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Photograph by Ajay Singh
UCLA Today
Students in the Global Studies I course that recently ended
heard such guest lecturers as former Secretary of State Warren
Christopher discuss world affairs. |
Students study impact of globalization
BY Ajay singh
UCLA Today Staff
Giuliana Avalos is nervous about going to Spain this fall. Spain,
after all, colonized her ancestral homeland, Peru. Besides, she
isn’t sure which of her three cultural identities she should
stress during her yearlong visit as a fourth-year political science
major — Peruvian, Spanish or American.
But thanks to Global Studies I, a new undergraduate course and
the first core course of the global studies major, Avalos is confident
of resolving her predicament. Both the course and the new major,
offered by the UCLA International Institute for the first time last
spring, are aimed at exploring worldwide issues from a broad, interdisciplinary
perspective. And, thanks to the course, Avalos, who “feels
part of more than one world,” has learned much about how global
interactions “shape my views, preferences and futures.”
Avalos is among 368 undergraduates who finished the course, one
of the most popular on campus, this month. Coming from a multiplicity
of disciplines, they explored some of the most important international
issues of the day, including the impact of globalization on China,
nuclear proliferation, human rights and world markets.
“We ask students to think globally,” said Dominic Thomas,
the course’s lead instructor and chair of the Department of
French and Francophone Studies. “Our fundamental objective
is to think about the different ways in which globalization is used
today in terms of business, tourism, telecommunications, politics,
identities.”
The course is woven around three themes: culture and society, economics
and markets, and politics and global conflict.
A key feature of the course is an extensive series of talks given
by guest lecturers on topics as diverse as international security
and the globalization of entertainment. Recent speakers included
former Secretary of State Warren Christopher, former Secretary of
Commerce Mickey Kantor and Gareth Chang, a top executive of the
News Corp. media conglomerate.
The new major is very rigorous. It incorporates two years of language
study and a senior thesis. It also requires that students engage
in summer travel study at Global Learning Institutes in cities where
American undergraduates typically do not go to study.
Last summer, the International Institute held its first Global
Learning Institute in Shanghai; this summer, an institute will again
be offered there, along with Hong Kong and Guanajuato, Mexico.
Huy Ho, a second-year business economics major who wants to also
major in global studies, chose to go to Shanghai because he wants
to see how globalization affects people’s lives in China’s
most westernized city. During a field trip to Beijing, he also hopes
to gain insight on why military and trade frictions between China
and Washington continue to flare and what might resolve them.
Given its strong transnational approach and the fact that global
studies is the latest in a string of outstanding international programs
on campus, it’s no surprise that UCLA was recently chosen
by the Association of International Educators as one of the five
winners of the second annual Senator Paul Simon Awards for Campus
Internationalization.
Indeed, it’s hard to think of a more ideal location for global
studies than UCLA, said Thomas. “So many students here are
recent immigrants, and the faculty that teaches them comes from
a broad range of disciplines,” he explained. “This helps
students better understand the world they live in and better process
the issues they are dealing with.”
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