POLI 260 Introduction to Global Politics
Professor: Robert Farkasch
Term: Fall 2014
Textbook: International Relations 2013-24 Update: Tenth Edition; Joshua S. Goldstein; Pearson, 2013. Optional.
Website: Professor has class notes and readings up on his website. Course folder on Connect isn’t used.
As of 2014, UBC Engineering requires 6 credits of humanities and social sciences electives taken anytime during the undergrad program in order to graduate. Poli 260 was one of the classes I took to fulfill this requirement.
This was, without doubt, one of my favourite classes at UBC. The course material is really interesting and refers to contemporary events in international relations. Topics involved international relations theories like realism, liberalism, marxism, feminism, green IR, etc. Other topics included UN, genocide (particularly Rwanda), terrorism, development and trade. The class drew heavily from the recommended readings and not so much from the textbook. The readings are diverse and interesting, ex. Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations or Samantha Powers Bystanders to Genocide. Even though the textbook wasn’t used very much, I really liked it and would spend occasional hours on it.
The class had a lecture component (no attendance taken) and once a week tutorial session. We discussed the reading in the tutorials with occasional debates and group activities. There is a 2500-3000 word paper due at the end of the term worth 25% of the grade. This paper can be written on a topic of your own choice and the TAs usually helped students find/refine their topic. There is one midterm and a final exam. For both these tests, Prof. Farkasch will usually ask 2-3 questions from a list of pre-determined questions. His “exam review” classes are especially helpful and he tends to casually mention which questions will not be appearing on the exam. A lot of these questions are open ended and require comprehensive knowledge of the readings and lecture notes.
A midterm question for me:
Is the “Clash of Civilizations” too broad of a conceptualization to be of use? Why or why not.
A final exam question for me:
Why does it matter if what happened in Rwanda is categorized as a genocide or brutal civil war? Do officials face stronger incentives to avoid action against genocide than to stop it? Was the world a “bystander to genocide” in Rwanda? If so, what steps can be taken to help those victimized?
Prof. Farkasch is really engaging and has strong opinions. He makes it easy to get involved in his lectures and we had a lot of participation from the students.
EOSC 114 Natural Disasters (Distance Education)
Professor: Leah May Ver
Term: Fall 2014
Textbook: Natural Disasters: Custom Edition for UBC; Abbott, P.L. and C. Samson; McGraw Hill Custom Publishing, 2012. Required.
Website: Everything on Connect (course notes, discussion boards, assignments)
This class satisfies the UBC Engineering 3 credit science elective requirement. Involves topics like earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, tsunamis and mass extinctions. Each topic covered in the class explains the important concepts, how to measure extent, how to prevent/monitor and also special focus on the Canadian scenario. For example, in the earthquakes module, I learned about tectonic plates, seismic energy and waves, forecasting earthquakes, building construction methods to minimize earthquake damage and also an in-depth look at the Cascadia Subduction zone (close to the West Coast).
Since this was a distance education class, everything except for the final exam was completed online. Each module had an individual quiz and a group quiz (both open book). To do the group quizzes, we had to sign up for a group and then use the BB Collaborate program which records video, audio and chat. The group quizzes are mandatory and the individual grade is void if a group quiz for that module isn’t completed. The final exam (worth 40% and closed book) followed the same pattern and had an individual and group component.
Even though the textbook was required, I found that going through the lecture notes on Connect was more than satisfactory for me. Going though the online notes took about 4-5 hours per module or 4-5 hours every two weeks. All in all this was an easy, GPA booster class that was also really interesting.