Strands

The Globalization & Human Rights course, which is semester-long, focuses on the following:

• An understanding of the impact of globalization, both positive and negative, on human rights
  
• A study of the history of the concept of human rights, particularly in the 20th Century
  
• An awareness of current significant human rights issues throughout the world
  

News Analysis--Students subscribe to the Economist and each week read news stories and columns dealing with globalization and human rights issues. Class discussions often center on human rights issues featured in the Economist.

Readings--Students read from a variety of sources, including Human Rights Watch Report 2010, subscribe to several Internet listservs which provide updates on human rights issues throughout the world.

Human RIghts Report Card Web Page--Students choose a nation in the world and create a Human Rights Report Card Web Page that provides statistical data, recent news articles, a list of non-governmental organizations active in the country, human rights issues, photos, and other relevant information.

Human Geography Skills--Students use the Atlas of Global Development produced by the World Bank to discuss the impact of globalization on today's world and learn the location of every nation in the world.

White Papers--Students write analytical papers on a specific human rights issue or problem area, identifying the historical context, the current problem, and a recommendation for a nation, non-governmental organization, or group to take to address the problem.

Documentaries and News Videos--Video segments from a variety of television news programs, in addition to full-length documentaries are viewed.

Films--Feature-length movies addressing human rights issues are viewed, either during class or in the evening. Films have included

Hotel Rwanda--Don Cheadle stars in this true story of how one man can make a difference in the face of chaos and mass murder. Based on the Rwandan civil war that resulted in at least 500,000 deaths.

Black Hawk Down--The ill-fated mission of U.S. Rangers in Mogadishu, Somalia illustrates the dangers of military intervention during a humanitarian crisis.

Syriana--The complicated world of Middle Eastern politics and the oil business is presented in a thriller starring George Clooney.

Babel--Four familes are involved in inter-related stories set in Baja California, Morocco, and Japan illustrating the connected nature of the modern world.

The Killing Fields--An account of the Cambodian massacre under the Pol Pot regime through the experience of an American journalist and his translator.