This subject explores globalization in a literature class that combines a global forum with the study or one new or familiar foreign language of your choice. Think of 21L.020 as a model United Nations focused on cultural rather than political issues. Guest lecturers from all over the Institute visit class as we examine the impact of globalization on cultural identity, the arts, the politics of language, and the media. How migration has changed notions of cultural and racial hybridity, what we can learn from specific examples of global media and expressive culture including popular music and film, how globalization has affected human rights, and the ways in which globalization has changed literary production form the core of this subject. Through novels, essays, poetry, films, audio files and team projects, students develop sensitivity to other cultures and the ability to read broadly across national boundaries. In this course, students acquire the analytical frameworks to contextualize contemporary debates about globalization. The emphasis on the historical context in which contemporary globalization emerged gives students a foundation to continue work in literature, history and the arts with a global perspective.
Students enrolled in 21L.020 must be simultaneously enrolled in a language subject at any level in Chinese, French, German, Japanese or Spanish. Students receive 9 HASS-D, CI units for 21L.020 and 9 HASS elective units for their language class. This combination counts for two of the 8 required Humanities, Arts and Social Science subjects. Freshmen can take three 12-unit subjects plus 21L.020 and a 9-unit global language subject and still meet the 54-unit limit.
