Global Citizenship (GCIT)

This course introduces students to the study of political violence with a particular focus on war. Understanding the motivations behind acts of violence, societal and human costs of violence, types of violence used by state and nonstate actors and its physical, psychological and emotional effects on everyday people across different global societies allows us to learn more about the world we live in. This course explores historical and contemporary cases of gang violence, conflicts, terrorism, torture, civil wars, revolutions, riots and militarism from around the world.

This course asks whether there are certain rights that we all possess as human beings and explores the prominence of this question in international relations and its contribution to global justice. Students will monitor the status of human rights protections and violations in nations around the world, as well as global initiatives to promote and expand human rights, and how these policies relate to international law and concepts of citizenship. Students will also consider how cultural and historical factors have shaped diverse understandings of human rights and citizenship in societies around the world.

The course will emphasize the intersection between global political relations and global economics, and how the two together impact social relations worldwide. Various complementary and competing political and economic perspectives (from capitalist to socialist) will be used to address recent trends in the development of a global economy, international trade, the formation of regional blocs such as NAFTA and the EU, and North-South political/economic relations.

What are our obligations as global citizens for addressing environmental issues that threaten Earth's ecosystems and climate' The Environment and Global Citizenship examines the causes, development and current impacts of major environmental problems and considers the possibilities and challenges of addressing them through global cooperation and technological innovation. Students will apply concepts of equity and environmental justice as they analyze the international dynamics responsible for the unequal distribution of responsibility and suffering related to environmental degradation around the world. This course can be counted towards the Environmental Humanities concentration.

In this course, students will examine theories of, and debates surrounding, global immigration – looking at the similarities and differences in its processes, causes, and outcomes, as well as the contrasting responses that immigrants encounter in their host nations. Topics will include the reasons why people migrate and how immigration changes countries, institutions, communities, and the immigrants themselves. Students will draw from material learned in other Hallmarks classes – including critical reading, writing, and historical skills, as well as knowledge of social inequalities and challenges – to think holistically about global immigration.

Businesses are increasingly sourcing, producing, or supplying both intermediate and final goods across various global locations. These business practices, which coincided with tremendous increases in the globalization of trade and investments in the last few decades, have created a complex network known as global supply chains. This course surveys the development of these global supply chains within the context of local and international power dynamics. The course explores the political economy of these global production and distribution networks while examining the political, cultural, and socio-economic outcomes of these networks. This course can be counted towards the Design Humanities certification.

This course surveys the history, current practices, and future of global health. Students will explore the interconnections between health, economics, policy, and power at institutional and individual levels, and consider the methods used to evaluate, protect and promote global health. Topics such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, obesity, lead poisoning, mental disorders, and tobacco use will be used to illustrate the principles and dilemmas of global health. The course also examines how local, national, and international factors, including public health agencies, international agreements and institutions, and non-governmental funders influence global health. This course can be counted towards the Health Humanities certificatio

As competing economic systems and theories, capitalism and socialism have shaped the modern age since at least the Industrial Revolution, transforming the world and offering radically different visions for how to achieve ideals such as social equality, prosperity, happiness, freedom, democracy, and human rights. Often thought of as opposites, in practice capitalism and socialism have long been intertwined, and every nation in the world today incorporates some of the logic of each. This course invites students to explore how these economic ideas, in both their radical and mundane forms, have shaped societies through their intersection with topics such as wealth, poverty, labor, exploitation, politics, technology, religion, healthcare, education, gender equality, social welfare, colonization, racism, slavery, and international relations.

This course provides an overview of the forces that are shaping international politics and economics. This course will help students understand the roles of international institutions such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund,as well as non-governmental actors such as Amnesty International and al Qaeda. Students will also examine the process of economic globalization in order to understand its varying impacts on different world regions.