Welcome

This is where you will be posting your blog entries for our class on global politics at Augsburg College. You'll each need to write four entries by the end of the term, and the basic guidelines for the assignment are as follows:

The assignment is to construct a narrative on a topic that interests you in international politics. A narrative is a way to tell a story that makes sense of the issue for you, and places you in the story as well (narratives are discussed more in the text book in the beginning of Ch. 4).

Topics should be drawn from some current event in international politics—something you would read about in the papers these days that deals with peace & conflict, trade or economics, the global environment, international organizations, diplomacy, immigration, poverty, human rights, or other such topics.

Cite your sources using at least 6 citations from the text book and 6 citations from the newspapers and journal articles. Use parenthetical or APA format and include a bibliography.

There are four separate parts, each of which should be entered as a separate blog entry. The length of each entry can vary, but the total for the 4 entries should be between 1,800 and 3,000 words (equivalent to between 6 and 10 pages, double spaced, 12 pt. font, one inch margins). The first two entries are due by Mon., July 27 and the final entries by Mon. Aug. 10, but can be posted anytime before then.

I. What brings you to this topic. Why are you interested in it?

II. What is the issue? Describe the basic facts of the situation, working within the space limits of the assignment (in other words, you will need to be succinct).

III. Analysis of the issue: what theories help explain what is driving the issue or problem? Which theory do you find most persuasive?

IV. A discussion of your role in relation to this issue. Based on your analysis, what role do you see for yourself in regard to this? Can you tell a story or construct a narrative in which you play a meaningful role in relationship to this issue?

You are all encouraged to post comments on the blog entries (I will comment as well).

These will be graded on the amount of work that goes into them, how carefully and thoughtfully they are written, and on the degree to which they are able to synthesize your interests, the facts of the issue, and the concepts and ideas from the text into a coherent narrative.