Technology, Globalization, and Culture

ME/WLC 484/584 - Fall 2009
The course, which meets twice weekly, provides a cross-disciplinary examination of the present and future impact of globalization with a focus on preparing students for leadership roles in diverse professional, social, and cultural contexts. We will examine the threats and opportunities inherent in the globalization process as they are perceived by practicing professionals and articulated in debates on globalization. On- and off-campus students will participate in critical analyses and debate through threaded discussions and will work collaboratively on final projects.

Learning Goals
During the course of the semester student learning will be facilitated through a variety of interactions, including: presentations by leading professionals from business, industry, cultural institutions, and academia who confront the challenges of globalization in both theory and practice, readings and research on global issues, threaded discussions on a thematic focus (weekly), critical analysis of presentations and readings, and student project teams which will identify, research, develop, and present a course project. As a result of these activities, students will:

• Demonstrate an understanding of key issues and debates concerning globalization as they shape and are shaped by institutions and professions.
• Develop an awareness of the complexity and interrelatedness of global issues.
• Identify issues that directly relate to their profession and how their profession participates in process of globalizing.
• Develop a critical perspective of how globalization is approached by experts inside and outside of their profession as well as an awareness of multiple approaches to key issues within their profession.
• Demonstrate their ability to identify, develop, and present a global project by working cooperatively in project teams.
• Enhance their leadership skills by working collaboratively with students from diverse backgrounds and professions.
• Refine their communication skills by contributing concise focused analyses presentations and readings, and providing thoughtful, focused commentary to threaded discussions.

1. Thomas L. Friedman: Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America (2008), ISBN: 0374166854. Amazon
2. Richard Longworth: Caught in the Middle (2007) ISBN-10: 1596914130. Amazon
3. Reich, R. Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life (Borzoi Books) (2007) (Hardcover) ISBN-10: 0307265617. Amazon
4. Fareed Zakaria: The Post-American World (2008) ISBN-10: 039306235X. Amazon

1. Bruce C. N. Greenwald and Judd Kahn: globalization: n. the irrational fear that someone in China will take your job, (2008) ISBN: 047016963X. Amazon

Additional Readings/Recommended Readings from speakers will be available on WebCT.

Lecturers for the course will include on- and off-campus experts on various facets of globalization
(Please click on speaker's name for biography, click on title of the lecture for Power Point,  click on QuickTime icon for class video)

Acknowledgements
This course was made possible through grants from Deere & Company and Rockwell.

Instructor Contact Information

Instructor Biographies
Jim Bernard received his PhD from the University of Michigan in 1971. He developed vehicle simulations at the University of Michigan's Highway Safety Research Institute until 1976 when he joined the mechanical engineering faculty at Michigan State University and directed MSU's Case Center for Computer Aided Design. He joined the mechanical engineering faculty at Iowa State University in 1983. He was chair of the mechanical engineering department until 1990, director of the Virtual Reality Applications Center from 1990 to 2003, and interim director of ISU’s computing center from 1995 to 1997. In 2000, he was named Anson Marston Distinguished Professor of Engineering. He is currently  interim dean of ISU's College of Engineering. He has been active in engineering accreditation for many years, including serving on ABET’s Engineering Accreditation Commission from 1999 to 2008. He was one of the founders of Engineering Animation, a computer-based communications company subsequently purchased by Unigraphics and then EDS. He is a fellow of the ASME. His research interests are real time applications of computer modeling and simulation, particularly vehicle dynamics applications, and in the educational challenges posed by ongoing globalization.

Mark W. Rectanus (Ph.D., Washington University in St. Louis) studied at the University of Tübingen and completed his dissertation research (Literary Series in the Federal Republic of Germany from 1960 to 1980) as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Munich. Professor Rectanus was a visiting professor at The Ohio State University and an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Fellow at the University of Munich. His research focuses on print culture and media in Germany and the USA, in particular the role of the publishing industry and international literary reception, which was the focus of his book on German Literature in the United States. In addition, he publishes research on corporate sponsorships, cultural politics, museums, and contemporary conceptual art. Professor Rectanus is presently conducting research on the interrelationships between print, visual, and performance art through an examination of literary editing and the work of conceptual artists (“Editing as Intervention in Social Space” Performance Research: On Editing 7: 1 (2002). 103-120). His most recent book is Culture Incorporated: Museums, Artists, and Corporate Sponsorships (University of Minnesota Press, 2002). In addition to his research interests, Professor Rectanus also instructs courses on German Film and Media Studies, German for Business and Professions, Germany Today, and is the author of two textbooks for German culture (Deutschland und Amerika unter der Lupe and Prisma).

Graduate Assistants Biographies and Contact Information
Mark Mba Wright grew up in Equatorial Guinea, Africa - a poor, but oil rich, country in the west coast of Africa. He came to the United States to pursue an education in engineering with an emphasis on energy. At Iowa State, Mark completed his bachelors and masters degrees in Mechanical Engineering while researching biofuel technoeconomics, and he is now pursuing a Ph. D. degree in Mechanical Engineering.
Mark Mba Wright
Graduate, Mechanical Engineering
254-631-2097

Rachel Wolford is a third-year doctoral student in Rhetoric and Professional Communication (RPC).  She usually teaches business communication, technical communication, and composition at Iowa State.  Her research goals include helping non-dominant, marginalized groups develop a keen awareness of their potential to make changes for themselves, to struggle against their history, and potentially act otherwise in order to actively claim a more positive and influential role within their local spheres.
Rachel Wolford
RPC, Dept. of English
515-508-1862

Globalization Web Sites
Yale Global Online
Good point of departure for research on many aspects of globalization,

Globalization Guide
Provides a range of web sites both pro- and anti-globalization, including academic sites with working papers

Global Policy Forum

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