This interdisciplinary and cross-cultural course introduces students to a variety of frameworks for understanding our interconnected world by focusing on one or more issues of global relevance today, including but not limited to conflict, revolution, and war; democracy, citizenship, and human rights; migration; and climate change. Focusing on the interpretive methods of the humanities, including critical analysis, close readings, and engagement with theoretical approaches, we will discuss the historical, social, and cultural contexts of major global movements in comparative perspective. In addition to examining literary, cultural, and media texts, the class will ask students to make connections between global and local contexts through a group service-learning project.

Examines the need to think beyond established frameworks, including the national-cultural paradigm, for apprehending literature, cinema, and other forms of cultural production in a global age. We will read and discuss theories that respond to and engage with the increased flow of ideas, bodies, and texts in an era characterized by globalization, migration, and neoliberal capitalism. We will also analyze literary texts, films, and cultural movements that emerge from and address the geopolitical transformations and challenges of the present. Students are expected to address topics comparatively across different languages, as appropriate for their level of linguistic proficiency. The range of connections between language and cultural expression and understanding is a central topic of the course.