Archive for the 'AP Post AP Seminar' Category
Friday, January 1st, 2010
For all the advances and wonders of our global era, Christians, Jews, and Muslims seem ever more locked in mortal combat. But history suggests a happier outcome for the Peoples of the Book. As technological evolution has brought communities, nations, and faiths into closer contact, it is the prophets of tolerance and love that have prospered, along with the religions they represent. Is globalization, in fact, God’s will?
Read on from The Nation
Posted in AP Post AP Seminar, USH: Imperialism, World Civ-Imperialism, World Civ-Modern Global Dilemmas | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009
In the 1990s and early 2000s, nations around the world witnessed the sweep of globalization–the growing integration of economies, societies, and political systems–and the democratization of trade, migration, technology, and information. In many developing nations, governments threw their countries’ agriculture, resources, and services open to global competition and slashed subsidies for their domestic producers to force them to compete in global markets. Many countries provided incentives for the poor to migrate from farms to cities, where they began to manufacture goods for export to the West.
Many economists believed this global integration had become so deeply rooted it could never be undone. They were wrong. As the global financial crisis deepens, the world is undergoing exactly the reverse of the 1990s–a wrenching period of deglobalization in which governments throw up new walls and the ties binding nations together rapidly unravel. Nations like the United States, Japan, and Germany may suffer, but they will survive, as will powerful developing nations like China or Brazil that have large cash reserves, diversified economies, and enough political clout to protect their industries. On the other hand, poor and trade-dependent countries that remade their whole economies to take advantage of globalization will be devastated. Having opened up, these nations are now highly vulnerable to global financial currents, without the cash on hand to weather the storm. Perhaps even worse, these financial shifts are likely to spark massive social unrest and could take down one government after the next. If you thought globalization was destabilizing, just wait to see what deglobalization will do.
More from the New Republic
Posted in AP Introductory Materials, AP Post AP Seminar, World Civ-Imperialism, World Civ-Modern Global Dilemmas | No Comments »
Saturday, May 30th, 2009
I am a teenager and often feel powerless when I see problems in the world. My monetary resources are limited, and I already volunteer one day a week at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. My social circle is broad but not numerous. I am schooled at home, so I can’t even talk to my classmates. Can you think of anything I can do to make a bigger difference?
Read responses
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Monday, March 30th, 2009
The militants are bad people and this is bad news. But the more difficult question is, what should we-the outside world-do about it? That we are utterly opposed to such people, and their ideas and practices, is obvious. But how exactly should we oppose them? In Pakistan and Afghanistan, we have done so in large measure by attacking them-directly with Western troops and Predator strikes, and indirectly in alliance with Pakistani and Afghan forces. Is the answer to pour in more of our troops, train more Afghan soldiers, ask that the Pakistani military deploy more battalions, and expand the Predator program to hit more of the bad guys? Perhaps-in some cases, emphatically yes-but I think it’s also worth stepping back and trying to understand the phenomenon of Islamic radicalism.
Read on from Fareed Zakaria and respond to these Qs
Posted in AP Post AP Seminar, World Civ-Middle East, World Civ-Modern Global Dilemmas | No Comments »
Sunday, March 8th, 2009
Listen to one of the the following This American Life programs which do a brilliant job of making the recent economic crisis comprehensible. Prepare 2+ pages of notes for submission (pause recording when necessary–this is complex stuff). Be prepared to present your findings in class.
The Giant Pool of Money
Another Frightening Show About the Economy
Bad Bank
The Watchmen
Questions to Consider:
- Why did the financial markets recede in the past couple of years? Whose fault is this? To what extent is the U.S. government to blame for the crash? To what extent are credit-crazy Americans to blame? How important is it to assign blame?
- Are we amidst an economic crisis, a financial crisis, both or neither?
- Many people blame George W. Bush for the crash. Are there valid reasons to do so?
- Some suggest that the greed inherent in Western cultures make such economic crashes inevitable. Is this a valid assertion?
- Are economic crises in capitalism “natural”? Was this crash a “necessary market correction” as some suggest?
- What types of changes do we need to make to minimize the deleterious impact of market crashes? Are fierce regulations enough or do we require for systemic solutions?
Posted in AP Post AP Seminar, USH: Post AP Ideas, USH: The Crash, Depression & New Deal | No Comments »
Friday, February 27th, 2009
In late 2007, an Icelandic teenager named Vífill Atlason created a minor international incident when he phoned the White House, told the operator he was the president of Iceland, and managed to set up an appointment to speak with George W. Bush. When the White House figured out what was going on, Atlason was taken away by Icelandic police and questioned for several hours, then told that he would be placed on an American no-fly list. No conversation took place. I, on the other hand, managed to make a lunch date with President Olafur Ragnar Grímsson not long after I arrived in Iceland, simply by bumping into him at an art exhibit and asking.
Read more of this riveting cultural/political piece from Harper’s
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Friday, February 27th, 2009
Opening with a personal anecdote from his experience on the USA Olympic basketball team playing against the Soviet Union, former Senator Bill Bradley provides his thoughts on the past, present, and future of Russia.
Watch Bill Bradley’s assessment of U.S. – Russian relations
Posted in AP Post AP Seminar, AP Russia, USH: Cold War, World Civ-Modern Global Dilemmas | No Comments »
Sunday, February 1st, 2009
Friedman brings a fresh outlook to the crises of destabilizing climate change and rising competition for energy—both of which could poison our world if we do not act quickly and collectively. His argument speaks to all of us who are concerned about the state of America in the global future.
Friedman proposes that an ambitious national strategy—which he calls “Geo-Greenism”—is not only what we need to save the planet from overheating; it is what we need to make America healthier, richer, more innovative, more productive, and more secure.
Enjoy an hour with Tom
Posted in AP Post AP Seminar, World Civ-Modern Global Dilemmas | No Comments »
Monday, January 19th, 2009
You are to write, rehearse and offer a perfect performance of a political poem in “slam style”.
1. Watch some poetry slam performances. Simply enter “poetry slam” and/or “def poetry jam” into the YouTube browser.
A former colleague turned me on to Taylor Mali. Take a few moments to watch What Teachers Make and Speak with Conviction.
I also respect the following examples by: Alicia Keys, Lauryn Hill and Shane Koyczan
2. Choose a theme and/or a country from our course.
3. Write and revise. Aim for a 3-5 minute piece.
4. Practice, practice, practice. Find your voice, then perfect it.
5. Stand and deliver in class. Speak with passion, conviction and diction. We want to hear you loud and clear. We will have a 90 minute political poetry slam. This is a healthy competition. We will vote on the winners. Prizes will be alloted.
This is the last hurrah for us. Let’s do it right.
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Monday, January 19th, 2009
Are capitalism and environmentalism incongruous paradigms?
Post a 750 word essay (one page, single-spaced) which begins with a specific, complex and refutable thesis.
Then read responses of your classmates (at least 3 of them). Then leave an incisive 1 paragraph comment on 3 essays. Commenting is not optional.
Come to class ready for healthy debate.
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