Local Approaches to Global Issues

Catalog description

Following the study segment of Foundations of Global Studies, this course applies the concepts and theoretical perspectives addressed in those seminars to the work of local actors engaged with global issues. The goal of this course is to show the practical side of global studies as it plays out in the local and international activities of organizations in the public and the private sector. Students will meet with government representatives and visit non- governmental organizations, corporations, and grass-roots initiatives in order to discuss how these actors respond to global challenges and help shape the governance framework addressing these challenges. This experiential learning exercise emphasizes ¿a search for feasible solutions¿ to global problems by applying a trans-disciplinary analytic mode to the incentives and constraints of `global actors¿ and the regulatory structures surrounding them and a multi-dimensional assessment of the sustainability of the respective organizational strategies pursued.