on a related note, I picked up the The Zen of Fish: The Story of Sushi, from Samurai to Supermarket by Trevor Corson from my local library yesterday and started to read it...it is probably not as relevant to the teaching of gep or globalization but if you're interested in sushi, food or the world of restaurants you might be interested in it. cheers, Syma
Leslie Wirpsa <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Robert and all interested in this topic -- I highly recommend The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy, by Sasha Issenberg. He was also intereviewed on NPR -- the interview might be good for use in class. Best, Leslie >From: "Robert Darst" >Reply-To: "Robert Darst" >To: "GEP-Ed" >Subject: "The Global Politics of Everyday Things" >Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:32:24 -0400 > >Hi all, > >At the suggestion of a colleague in the English Department, I foolishly >agreed earlier this year to develop a new course for our embryonic >Sustainability Studies minor, "The Global Politics of Everyday Things." The >basic idea is to present the students with innocuous items that they use >every day, and then to trace the commodity chains backwards and forwards to >illustrate various aspects of global politics, such as >human/children's/women's/labor rights, trade and outsourcing, violent >conflict, property rights, environmental protection, functional >cooperation, etc. I doubt that there is any aspect of international >relations that cannot be approached in this way. Now I only have to prep >the course, which brings me to you! > >Questions: > >(1) Have any of you ever taught a course along these lines, and if so could >you share your syllabus and lessons learned? > >(2) Do any of you know of good websites where my students (and their >instructor) could trace the commodity chains of multiple products? > >(3) Any suggestions for really surprising "everyday things"--that is, items >that no one would ever associate with global politics, but which in fact >have quite striking connections? > >Many thanks! I will certainly share the syllabus when I'm ready to roll. > >Best, >Rob >Associate Professor of Political Science >Associate Director of the Honors Program >University of Massachusetts Dartmouth >>(((((*>~~~~>>(((((*>~~~~>>(((((*>~~~~ Syma A. Ebbin, PhD.
