to the professor about it
the first day of class. Note that it is the student’s responsibility
to ensure that all work is submitted on time. Technology
glitches are not an excuse. Students are therefore strongly
encouraged to submit work ahead of the due date in case there
are technical challenges.
We will be sending frequent emails via the BeachBoard system;
you are expected to keep your email address updated in that
system and to read your emails from us at least once per day.
Schedule
Week
Dates
Title
Readings
1
May 25-31
Global Literacy What do we know about the world?

8. · Watch:
https://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_on_global_population_
growth
· Last Week With John Oliver: Climate Change
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjuGCJJUGsg
· South African Comedian Trevor Noah on David Letterman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaqIvo3F-P4
2
June 1-7
Understanding Global Citizenship
· Read: Chapter Two in Globalization: A Very Short
Introduction
3
June 8-14
Is “our” economy really ours?
· Read: Krugman, Paul, “Why We’re in a New Gilded Age.”
· Watch:
https://www.ted.com/talks/chrystia_freeland_the_rise_of_the_ne
w_global_super_rich
4
June 15-21
The Local and the Global
· Chapter One in Globalization: A Very Short Introduction
· Watch: Story of Stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GorqroigqM
· Read: iPhone Economy:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/01/20/business/the-
iphone-economy.html?_r=0
· Read: Ward and Lindaman, “How Textbooks around the World
Portray US History: Monroe Doctrine and Manifest Destiny”
5
June 22-28
Globalization: An Overview
· Watch: Animaniacs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vg3-

9. TkhN4I
· Watch: Kobe Bryant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L6nVq2jspU
· Chapter Two in Globalization: A Very Short Introduction
· Chapter Three in Globalization: A Very Short Introduction
6
June 29-July 5
Political Aspects of Globalization
· Chapter 4 in Globalization: A Very Short Introduction
· Organizational Chart of the United Nations on the website:
un.org
· United Nations Year in Review 2013:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nntbLKgGajw
7
July 6-12
Cultural Aspects of Globalization
· Chapter 5 in Globalization: A Very Short Introduction
· ‘Art Revolution Blooms after Arab Spring’:
http://www.npr.org/2013/11/07/243720260/arab-spring-artists-
paint-the-town-rebel
· Singing Nun on The VoiceItaly goes viral:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=
wIQh39jWOoc
· ‘A Show of Strength by Middle Eastern Women
Photographers’: http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/26/a-
show-of-strength-by-middle-eastern-women-
photographers/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blo
gs&_r=1
· ‘Pumzi’ (short film from Kenya):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlR7l_B86Fc#t=17
· Watch ‘Shirin Neshat: Art in Exile’:
http://www.ted.com/talks/shirin_neshat_art_in_exile
8
July 13-19
Am I Poor?
· Read: Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen “Putting Growth in Its

10. Place”
· Read: Joseph E. Stiglitz “On the Wrong Side of
Globalization.”
· Read: Amartya Sen “Why India Trails China”
9
July 20-26
Am I Poor?
· Read: Gardiner Harris “Rival Economists in Public Battle
Over Cure for India’s Poverty.”
· Watch the movie: End of Poverty directed by Philippe Diaz.
10
July 27-Aug. 2
The World is a Dangerous Place?
· Taylor, William B, John E Herbst, and Steven Pifer, “When
Sanctions Aren’t Enough.”
· Katsiroubas, Xristos and Ali Medleg, “Why Terrorism Can
Grow in Any Soil…Including Our Own.”
· Hoffman, Bruce. “Low Tech Terrorism.”
11
August 3-9
Ecological Dimensions of Globalization
· Read Chapter 6, Ecological Dimensions of Globalization
· Watch segment of September 26, 2013, Democracy Now! on
the IPCC report
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/26/as_ipcc_warns_of_cli
mate_disaster
· Watch documentary: Fierce Green Fire,
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/a-fierce-
green-fire/watch-the-film/2924/
· BBC segment Arctic Time Lapse melt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEF66GRecQg
· Rising sea levels New York City:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xLokKVdk7I
12
August 10-16
I Am A Globally Transformative Being!

11. · Watch Jennifer Grout:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zF8mW4On1wY
· Watch Sima Group:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puCKf24PL5s
· Watch: Sheikha Al Mayassa
·
https://www.ted.com/talks/sheikha_al_mayassa_globalizing_the
_local_localizing_the_global
· Watch: Orhan Pamuk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY8jWbPeI50&list=PLA7108
3827CADD037
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