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Teaching Global Issues
Oberlin College
Department of Politics
International Studies Association
March 1998
The Problem
Improving and increasing international studies has become a priority on many campuses, 1 but as a report for the American Council on Education concludes, "the internationalizing of undergraduate education still has a long way to go." 2 How far it has to go can be easily shown. Reports of the shocking ignorance of Americans about other countries are well known, but less well known, and of some embarrassment to the college teaching profession, is that college-age Americans are the most ignorant of all adults. Adding to the insult is the fact that attending four years of college reduces that ignorance only slightly. 3 Eighteen to twenty-four-year-old Americans in the late 1980s possessed less information about the world than the same age group had forty years earlier. 4
This information is especially surprising given the new emphasis many colleges are placing on international studies. Also surprising is the fact that the average student in a four-year college or university takes several international studies courses, outside of foreign language instruction, before he or she graduates. 5 But a close look at these international studies courses reveals that most of them still focus on only one country or one region (often Western Europe), and only a few focus on a problem or issue which is found throughout the world. Also, few are interdisciplinary, and only a minority deal with the world as it is today. 6
A national study of international courses at both the pre-collegiate and collegiate level in the mid-1980s found that most textbook publishers were producing books which reportedly dealt with global issues, but in reality many of these textbooks were retitled versions of older texts. 7 That report concluded that because textbooks change very slowly, there is a "need for model or exemplary materials that are sensitive to the realities of a global society." 8
We indeed seem to be far from achieving what one report called an important characteristic of the truly internationalized university: it is a school where "no student graduates who has never been asked to think about the rights and responsibilities of this country in the world community, or who has never been brought to empathize with people of a different culture." 9
Preparing students so that they will be able to function in an increasingly complex and interdependent world is a huge task, one which will require a better trained and more committed faculty and college administration. No easy answers, solutions, or quick fixes are possible, but many different methods and approaches are being tried, with varied degrees of success. As the American Council on Education study found, what we don't have now in the USA is a way to know what works, and what doesn't, and why they do or don't. 10 Needed are reports of successes and failures in the attempts to achieve the important characteristic of the truly internationalized university which the above quotation appropriately identifies.
A Solution
While attending a conference recently on the Third World, I heard college teachers complain that they could not get their students interested in studying the Third World, where most of the world's people live. As I thought about this complaint, I realized that I had discovered the answer to the question, How do you get American students to want to study the non-Western world? I know that you don't do it by reminding them that their bananas come from that world. The student's reaction to that statement is, So what? Who cares? The way you get them interested is by introducing real global problems and exploring their possible solutions. You demonstrate that global problems are American problems, that our actions help create or solve the problems, and that the problems affect our lives, in the present as well as in the future.
Over the past fifteen years I have taught a course for undergraduates called "Global Issues." The course, outlined below, focuses on many of the most important global issues today, issues that both the more developed and the less developed nations can no longer ignore. I believe that one reason that many social science teachers do not teach a course on global issues is that they do not know how to deal with these issues in a respectable, scholarly way--in a manner that will prevent the class from just becoming a forum for the discussion of current events. But I have found that there is a concept--"development"--which can serve as the tool we need for treating these issues in a responsible manner. Social scientists commonly use this concept only with reference to the poorer nations, but "development" can also be a powerful tool for analyzing conditions in and actions of the richer nations.
Wealth and Poverty The first full week of the course is spent on getting students to consider the extremely difficult question, Why are some countries rich and some poor? Students examine three of the most widely accepted approaches or views of economic development: the market approach (also called the neoclassical or capitalist approach), the state approach (also called the command economy or socialist approach), and the civil society approach (decentralized development by community organiuzations and grass roots movements)..
Population For two weeks we look at the relationship between population and development. The changing population of the world is described, and the causes of the population explosion in the Third World are given. Students learn how population growth affects development and how development affects population growth. The demographic transition is explained and students become familiar with the factors which lower birth rates. Some attention during this period is paid to the population policies of major countries, such as China. This segment of the course ends with a consideration of the future--whether a stabilization of the world's population will occur and whether the carrying capacity of the Earth will be exceeded.
Food For two weeks food holds our attention. World food production trends are examined, and a tentative answer given to the question of how many are hungry in the world today. We investigate the causes of hunger in parts of the world such as Africa. Students learn how the availability and quality of food affect development and how development affects both the production of food and the type of food consumed. A short history of the Green Revolution is given. The food policies of the U.S. and a few other countries are examined and, finally,if time permits, we think about how changes in the climate, the amount of arable land, and the cost of energy could affect future food supplies.
Energy Two weeks is not enough time to investigate thoroughly the relationship between energy and development, but it is enough time to introduce students to this vital subject. A description of the energy crisis caused by the rapid increase in the price of oil in the 1970s is followed by a summary of the responses to that crisis by the U.S., Western Europe, and Japan. The effect of the energy crisis on Third World development plans is explained. As we explore the relationship between energy use and development, students learn about the shift in the types of energy sources that took place as the Industrial Revolution progressed and how there has been a partial decoupling of energy consumption and economic growth--a new ability to produce economic growth with less energy. The subject of the greenhouse effect could be examined in the next section of the course, but I include it in the energy section because it serves as a good bridge to my discussion of nonrenewable and renewable energy sources. The role of conservation during the present period of energy transition is also explored. I end this section of the course with a presentation of the main arguments for and against nuclear power, which allows me to demonstrate how difficult and complicated are the choices the political system must make when dealing with energy.
The EnvironmentAs is the case with energy, two weeks is not much time to explore the effects development has on the environment (and the reverse, the effects the environment has on development), but significant information on the subject can be passed to students during that short time. A brief history of the awakening in the U.S. to threats to the environment caused by industrialization introduces the subject, and provides the setting for an examination of the threats to the air, water, and land which have come with development. Airborne lead, acid rain, and the depletion of the ozone layer illustrate some of the main concerns we have at present with air pollution. The current concern with threats to our groundwater by migrating chemicals presents an example of water pollution caused by development, and the problem of how to handle huge amounts of solid and toxic wastes demonstrates well to the students the extremely difficult tasks the political system faces as it tries to preserve the land. The problem of deforestation in the Third World is briefly examined so that students become aware of the harm deforestation can bring to the land, its connection to the extinction of species, as well as the changes it can make in the climate. The connection between development and the extinction of cultures is also examined. Chemicals, cancer, and pesticides are considered under a section in which we focus our concern on the work place and the home. Finally, the effect development has on the use of natural resources gains our attention, and students learn--often with some surprise--that development has often, at least so far, made many natural resources more available and cheaper. Recycling, substitution, and the mining of low grade ores are subjects presented at the end of this section of the course as we consider future supplies. The concept "overdevelopment" is also presented, as students consider reducing needs as a possible response to scarcities.
TechnologyStudents are reminded of the many benefits that technology has brought to our lives. Because they are more aware of the benefits than the harm technology can produce, the course focuses on the dangers. Students learn that the decision of whether or not to use a certain technology can be a difficult one, especially in "tragedy of the commons" situations where short-term interests and long-term interests conflict. Illustrations of the unanticipated consequences of the use of technology are given as are examples of the inappropriate uses of technology. Limits to the "technological fix" are illustrated. The threat of nuclear war is presented as a case study under the technology section. After the threat is presented, some of the main choices which our government has for dealing with this threat are given.
Alternative Futures.I end the course by focusing on different possible futures. During the last week we examine the main arguments that advocates make for the possibilities that doom, growth, or a sustainable development are likely to be our future.
How does one teach the above material? I have used a combination of techniques. I have adopted as the basic text my book, Seitz (1995). I also also used the latest edition of the Worldwatch Institute's State Annual Editions(various years). State of the World is an excellent annual updating of many of the topics covered in my course, although the large amount of detailed, factual information in the book overwhelms some undergraduates. Students are also required to subscribe to the Christian Science Monitor which allows them to follow current developments in all of the subjects covered in the course.
Videotapes play an important role in the course. Many excellent programs related to topics in our course appear on public television. The experience of seeing an interesting, current portrayal of a topic we are studying is a powerful teaching technique. The tapes reinforce what the students are learning and broaden their knowledge. I try to show at least two tapes related to each of the five main subtopics in the course.
Students write a 5 to 8 page typewritten research paper. In the paper they focus on an issue in greater depth than we have been able to in the course. The specific paper topic is as follows: "Explore how well the government in some country in the world is dealing with one of the major global problems or issues which we are covering in the course. In your research paper address what the government is doing to help solve this problem, what it may be doing which makes the problem worse, how it may be ignoring the problem, what options or choices it has in handling this issue, and whether the problem can be solved without the involvement of the government."
What have students gained by taking this course? It is probably best to let the students speak for themselves. For the past seven years at the end of the course I have asked students to write, in a short unsigned essay, what they felt was the most important thing they learned in the course. These three responses give some common conclusions:
The most important thing I learned is that problems concerning population, food, energy, etc. are real. I feel that most people don't realize the magnitude of these problems. However, by taking this course, I now see that all these problems are greater than I originally thought . This course taught me the first step in combatting these problems, and that is to recognize that they are REAL!"
"I had known about the environmental movement and even considered myself an environmentalist. Sure I wanted to take care of my environment; new energy sources sounded cool; pollution was bad and needed to be stopped, etc. However, I never really knew how inter-connected all of this was until I took this course . I learned how changes in one area can drastically affect what I previously thought were unrelated things . I learned that all of these problems are inter-connected and must be studied as such if any real (long term) solution is ever to be found for them."
"The most important thing I learned was to stop thinking like an American and only think about self-interest. Rather now I think about my neighbor be it in Converse Heights or my neighbor in South America. Prof. Seitz you focused my mind to look at the big picture instead of the small one. When I [threw away an empty] can of Coke previously I would say, 'What can I do about recycling?' Now I see that even a little effort to make a difference does just that, it makes a difference. Now when I get in my car to go to the store, I think twice and now I usually will walk. Before when I said [what's wrong] with one more light on, it's just 20 cents a day lost. Now I think about how [the production of] electricity pollutes the atmosphere, so now I conserve electricity and other fossil fuels as well. To sum it all up, I have learned to be more responsible to this precious world we call earth. For that, whatever grade I receive, I thank you for opening not just my eyes but my mind."
A course of instruction which follows the above outline utilizes three levels of analysis, which contribute to its effectiveness: the individual, the nation, and the international system. To understand the issues one must look at the behavior of individuals, the actions and policies of nations, and the condition of the world's environment as well as of its economic and political systems. Solutions to the global problems require individual efforts, new national policies, and international agreements.
Such a course of instruction has three main goals. The first is to increase student knowledge of some of the most important problems facing the world today. And the student learns that this knowledge comes from many different disciplines. Second, this instruction helps students learn of the complex interrelationships among the issues. A third goal is to evaluate possible solutions to the problems studied. As the students consider possible solutions, they learn the vital fact that human actions (including their own) can change the world in very different ways.
Can these goals be achieved? Certainly they cannot for every student, nor will every student who achieves one, achieve all three. But many can achieve one or more of these goals. Students appreciate an effort which helps them understand the complicated and rapidly changing world in which they live. When we help them acquire this information, we are giving them both the knowledge they will need to live in today's world, but more importantly, the knowledge which will enable them, if they so desire, to add their talents to the efforts being made to solve many of these global problems.
Notes:
Note 1: Ann Kelleher, "One World, Many Voices," Liberal Education 77 (November/ December 1991), pp. 2-7. Back.
Note 2: Richard D. Lambert, International Studies and the Undergraduate (Washington, DC: American Council on Education, 1989), p. 153. Back.
Note 6: Ibid., pp. 115-127. Back.
Note 7: Andrew F. Smith and Walter Brown, Research on Learning Packages and Course Syllabi Developed for International Studies Courses: A Collection, Analysis and Dissemination Project (1986) (ERIC Document ED 288746), p. 15. Back.
Note 9: Humphrey Tonkin and Jane Edwards, "Internationalizing the University: the Arduous Road to Euphoria," Educational Record 71 (Spring 1990), p. 15. Back.
Note 10: Richard Lambert, International Studies and the Undergraduate, p. 157. Back.
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