Sociology 344

Global Society

Dr. Stephen Sills

sjsills@uncg.edu

344-01 Global Society (3:3) Required Texts: Steger, Manfred.

GE Marker: GL
Instructor: Stephen J. Sills
Office: GRAM 320
Office Hours: M W 1000-1200
Email: sjsills@uncg.edu
Location: GRAM 302
Class Times: T R 1100 - 1215
(2003) Globalization: A Very Short
Introduction Oxford University Press,
USA.
Eitzen, D. Stanley and Baca Zinn,
Maxine (2006) Globalization: the
transformation of Social Worlds
Thomson/Wadsworth, USA.

Much of this course addresses the topic of “globalization” and falls under the sub-
heading of “global sociology.” This course will introduce you to some of the main
issues and debates on the topic. There are two required texts that introduce the
theoretical and historical background of globalization. The readings focus on the
process of globalization and how it shapes our emerging global society. Articles are
drawn from scholarly as well as popular sources and will be supplemented by online
materials.

Catalog Course Description:

Pr. 101 and two additional sociology courses or permission of instructor
Examines the interdependent development of formal organizations, communities,
and societies as large scale social systems. Special attention is given to inter-
societal relationships and the world system. Application to contemporary social
issues is stressed.

Course Goals:
In this course the students will -
• recount the history of globalization
• explain the dimensions of globalization
• explain the dominant theories of globalization
• critically evaluate the core-periphery relations in global sphere
• discuss the anti/alter-globalization movement
• develop writing and speaking skills

Evaluation:
There are 1000 pts available. Grades are will be calculated as the sum of the
following assignments:
 1. Homework - Reaction Papers 20% (200 pts)
2. Online Quizzes 50% (500 pts)
3. Research Paper 20% (200 pts)
4. Presentation 5% (50 pts)
5. Attendance and Participation 5% (50 pts)

Reading Questions:
As indicated on the course schedule, students will be expected to write ten reaction
papers for course readings (minimum 300 words - and I do count). The paper
should recount and synthesize the major themes and key terms from the readings.
Prompts will be provided on Blackboard. You will submit your reaction papers prior
to class on the day they are due. Assignments received after the class will be
considered late and penalized 10% each day. For example a 20 pts assignment
turned in 3 days late would be worth a maximum of 14 pts. AFTER TEN DAYS NO
CREDIT WILL BE POSSIBLE.

Quizzes:
There will be seven timed online quizzes. Five quizzes are worth 60 pts and two
quizzes are worth 75 pts for a total of 450 pts. You will have ninety minutes in which
to complete the quiz. You may not log off and on. Quizzes must be completed in one
sitting. If you have inconsistent internet connections, I suggest going to a lab on
campus. You will not be allowed to collaborate, though you may use the text and
online resources. However, plagiarism will not be tolerated. Students will be
required to acknowledge the UNCG Honor Code before beginning the quiz. You may
see the UNCG Academic Integrity Policy at
http://academicintegrity.uncg.edu/complete/ for details.

Quizzes will cover the information from readings, lectures, discussions, and in-class
assignments. The format includes multiple choice, short answer, and 2-3 essay
questions. A study-guide will NOT be provided (don’t ask). Your reaction papers
should serve as very effective guide to the texts and your notes will cover what we
discuss in class.

There is no excuse for missing a quiz as they are offered online and with a
48 hour window.

Research Paper:
A central component of this course is to develop expertise in a particular area of
globalization. Thus, there will be one assigned research paper due at the end of the
semester. You will have a chance to choose a topic from the major areas covered in
the course (history of globalization; theories of globalization; economic
globalization; political globalization; cultural globalization; the anti-globalization
movement; terrorism and globalization; global social movements; and global
environmentalism).

Papers are required to be between 2000-3000 words (not including citations), typed,
double-spaced, 12 pt., Times New Roman font. Please pay careful attention to
grammar and structure of your paper. Be sure to begin with an introduction, with a
clear thesis statement, move through a body section with logical support for your
argument, and finally conclude with a restatement of the thesis and an explanation
of how it was proven in the paper.
At least five scholarly sources are required, these may included journal articles,
conference papers, scholarly books, and textbooks (beyond those used in class).
Sources beyond the five required may also include magazine and newpaper articles
(from well-know, respected sources only). Please use the ASA Format (see ASA Style
Guide at http://www.calstatela.edu/library/bi/rsalina/asa.styleguide.html) when
citing materials.
Elements of the paper will be due throughout the course:
1. Topic selection (10 pts)
2. Subtopic selection (10 pts)
3. Bibliography of initial five sources (formatted in ASA style) (25 pts)
4. Thesis statement (5 pts)
5. Rough draft of paper (50 pts)
6. Final paper (100 pts)

Presentations:
During the last week of class you will present a brief summary of your
research paper using no more than 3 Power Point slides. The class will be
involved in scoring your presentation. This assignment is worth a total of 50
points (5% of final grade). Scoring will be based on the following criteria:

Content Oral
Knowledge 25 Thoroughness Visuals presentation
pts 15 pts 5 pts 5 pts
Student used a clear
Recounts topic area, Student used visuals to
voice and correct,
Student gives clear examples of reinforce presentation.
precise pronunciation
demonstrates full major issues, draws Presentation has no
of terms, shows
knowledge of topics meaningful conclusions misspellings or
confidence and polish.
with explanations about the issues. Shows grammatical errors.
Was engaging and
and elaboration. evidence of thorough Presentation is visually
made eye-contact with
research. appealing
audience.

Attendance:
Attendance is required. Attendance is vitally important for the understanding of the
material and participation in the class discussions. Attendance will be taken on five
random occasions throughout the semester 10 pts each for a total of 50 pts (5% of
the final grade). If you are out for official reasons, sick, or absent for any other
prearranged reasons, you will be given an attendance make-up assignment worth
10 pts. It is your responsibility to contact the instructor regarding make-up. This
must be completed within one week of the absence. If you are absent for any other
reason, you will not receive credit for that day and no make-up will be provided.
Official absences are those, which occur when you are involved in an official activity
of the college, i.e., field trips, tournaments, athletic events, and present an official
absence excuse. If you must miss a class for an official reason, present the written
excuse to me before the absence. Other official absences include jury duty and
subpoenas. Appropriate documentation will be required. If prior arrangements have
been made, you will not be penalized.

Religious/Cultural Holidays:
You have the right to observe major religious/cultural holidays without penalty. At
least one week before the holiday, you should submit a written statement that
 includes both the date of the holiday and the reason why class attendance is
impossible. Prior arrangements must be made. If prior arrangements have been
made, you will not be penalized.

Illness:
If you are absent due to personal illness, or illness of a dependent, you must provide
written documentation to that effect. Acceptable documentation includes doctor’s
note (on office letterhead), hospital record, or records from a recognized
medical/healthcare agency.

Extra Credit:
You will be given the option of up to five 10 pts extra credit assignments (50 pts
total or +5% to final grade). Throughout the semester there will be the possibility of
writing 2-3 page (typed) reaction papers for outside lectures and presentations,
special TV programs, and other events that will be announced in class. ALL EXTRA
CREDIT IS DUE BY THE LAST DAY OF CLASS.

Special Needs and Considerations:

Please let me know at the beginning of the semester if you have a physical or
learning disability that may need accommodations. The college will make
reasonable accommodations for persons with documented disabilities. Students
should also notify Student Services of any special needs.

COURSE SCHEDULE
Course content may be adapted from this outline to meet the needs of this
particular class. All dates are tentative; we may need to make adjustments to the
schedule as the course progresses. Additional information about topics/assignments
will be available in class and from the course Blackboard website.

Reactio
Date Lecture Topic Readings Other Assignments
n Paper
Module 1: Globalization - The new world order
1. Sills "Overview of
Introduction and Globalization"
8/26 http://www.uncg.edu/~sjsills/ -
Overview
Globalization_edited_11-25-
2006_Sills.pdf
Globaloney: Does Topic selection for
8/28 globalization really 2. Steger Ch 1 paper
exist? 3. Eitzen & Baca Zinn Ch1
4. Giddens “Gloablisation”
(watch the lecture)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia EC Opportunity
Dimensions of /video/events99/reith_lectures
9/2 1 3-Sep Apaga y
Globalization /globevi.ram (requires Real Vamonos (Switch Off )
Media Player)
5. Eitzen & Baca Zinn Ch 2
6. Steger Ch 2
Globalization for
9/4 7. Eitzen & Baca Zinn Ch 3
whom?
Complete Quiz #1 Online between 9/5 and 9/8

Module 2: Theories of Globalization

9/9 Ideologies of 8. Steger Ch 6 EC Opportunity
Globalization 10-Sep Aimee
 and Jaguar
9. The Modern World-System as
World Systems a Capitalist World-Economy
9/11 2
Theory (Immanuel Wallerstein)
[Blackboard]
10. Parenti “Imperialism 101”
http://www.michaelparenti.org
/Imperialism101.html EC Opportunity
11. Howe “American Empire: The 17-Sep Beyond
History and Future of an Idea” the Border
9/16 NeoImperialism http://www.globalpolicy.org/e
mpire/history/2003/0612idea. EC Opportunity
htm Write a reaction to
the video “History of
12. Newman “History of Oil”
Oil”
http://video.google.com/video
play?docid=-
5267640865741878159
13. McDonaldization
http://www.mcdonaldization.c
om/whatisit.shtml
14. Rationalization and
McDonaldization
Rationalization and http://www.pineforge.com/up Subtopic selection
9/18 3
McDonaldization m-data/16567_Chapter_2.pdf for paper
15. Does globalization diminish
cultural diversity?
http://www.sociology.emory.e
du/globalization/issues05.htm
l
Complete Quiz #2 Online between 9/19 and 9/22

Module 3: Globalized Economy

Economic 16. Eitzen & Baca Zinn Ch 4 EC Opportunity
9/23
Globalization 17. Steger - Ch 3 24-Sep OffSide
18. Blanding “Coke: The New
Nike” EC Opportunity
http://www.thenation.com/doc Reaction Paper
/20050411/blanding No Sweat “The Case
Global Labor - Global
9/25 19. Columbia: The Coca-Cola For Solidarity”
Supply
Controversy. Watch Video http://video.google.co
Segments Chapters 1-5: m/videoplay?docid=44
http://www.pbs.org/frontlinew 37068924602860186
orld/fellows/colombia0106/
20. Eitzen & Baca Zinn Ch 7
21. Sills “Philippine Labor
Migration to Taiwan: Social,
Political, Demographic, and
Economic Dimensions.”
Women and work: http://www.migrationletters.c
9/30 the feminization of om/200701/20070101_sills.pd 4
transnational work f Women and Migration:
Incorporating Gender into
International Migration Theory
http://www.migrationinformati
on.org/Feature/display.cfm?id
=106
Complete Quiz #3 Online between 9/31 and 10/1
Module 4: Global Governance & Political Globalization
23. Steger - Ch 4 EC Opportunity
10/2 Who’s in charge? 5
24. Eitzen & Baca Zinn Ch 5 1-Oct Black Girl
23. World Society and the
Nation-State (John W.
Meyer, John Boli, George
EC Opportunity
Are countries M. Thomas, and Francisco
10/7 8-Oct View from a
doomed? O. Ramirez)
Grain of Sand
24. The End of the Nation
State (Kenichi Ohmae)
[Blackboard]
25. Realism and Complex
Interdependence (Robert
O. Keohane and Joseph S.
Nye) [Blackboard] Bibliography of initial five sources
10/9 A complex system 6
26. Globalization’s Achilles’ (formatted in ASA style)
Heel
http://www.newsweek.co
m/id/145864/output/print
Complete Quiz #4 Online between 10/10 and 10/13

Module 5: Globalized Culture

27. Steger - Ch 5 EC Opportunity
28. Eitzen & Baca Zinn Ch 6 10/14 Khaled Hosseini,
Global Culture -
29. Watch Ghana: Baseball author of The Kite
Cultural
10/14 Dreams 7 Runner & A Thousand
Homogeneity,
http://www.pbs.org/frontli Splendid Sons. War
Hybridization
neworld/rough/2007/07/g Memorial Auditorium, 7
hana_baseball.html PM
10/21 NO CLASS - FALL BREAK
30. Fowler “Converting the
Masses: Starbucks in
China”
http://www.globalpolicy.or
g/globaliz/cultural/2003/0
The Westernization EC Opportunity
10/23 710starbucks.htm
of China 23-Oct Ezra
31. Young and Restless in
China
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/
pages/frontline/youngchin
a/view/main.html
39. Bollywood versus Hollywood:
Battle of the Dream Factories
(Heather Tyrrell)
EC Opportunity
10/28 Reversing the Flow 8 28-Oct Blood
27. Doshi "Reversing Flows: Pop Diamond
Culture, East to West"
http://www.sameerdoshi.com/
AsianPopcult.htm
Complete Quiz #5 Online between 10/28 and 10/30

Module 6: Reactions Against Western - Globalization

10/30 The Rise of the Rest
23. The Rise of the Rest
http://www.newsweek.co
m/id/135380/output/print
24. Fareed Zakaria Video:
http://link.brightcove.com
/services/link/bcpid15117
92808/bclid1540999423/
bctid1541038678
25. The Post American World
 (Mp3 lecture)
http://richmedia.lse.ac.uk
/publicLecturesAndEvents
/20080630_1830_thePost
AmericanWorld.mp3
22. Steger - Ch 7
23. The Port Huron Statement: An
Agenda For A Generation
http://www.tomhayden.com/p
Anti-Globalization orthuron.htm
11/4 and other Social 24. Meyer “How Social 9
Movements Movements Matter”
http://proquest.umi.com/pqdli
nk?did=546092131&sid=1&F
mt=2&clientId=15109&RQT=
309&VName=PQD
11/6 NO CLASS THESIS STATEMENT DUE
25. Eitzen & Baca Zinn Ch 8 EC Opportunity
26. Maisami “Islam and Reaction Paper
Globalization” Parenti “Terrorism,
http://www.fountainmagazine. Globalism, and
com/print.php?SIN=04092398 Conspiracy”
Globalization of 1c&k=33&1916678321&show http://video.google.co
11/11
Terror =part1 m/videoplay?docid=65
27. Jihad vs. McWorld (Benjamin 73660441809242121
Barber) [Blackboard]
28. Al-Qaida at 20 EC Opportunity
http://www.slate.com/id/2196 12-Nov Closer
904/ to the Truth
Complete Quiz #6 Online between 11/11and 11/13

Module 8: What’s in store for the future?

29. Steger - Ch 8
30. "The Future of
The Future of Globalization"Prof. Jeffrey
11/13
Globalization Sachs
http://www.youtube.com/v/_5
UTm0zRZ7E
31. Global Call for Action
http://www.globalcalltoaction.
org/
32. UN Millennium Development
Goals
http://www.undp.org/mdg/basi EC Opportunity
cs.shtml 19-Nov S-21:
11/18 Global Call for Action 10
33. A Better World is Possible: The Khmer Rouge
International Forum on Killing Machine
Globalization. [Blackboard]
34. Future Shifts: The Voice of the
Next Generation
http://www.youtube.com/v/Lb
Eu3KFsUkk
11/20 Human Rights and 35. Peterson Wunder and Mueller
Being Better People Epilogue Reimagining the
Future [Blackboard]
36. Donnelly Cultural Relativism
and Universal Human Rights
[Blackboard]
37. Universal Declaration of
 Human Rights
http://www.un.org/Overview/ri
ghts.html
Complete Quiz #7 Online between 11/21 and 11/24
11/25 NO CLASS WORK DAY ROUGH DRAFT DUE
11/27 NO CLASS - THANKSGIVING BREAK
EC Opportunity
12/2 Student Presentations
3-Dec China Blue
12/4 Student Presentations
12/9 NO CLASS - READING DAY - FINAL PAPER DUE

All Films EC Films 6 PM in McIver Room 28 as part of the Second Annual

International Human Rights Film Festival