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Introduction to International and Global Studies
This innovative introduction to international and global studies offers instructors in both the humanities and the social sciences an up-to-date and comprehensive approach to teaching undergraduates in this rapidly growing interdisciplinary field. Shawn Smallman and Kimberley Brown first present students with the key concepts necessary to understand the intellectual and structural underpinnings of globalization. Thoughtfully building the presentation of core themes--including the history of globalization; economic, political, and cultural globalization; security; energy; and development--the authors examine such timely topics as commodity chains, labor, human rights, and multinational corporations, and provide keen insights into more familiar themes, such as food, health and disease, and the environment.
Smallman and Brown focus on teaching students about global citizenship while emphasizing the development of skills for critical thinking and understanding differing viewpoints. Explaining the historical roots of current challenges and discussing engaging real-life cases, they encourage students to understand their local context from a global perspective and to develop their abilities to negotiate a rapidly changing world. A chapter on what students can do with a degree in international and global studies includes a planning guide for postgraduate career and academic choices. The textbook includes maps and illustrations, and, at the end of each chapter, a glossary, questions for reflection, and student activities.
An online teacher's manual is available for those adopting the textbook. It includes sample examination questions, additional resources for each chapter, and recommendations for adaptations for students with particular learning needs including those students whose first language is not English.
Smallman and Brown focus on teaching students about global citizenship while emphasizing the development of skills for critical thinking and understanding differing viewpoints. Explaining the historical roots of current challenges and discussing engaging real-life cases, they encourage students to understand their local context from a global perspective and to develop their abilities to negotiate a rapidly changing world. A chapter on what students can do with a degree in international and global studies includes a planning guide for postgraduate career and academic choices. The textbook includes maps and illustrations, and, at the end of each chapter, a glossary, questions for reflection, and student activities.
An online teacher's manual is available for those adopting the textbook. It includes sample examination questions, additional resources for each chapter, and recommendations for adaptations for students with particular learning needs including those students whose first language is not English.
- GenresNonfiction
424 pages, Paperback
First published November 15, 2014
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37 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 26, 2019
For a book about "International" and "Global" studies, this was rife with blatant occidental bias.
Smallman & Brown spare no words describing the problems, human rights abuses, and crimes of foreign countries and only ever barely mention in passing (if they bother mentioning it at all) the same crimes or complicity of the crimes of Western countries. If this happened once or twice, they could be excused, but it is a recurring theme throughout the book and sets a very particular tone.
Further, there were a few instances in which they would state something without providing any examples or evidence. Right or wrong (in one case they were demonstrably wrong), not backing up your points is poor writing and certainly not academic.
One of the biggest problems of the book is that S&B fail horrendously to adequately simplify complex problems. They frequently omit very important facts and points of view which create inadequate framing of the topics. For example, they spend an entire section talking about torture but frame it exclusively as a moral problem. Nowhere do they mention that it has been extensively documented that torture does not work. Inadequate framing like this will only make an uninformed person misinformed, rather than more informed.
Worst of all, in their misplaced obsession with providing a "balanced" view, they spend a significant portion of the "Environment" chapter rehashing anti-environment views, giving an unwarranted amount of space, time, and platform for views that demonstrably anti-science and not grounded in reality. A far better approach would have been to lay out the threats to the environment, and discuss the problems and short-comings of the current solutions, rather than just restating anti-environment propaganda and insufficiently countering it.
This is one of the worst non-fiction books I have ever read. If you know nothing about global issues you will come out more misinformed than you were before you read it.
Smallman & Brown spare no words describing the problems, human rights abuses, and crimes of foreign countries and only ever barely mention in passing (if they bother mentioning it at all) the same crimes or complicity of the crimes of Western countries. If this happened once or twice, they could be excused, but it is a recurring theme throughout the book and sets a very particular tone.
Further, there were a few instances in which they would state something without providing any examples or evidence. Right or wrong (in one case they were demonstrably wrong), not backing up your points is poor writing and certainly not academic.
One of the biggest problems of the book is that S&B fail horrendously to adequately simplify complex problems. They frequently omit very important facts and points of view which create inadequate framing of the topics. For example, they spend an entire section talking about torture but frame it exclusively as a moral problem. Nowhere do they mention that it has been extensively documented that torture does not work. Inadequate framing like this will only make an uninformed person misinformed, rather than more informed.
Worst of all, in their misplaced obsession with providing a "balanced" view, they spend a significant portion of the "Environment" chapter rehashing anti-environment views, giving an unwarranted amount of space, time, and platform for views that demonstrably anti-science and not grounded in reality. A far better approach would have been to lay out the threats to the environment, and discuss the problems and short-comings of the current solutions, rather than just restating anti-environment propaganda and insufficiently countering it.
This is one of the worst non-fiction books I have ever read. If you know nothing about global issues you will come out more misinformed than you were before you read it.
January 24, 2016
I got this book because the professor asked us to.The book was barely useful in understanding globalization, as I was confused trying to understand concepts in some chapters.Having no background in international relations, i'd say this is not the book you'd want to buy in order to learn.
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November 20, 2025dnf for international studies
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews