Courses
Courses offered in the past four years.
▲ indicates offered in the current term
▹ indicates offered in the upcoming term[s]
IGST 0101 - Intro to Intl & Global Studies ▲
Introduction to International and Global Studies
This is the core course of the International and Global Studies major. It is an introduction to key international issues and problems that will likely feature prominently in their courses at Middlebury and study abroad. Issues covered will differ from year to year, but they may include war, globalization, immigration, racism, imperialism, nationalism, world organizations, non-governmental organizations, the European Union, the rise of East Asia, politics and society in Latin America, and anti-Americanism. 3 hrs. lect./disc. CMP
Fall 2016, Fall 2017, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Fall 2020
IGST 0410 - Borders and Identification ▹
Borders, Migration, and Identification in Global Perspective
In this course we will investigate the concept and historical emergence of borders, their relation to mobility, and the identification regimes that grew up around them. After interrogating the implications of what a border can mean and the different forms it can take—ideal and material, of mind and body—we will focus our study on the historical origins of modern state borders, various representations of borders, and case studies that particularly highlight the importance of borders regarding the supervision and the sorting of movement. Topics of study will include cities, physical barriers, refugees, and passportization. Regions of study will include the United States, France, Israel, Angola, and Guantanamo Bay. 3 hrs. sem. CMP HIS SOC
Fall 2019, Spring 2021
IGST 0411 - The Racial Life of Power
The Racial Life of Power: (Trans)national Experiences of Race
In this course we will explore the emergence of race as a category of classification, social construct, and real experience in conjunction with the consolidation of different forms of power including colonialism, slavery, nationhood and globalization. We will take a global and interdisciplinary approach to our study by examining how race operates in national, transnational, and transcontinental power dynamics and imaginaries. Our interrogation of race will consider its central intersections with class, gender, and sexuality in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, and North America at different moments in history. Course materials will include visual media, literary texts, primary historical sources, critical theory, and music. (Taught in English) 3 hrs. sem. AAL CMP SOC
Spring 2017, Fall 2018
IGST 0412 - We: Representing Collectives
The “We”: Representing Collectives
“Who are we?” This may be the fundamental question underlying any community. Rather than propose a particular answer to this question, in this course we will attempt to develop a historical poetics of social formations: how are communities (“we”) maintained and represented under different political paradigms, how do communities appear, and how do they disintegrate? Readings will include foundational texts of modern Western political philosophy, with responses from beyond Europe (Russia, the Global South, and the Americas), and case studies from literature, cinema, protest, and mass media. Students taking this class for a Russian requirement meet one extra hour per week to discuss selected texts in Russian. 3 hrs. sem PHL SOC
Spring 2019
IGST 0420 - Visual Culture of the Americas
Visual Cultures of the Americas
From murals to monuments and telenovelas to veladoras, this bilingual [Spanish/English] seminar will explore the role of visual expression in the history of cultural formation throughout the Americas. We will take a hemispheric and transnational approach to our studies. As such, two related premises inform the material we will examine: images traverse the boundaries of nation-states, and they are intrinsically tied to the developments of modern history. We will combine theoretical works with a variety of still and moving images (artifacts of mass culture, photography, artwork, film, mixed media, and performance) to study the relationship between "visuality" and flows of culture throughout Latin and Anglo Americas. This course is equivalent to AMST 0420. 3 hr. sem. ART CMP
Fall 2016
IGST 0427 - How Democracies Die ▲
How Democracies Die
After years of expansion since the end of the cold war, democracy now is in retreat. From young democracies in the developing world to bastions of liberal democracy in Western Europe and North America, democratic political systems are under mounting pressure. What are the fundamental features of this recession? What are the driving forces behind global democratic backsliding? Why do people support autocrats? In this course we will tackle these questions and discuss an array of factors that contribute to global democratic recession including the role of the political elite, failing institutions, eroding norms, and the role of ordinary people. In so doing we will delve deeper into economic and social causes of this decline. Our focus will span from global trends to individual cases such as Venezuela, Turkey, Hungary, India, the United States, and the Philippines. (Not open to students who have taken FYSE 1544) 3 hrs. Sem. CMP SOC
Fall 2020
IGST 0428 - Dictators and Democrats
Dictators and Democrats
In this course we will explore the processes through which charismatic individuals create, use, transform, or circumvent state institutions to seize and maintain political power. We will examine individual, national, and international factors that propel dictators and democrats to leadership positions. We will also look at the historical context and personal circumstances leading to leaders' demise, sometimes resulting in regime change. Cases from Africa, America, Asia, and Europe will help students describe, classify, explain, and predict leadership outcomes (Comparative Politics) 3 hrs. Sem. CMP SOC
Spring 2018
IGST 0433 - Democ Deliberation Citizenship
Democracy, Deliberation, and Global Citizenship
Around the world, democratic self-governance is celebrated as a political ideal, but the fundamentals of informed and engaged citizens are difficult to achieve. Power, institutions, information, and culture can each facilitate or impede political dialogue and civic action. In this seminar, we will explore local and global conceptions of democracy and citizenship, and employ practical approaches to facilitating deliberation and action in our various communities. 3 hrs. sem. (International Relations and Foreign Policy) CMP SOC
Fall 2018
IGST 0436 - Terrorism
Terrorism
Terrorism, the act of violent resistance against real or perceived oppression, has taken on new dimensions in an age dominated by mass media and technology. Can we make reliable distinctions between terrorism, anarchism, guerrilla warfare and random mass murder? What are the political, social, and cultural conditions that favor terrorism? What makes an individual a terrorist? How have governments coped with terrorist movements? What is "state terrorism"? Looking at terrorist movements across the globe, as well as the historical evolution of terrorism, this course will examine explanations for this disintegrative phenomenon given by social scientists, historians, writers, and filmmakers. This course is equivalent to GEOG 0436. 3 hrs. sem.
Fall 2017
IGST 0440 - Islam and Human Rights
Islam and Human Rights
Modern human rights formulations and Islamic legal prescriptions both make universal and, at times, conflicting claims. In this course, we consider various attempts by religious and legal scholars to reconcile such tensions through assessing and reinterpreting Islamic sources with reference to contemporary human rights principles. We explore international human rights charters and declarations as well as Islamic jurisprudential interpretations and legal practices, paying special attention to questions of religious freedom, minority and women’s rights, and gender identity. Readings and student projects emphasize course themes through individual case studies drawn from varied settings. 3 hrs. sem. CMP HIS PHL
Spring 2017
IGST 0452 - Global Environmental Justice ▹
Ecocriticism and Global Environmental Justice
Many global environmental problems—climate change, biodiversity, deforestation, clean water, and transboundary waste movement—are ineffectively managed. In this course we will take a critical look at these failures and ask: do existing norms and attitudes make effective, sustainable environmental management more difficult? In doing so, we will examine institutions and phenomena such as the sovereign nation-state, free market capitalism, and the authority of scientific knowledge. We will ask whether sustainable management is compatible with these institutions and phenomena, or whether they contribute to environmental injustice, racism, political marginalization, and gender and class inequity by studying contemporary and historic examples. 3 hrs. sem. (International Relations and Foreign Policy)/
Spring 2019, Spring 2021
IGST 0460 - Global Consumptions
Global Consumptions: Food, Eating, and Power in Comparative Perspective
Using interdisciplinary approaches, we will examine the practices and politics of food and eating in a range of regions. Food sustains not only bodies, but national, ethnic, and social identities as well. Notions of time and space, order and transgression, nature and culture have long affected what people eat and how they do it. How does eating, this most basic and universal of human practices, both reflect difference and create it? How are food systems, symbolic and “real,” linked to national and international politics: Finally, how are contemporary food practices influenced by “modernization” and “globalization”? We will consider these and other questions as they apply to Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the United States in the second half of the twentieth century. 3 hrs. sem.
Spring 2018
IGST 0473 - The 1940s ▲
The 1940s
The 1940s saw enormous and often violent change: a global, destructive war; ongoing privation after the formal end of hostilities; the intensification of national liberation movements; the founding of the United Nations and the establishment of a new global economic order; the beginnings of the Cold War; new artistic expressions; and the reconfiguration of sexual and cultural mores. In this course we will begin with an overview of the global scale of the second world war and, using a comparative approach, focus on examples of individual suffering. We will then study the war’s effects in select countries around the world. 3 hrs. sem. CMP HIS
Fall 2020
IGST 0478 - Global Cities of the U.S.
Global Cities of the United States
In this seminar we will engage the study of New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles as "global cities." We will explore each as a site of networks that link populations in the United States to people, things, media, money, and ideas beyond the borders of the nation-state. The principal themes and issues covered during the semester will include the formation of transnational communities, flows of labor and capital cultural production, and religious responses to diaspora. Our interdisciplinary approach to these topics will require students to use methods and theories from both the social sciences and the humanities. 3 hrs. sem. AMR NOR SOC
Spring 2020
IGST 0483 - Rise of Asia and U.S. Policy
The Rise of Asia and US Policy
In this course we will study what is arguably the most important strategic development of the 21st century: how the rise of Asia presents security challenges to the region and the United States. Drawing from international relations scholarship, the course will focus on foreign policy challenges and potential responses. These challenges include both traditional security and nontraditional areas such as water and the environment. We will integrate the analysis of these issues in South, East, and Southeast Asia with study of the policy process, in part through simulations and role-playing exercises. 3 hrs. sem. AAL CMP NOA SOC
Fall 2017, Fall 2019
IGST 0484 - Political Econ of Regionalism
The Political Economy of Regionalism
In this course we will address the political economy of regionalism in a variety of national and regional contexts. We will consider both integration projects—such as the European Union and South America’s Mercosur—as well as subnational local autonomy movements, such as those in Catalonia and Scotland. We will study theories of integration as well as case studies from Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa, focusing on the political and economic forces driving both integration and disintegration in their historical and contemporary contexts. We will also consider how globalization affects regional integration projects. (Comparative Politics) 3 hrs. sem. AAL CMP SOC
Fall 2017
IGST 0500 - EAS Independent Research ▲ ▹
East Asian Studies Independent Project
(Approval Required)
Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021
IGST 0501 - LAS Independent Project ▲ ▹
Latin American Studies Independent Project
(Approval Required)
Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021
IGST 0502 - MES Independent Project ▲ ▹
Middle East Studies Independent Project
(Approval Required)
Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021
IGST 0503 - African Studies Ind. Project ▲ ▹
African Studies Independent Project
(Approval Required)
Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021
IGST 0504 - SAS Independent Project ▲ ▹
South Asian Studies Independent Project
(Approval Required)
Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021
IGST 0505 - EUS Independent Research ▲ ▹
European Studies Independent Project
(Approval Required)
Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021
IGST 0506 - REES Independent Project ▹
IGST 0507 - Global Security Stds. Ind Proj ▲
IGST 0700 - Senior Work ▲ ▹
Senior Work
(Approval Required)
Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021
IGST 0701 - REES Senior Thesis ▲ ▹
Russian and East European Studies Senior Thesis
(Approval Required)
Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021
IGST 0702 - EUS Senior Thesis ▲ ▹
European Studies Senior Thesis
(Approval Required)
Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021
IGST 0703 - LAS Senior Thesis ▲ ▹
Latin American Studies Senior Thesis
(Approval Required)
Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021
IGST 0704 - EAS Senior Thesis ▲ ▹
East Asian Studies Senior Thesis
(Approval Required)
Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021
IGST 0705 - African Studies Senior Thesis ▲ ▹
African Studies Senior Thesis
(Approval Required)
Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021
IGST 0706 - MES Senior Thesis ▲ ▹
Middle East Studies Senior Thesis
(Approval Required)
Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021
IGST 0707 - SAS Senior Thesis ▲ ▹
South Asian Studies Senior Thesis
(Approval Required)
Fall 2016, Winter 2017, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Winter 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2019, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Winter 2020, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, Spring 2021
IGST 0708 - Global Security Stds SnrThesis ▲
IGST 2250 - Politics Gen in Cont N. Africa ▹
The Politics of Gender in Contemporary North Africa
This course will introduce students to complex questions related to gender identities/roles and gender politics in contemporary North African societies with a particular focus on the Moroccan context. It highlights groundbreaking gender concepts through texts, documentaries, Arts and activism. Students will examine varied topics such as history, religion, culture, education, politics, sexuality, youth, development, globalization, social movements and resistance in order to understand the formation of social hierarchies, privilege and gender inequalities. The course will take a multidisciplinary look at gender within the context of Muslim. SOC WTR
Winter 2021
IGST 2310 - Cont. Debates Fem Thry Lat Amr ▹
Contemporary debates and approaches to feminist theory, gender studies and decoloniality in Latin America
This introductory course approaches contemporary debates in Feminist Theory, Gender Studies, and Decoloniality in Latin America. From an intersectional and decolonial standpoint, theoretic materials and other discursivities such as cinema, literature, and art focus on the relationship between sex, sexuality, gender, race, and class, attending questions of sexism, racism, colonialism, capitalism, body, and power. The thematic units also address the history of feminist thought, black feminisms, and the articulations between gender, coloniality and decoloniality; current discussions between feminisms and indigenous movements; masculinities and the relationship between gender and violence; and recent debates in “fourth-wave” feminism, LGBTTTIQNB*, and human rights movements. AMR SOC
Spring 2021
IGST 2415 - South America in Turmoil ▹
South America in turmoil: The quest for democratic stability and representation in the Region
This seminar highlights the social and institutional challenges that the region faces. First, we will discuss the evolving political and ideological landscape of the last thirty years as well as recent social unrest and protests across the continent. Second, we will review the relevant theories explaining voters’ attitudes and preferences, and how representation and demands are structured by political actors. Third, we will study the underpinnings of democratic consolidation and the risks of authoritarian temptations. Finally, we will center on social evolution, new forms of political participation, and the conflicts that may arise from competing views, discrimination, or unfulfilled representation. AMR SOC
Spring 2021