Ways into the World: Critical Methods in Global Studies

In this course students will learn about various interdisciplinary research approaches to global studies. We will use qualitative and quantitative research methods, such as ethnography, historical source criticism, and descriptive and causal quantitative relations. Students will engage with analytical frameworks to explore how "the global" is conceptualized and analyzed from the perspectives of history, art history, literary and cultural studies, geography, political science, economics, and the performing arts (ie. music and theatre). Through interdisciplinary research, students will study potential models of research design including Lisa Lowe's The Intimacy of Four Continents, Arjun Appadurai's The Social Life of Things, Adom Getachew's Worldmaking After Empire, and Amitav Ghosh's The Nutmeg's Curse .