Reflective Papers:
The aim of the reflective papers is to concretize some of the ideas and issues raised in the course readings and lectures and, hopefully, to get you thinking about the different ways you experience economic globalization and the implications – sometimes explicit, sometimes implicit – this has for your daily lives. Course readings and/or other sources should be used to ground or frame your own experiences and reflections – for the first paper, for example, course readings and/or other sources can help you learn about the place where your object originated and what conditions are like there. However, remember that the papers are short and reflective, rather than research intensive. A half dozen references should be more than enough, and fewer is likely sufficient. Essays are to be double-spaced and typewritten, and should include a consistent style of referencing (in-text, endnote, footnote) the sources used. Please consult the grading rubric posted on MyLearningSpace for more detail on expectations.
Length: 2-3 pp.
Identify an object that you use or consume in your daily life that comes from outside of the Global North. Where did it originate? How did it get from its place of origin to you? What are the conditions like for those persons that produced this object? What do these things tell you about economic globalization and transnational production chains? How, if at all, has learning about the geographic history of this object affected your relation to it?
