Global Issues Colloquium (IDSM 301)
Fall 2018
Dr. Amber Johnson
Some Thursdays 7-9 pm
Hello, and welcome to the Fall 2018 Global Issues Colloquium. My name is Dr. Amber Johnson, and I will be the facilitator for this course.
You can reach me by email or phone:
ajohnson@truman.edu
660-785-4322
My office is in Barnett 2222. My regular office hours are MW 8:30-11:20, TR 1:30-2:50 or by appointment. [One Wednesday a month I have a department meeting 8:30-9:30am.]
Description
In this course students prepare for, attend, and reflect on Global Issues Colloquium topics. The colloquium topics vary from semester to semester and are listed at http://globalissues.truman.edu/. Students will read assigned texts before each colloquium, craft questions for presenters, and write short reflections after each colloquium. The course is 1 credit hour with credit/ no credit grading and may be repeated for up to three credits. This course counts toward the 63-hour Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) graduation requirement.
Topics for Fall 2018
This fall, there will be at least 4 Global Issues Colloquia. Mark these days and times in your planner or calendar so that you don’t double schedule. Sometimes additional lectures are added to the Global Issues schedule during the semester. These are good options for making up for a lecture you might miss. Check https://globalissues.truman.edu/ for updates through the semester.
Thursday, September 6, 7-9 pm
Magruder 2001
Student Panel on National/ International Climate Activism
Students who have participated in national and international climate activism will share their experiences. The panel will be moderated by Dr. Christine Harker, CRP, CCL from the Truman English Department.
The issue of climate change is one which affects all life on Earth, but disproportionately its effects will be felt by the youth of today. So it is hardly surprising that student-led activism comprises an increasingly important part of climate change political engagement. This Global Issues Colloquium features a panel of student climate activists, whose political energy has been directed in different but intersecting directions. From Truman State University there is Eugenia Delgado, Biology graduate student and recently trained Climate Reality Leader and Emma Rollins, undergraduate in [ENVS?], who is an active member of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby and traveled to Washington DC to lobby Representative Sam Graves this past June. Also we will be joined by Mizzou student, Mason Brobeck, undergraduate member of the MU Divestment Campaign. The panel will be moderated by Dr Christine Harker, CRP, CCL from the Truman English Department.
Thursday, September 27, 7-9pm
Baldwin Hall Little Theater (BH 102)
Dr. Tal Simmons, forensic anthropologist and the chair of Forensic Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Simmons has worked with identification of the dead as well as identification of trauma in human bones in situations that feature human rights abuses. She has worked for both Amnesty International and the International Committee of the Red Cross and for other international agencies in Guatemala, Sri Lanka, Kosovo, and Bosnia, and as a consultant for many other national and international agencies.
Thursday, October 25, 7-9pm
Baldwin Hall Little Theater (BH 102)
Dr. Robert Kelly, archaeologist, University of Wyoming
In his recent book, The Fifth Beginning: What 6 Million Years of Human History Can Tell Us About Our Future, Kelly identifies four key pivot points in the six-million-year history of human development: the emergence of technology, culture, agriculture, and the state. In each example, he examines the long-term processes that resulted in a definitive, no-turning-back change for the organization of society. Kelly then looks ahead, giving us evidence for what he calls a fifth beginning, one that started about AD 1500. Some might call it “globalization,” but the author places it in its larger context: a five-thousand-year arms race, capitalism’s global reach, and the cultural effects of a worldwide communication network. Kelly predicts that the emergent phenomena of this fifth beginning will include the end of war as a viable way to resolve disputes, the end of capitalism as we know it, the widespread shift toward world citizenship, and the rise of forms of cooperation that will end the near-sacred status of nation-states. It’s the end of life as we have known it. However, the author is cautiously optimistic: he dwells not on the coming chaos, but on humanity’s great potential.
Thursday, November 8, 7-9pm
MG 2001
Dr. Mike Rudy, Political Science, Truman State University
Capitalist Peace
While a vast and deep research paradigm exists related to democratic peace, much less work exists on how capitalist institutions affect state bellicosity levels. Furthermore, American political leaders have pushed for pushed for both greater global democratization and marketization. However, marketization is rarely spoken of as peacemaker while democracy receives much of the credit towards increases cooperative behavior. New arguments and evidence suggest capitalisms pacifying role may be understated. This colloquium is an exploration of how capitalist and democratic institutions facilitate and incentivize nonviolent solutions in a competitive international environment.
Course Outcomes
You will:
- Practice being a critical reader, listener, and thinker, aware of global issues and the sort of investigation required to understand them.
- Strengthen your ability to formulate informed questions and to appreciate and evaluate responses to them.
- Become more aware of your own culturally constructed biases.
- Join a local community that recognizes a responsibility to think globally.
Course Texts
No books are required though each colloquium will require advance reading of materials posted to Blackboard.
Course Expectations
Preparation: Read the three essays (posted to Blackboard) in preparation before each colloquium. Type at least four thoughtful questions for each presenter, bring them to the colloquium, use them as best you can, and turn them in through Blackboard by the beginning of the colloquium. (If you have personal experiences with an issue, those can be the source of especially rich discussions. Also think of ways the topic connects with your other academic work.)
Follow-up: By the Monday following each colloquium, submit through Blackboard a one or two-page reflection on the colloquium topic, focusing on the issues discussed, and evaluating the sorts of evidence presented in support of positions and counter-positions. The essays must incorporate each of the assigned readings and show evidence of understanding their arguments.
Participate in blog discussion in Blackboard: For each colloquium participate in the blog discussion by posting some of your own thoughts or questions, reading and responding to other students’ posts. We will try to engage in this discussion both before and after each colloquium. Posts before the colloquium should focus on developing the issue and context and sharing questions of interest. Posts after each colloquium should focus on exploring some of the interesting details of the argument and discussion, what you learned, or what questions remain. Each student should participate in the blog discussion either before or after the colloquium. Everyone is encouraged to read the blog posts. This fills the role of class discussion.
Attendance: Attend all the colloquiums. If you must miss one of the colloquiums, notify the facilitator as soon as possible so we can find an alternative event for you to prepare for, attend, engage, and reflect upon. The colloquiums are typically scheduled for Thursday evenings from 7-9pm, and you must stay for the entire session.
Grading: This course is credit/no credit. To receive credit, you must:
- engage in Blackboard discussions with your peers,
- demonstrate preparation through careful reading and crafting of questions,
- attend each lecture (it is your responsibility to find and sign the sign-in sheet),
- ask at least one question in at least two of the colloquiums, and
- turn in a reflection on each colloquium topic.
Not participating in any of these ways means you do not receive credit.
What kind of work is expected for one credit hour?
The federal definition for a credit hour is that it is the work equivalent to one contact hour plus at least two hours of preparation each week for a fifteen-week semester. That is: (1+2) x 15 = 45 hrs of effort across the semester.
We will divide our effort five pieces. Approximate expected effort is noted in bold.
- On national/ international climate activism
- prepare by reading materials posted & thinking about what you already know and what you would like to know about the impact of climate change and role of activists [4 hrs]
- write four good questions to bring with you to the colloquium (ask one of these or a new question that occurs to you during the discussion), turn questions in through Blackboard [1 hr]
- attend the lecture and engage the ideas presented by the speaker in this public discussion forum [2 hrs]
- write a 1-2 page reflection that integrates the materials you read to prepare with the ideas presented in the colloquium, turn in through Blackboard [2 hrs]
- read other entries and contribute to the Blackboard course blog discussion on this colloquium either before or after the colloquium [2 hrs]
- On forensic anthropology
- prepare by reading materials posted & thinking about what you already know and what you would like to know about the work of forensic anthropologists and their role in understanding our current sociopolitical context [4 hrs]
- write four good questions to bring with you to the colloquium (ask one of these or a new question that occurs to you during the discussion), turn questions in through Blackboard [1 hr]
- attend the lecture and engage the ideas presented by the speaker in this public discussion forum [2 hrs]
- write a 1-2 page reflection that integrates the materials you read to prepare with the ideas presented in the colloquium, turn in through Blackboard [2 hrs]
- read other entries and contribute to the Blackboard course blog discussion on this colloquium either before or after the colloquium [2 hrs]
- Second colloquium on archaeological perspective of current moment in time
- prepare by reading materials posted & thinking about what you already know and what you would like to know about the work of archaeologists and their role in understanding our current sociopolitical context [4 hrs]
- write four good questions to bring with you to the colloquium (ask one of these or a new question that occurs to you during the discussion), turn questions in through Blackboard [1 hr]
- attend the lecture and engage the ideas presented by the speaker in this public discussion forum [2 hrs]
- write a 1-2 page reflection that integrates the materials you read to prepare with the ideas presented in the colloquium, turn in through Blackboard [2 hrs]
- contribute to the Blackboard course blog discussion on this colloquium either before or after the colloquium [2 hrs]
- Third colloquium on capitalist peace
- prepare by reading materials posted & thinking about what you already know and what you would like to know about the work of political scientists and their role in understanding our current sociopolitical context [4 hrs]
- write four good questions to bring with you to the colloquium (ask one of these or a new question that occurs to you during the discussion), turn questions in through Blackboard [1 hr]
- attend the lecture and engage the ideas presented by the speaker in this public discussion forum [2 hrs]
- write a 1-2 page reflection that integrates the materials you read to prepare with the ideas presented in the colloquium, turn in through Blackboard [2 hrs]
- contribute to the Blackboard course blog discussion on this colloquium either before or after the colloquium [2 hrs]
- Ideas for future Global Issues Colloquia [1 hr]
- Identify 3-5 global issues that you think would be good topics for future colloquia
- Do a little research on who is engaging these issues in an interesting way
- For at least one topic, develop a 1-2 page synopsis of issue, context, and key questions of interest along with suggestions for who we might invite to present on the topic
- Turn in list of 3-5 topics, information on who is working on them, and developed synopsis of one topic through Blackboard
I look forward to your contributions to the Global Issues Colloquium discussion this semester and to your ideas for future colloquia!
Contact Information:
Dr. Amber Johnson
Office: Barnett Hall 2222A (office in back of lab)
Phone: 785-4322
Email: ajohnson@truman.edu
Schedule fall 2018:
OFFICE HOURS
Times with regularly scheduled classes and meetings are indicated on this schedule. Times I will almost always be in my office are shaded in light purple. Darker purple indicates times I’ll often be in or around my office, but you might want to check my schedule for a particular day before you make a special trip to BT.
| Time | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| 8:00 | Research/ Writing | Research/ Writing | |||
| 8:30 | Office Hours | Department Meetings | |||
| 9:00 | School Chairs Meetings | ||||
| 9:30 | Office Hours | ||||
| 10:00 | |||||
| 10:30 | |||||
| 11:00 | |||||
| 11:30 | SOAN 220: Wrld Prehistory
BT 2225 |
GYM | SOAN 220: Wrld Prehistory
BT 2225 |
GYM | SOAN 220: Wrld Prehistory
BT 2225 |
| 12:00 | |||||
| 12:30 | SOAN 130 New Mjrs Sem
BT 2226 |
SOAN 490: Senior Seminar | |||
| 1:00 | Office HOurs | Office Hours | |||
| 1:30 | |||||
| 2:00 | |||||
| 2:30 | |||||
| 3:00 | School Meetings | School Meetings/ Fac Senate/ UGC | |||
| 3:30 | |||||
| 4:00 | |||||
| 4:30 | |||||
| 5:00 | GLOBAL ISSUES EVENINGS |
Please drop in (the time I spend with you, my students, is usually the best part of my day!) or schedule appointments at your convenience. I will do what I can to accommodate your schedule.
After coming to my office, the best way to reach me is with email. Voice mail is a less reliable way of contacting me.
- I generally respond to emails within 24 hours during the week. On evenings/ weekends I try to take a break from email. I will notify students and advisees if I expect to be out of touch for any longer than 48 hrs during the semester.
To check my schedule for a particular day/ time, or to leave a phone message, especially if you need to know I got the message, you can call the Department Office and talk to Deb Engen (Dept. Secretary – 785-4667).
POLICIES IN EFFECT FOR THIS COURSE:
University Attendance Policy per SB-6516: It is University policy that each instructor determines and communicates the attendance requirements for the class. Only the instructor can excuse missed classes or assignments. When a conflict arises, a student is expected to resolve his or her situation first with the instructor, and if that fails, with the instructor’s Department Chair and then the Dean. If unresolved issues remain, an Attendance Policy Appeals Committee exists to hear appeals.
An appeal of the instructor’s attendance policy is not sustained unless there is clear and convincing evidence that it was applied in an unreasonable manner or is in violation of widely held ethical or legal principles.
In general, a student is expected to be present at all classes. Regular class attendance is necessary in order for a student to achieve the desired standard of academic achievement. Irregular attendance normally results in lower levels of achievement. Students are therefore expected to contact instructors as soon as possible when an absence is expected or as soon as possible after an unanticipated absence occurs.
In this course, there is not a specific portion of your grade earned through attendance. As long as you communicate early and follow up appropriately, I will work with you to ensure a necessary and/ or University sanctioned absence does not keep you from being able to take an exam or turn in an assignment.
ACADEMIC HONESTY
Personal and scholarly integrity are expected of everyone in the class. Failure to live up to those responsibilities, risks earning a failing grade on the assignment/examination, a failing grade for the course, and/or in serious cases expulsion for the academic program or University. The University policy on academic dishonesty as published in the Student Conduct Code and General/Graduate Catalog applies (http://catalog.truman.edu/content.php?catoid=13&navoid=625&hl=academic+dishonesty&returnto=search#Academic_Dishonesty).
University policy: Students are expected to do their own academic work. Any student involved in cheating on a paper, an examination or in any other form of academic dishonesty is subject to disciplinary action, including suspension or expulsion from the class, the student’s academic program, or the University. Plagiarism, copying or using another person’s work without proper citation, is a form of academic dishonesty.
NON-DISCRIMINATION AND COMPLIANCE NOTICES:
Notice of ADA accommodations : If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and the Disability Services Office (x4478) http://disabilityservices.truman.edu/disability-services-home/resources-for-professors/ as soon as possible.
- NOTE: The Disability Services Office has recently moved to Kirk Building, in proximity to the Center for Academic Excellence.
Statement of non-discrimination: In compliance with federal law and applicable Missouri statutes, the University does not discriminate on the basis of sex, disability, age, race, color, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status in admission to or employment in its education programs or activities. The University complies with the regulations implementing Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972; Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; the Age Discrimination Act of 1975; and other state and federal laws and regulations.
Title IX and Student Sexual Misconduct
As an instructor, one of my responsibilities is to help create a safe learning environment on our campus. I also have a mandatory reporting responsibility related to my role as a faculty member. I am required to share information regarding sexual misconduct or information about a crime that may have occurred on Truman’s campus with the University. Students may speak to someone confidentially by contacting University Counseling Services at 660-785-4014 (660-665-5621 for after-hours crisis counseling.)
FERPA: Education records are protected by the Family Education Right to Privacy Act (FERPA). As a result, course grades, assignments, advising records, etc. cannot be released to third parties without your permission. However, you should be aware of several exceptions. For example, education records can be disclosed to employees or offices at Truman who have an “educational need to know”. These employees and offices may include your academic advisor, the Institutional Compliance Officer, the Registrar’s Office, or Student Affairs depending on the type of information. For more information about FERPA, see http://www.truman.edu/registrar/ferpa/.
Statement on disruptive behavior: Behavior that persistently or flagrantly interferes with classroom activities is considered disruptive behavior and may be subject to disciplinary action. Such behavior inhibits other students’ ability to learn and an instructor’s ability to teach. A student responsible for disruptive behavior may be asked to leave class pending discussion and resolution of the problem and may be reported to the Office of Student Conduct.
Emergency Procedures
in the event of an active shooter/hostile intruder, fire, severe weather, bomb threat, power outage, and medical emergency. This poster is also available as a PDF on the Blackboard course for this class or at this link:http://police.truman.edu/files/2015/12/Emergency-Procedures.pdf . Students should be aware of the classroom environment and note the exits for the room and building.
For more detailed information about emergency procedures, please consult the Emergency Guide for Academic Buildings using the QR code or this link: http://police.truman.edu/emergency-procedures/academic-buildings/
This six-minute video provides some basic information on how to react in the event there is an active shooter in your location: http://police.truman.edu/emergency-procedures/active-shooter/active-shooter-preparedness-video/ .
Truman students, faculty, and staff can sign up for the TruAlert emergency text messaging service via TruView. TruAlert sends a text message to all enrolled cell phones in the event of an emergency at the University. To register, sign in to TruView and click on the “Truman” tab. Click on the registration link in the lower right of the page under the “Update and View My Personal Information” channel on the “Emergency Text Messaging” or “Update Emergency Text Messaging Information” link.
During a campus emergency, information will also be posted on the TruAlert website http://trualert.truman.edu/.