Global Perspectives Experience

GWST 340: Women, Gender, and Globalization

The UMBC Global Studies Major is dedicated to helping students acquire global competence, or "the capacity to engage effectively and critically with globalization and it's implications for individuals, communities, governments, businesses, and other organizations"

Every course in this major has the study of globalization as a central component.

GWST 340, or "Women, Gender, and Globalization," is one of the 9 foundational electives of Global Studies. The course focuses on how gender influences the different forms of globalization and politics across the globe.

My Proposed Global Perspectives Experience:

My proposed experience is taking GWST 340, Women, Gender, and Globalization. This is a foundational elective in the Global Studies major. This was a semester long course, where students learned “how gender influences social, economic, and political forms of globalization, development, labor and migration, international sexual and health politics, and activism in various regions outside of the United States”. It ended with a final project, where students could choose any topic and engage with it from a global and feminist perspective. Students had to research the topic, write a 4-page essay on the topic, and create a complementary infographic relating to their essay or a specific part of it.

Connecting to my Grand Challenge:

I decided to make my final project about the global climate crisis specifically relating to water. My paper discussed how water scarcity has effected women in communities around the globe. I focused on three different communities: Somalia, Muyaka Cameroon, and North American indigenous tribes. The infographic specifically discussed the indigenous tribes, specifically how in Indigenous culture women are believed to be stewards of the Earth and have a special connection with water specifically.

Connection to Program-wide Learning Objective: Perspectivism

The course itself taught students about topics outside of the United States, that we otherwise may have not been made aware of. We learned about what was happening and why, from a very sympathetic perspective. This is important to note because there is a long history of American citizens taking on a very colonial/savior complex/overall xenophobic stance when discussing communities outside of more developed countries. The final project had me practicing perspectivism on my own, making sure to find proper research articles that discussed those communities respectfully. When possible, I tried to make sure that they were written from people inside of the communities they were discussing.

The Core Global Learning Objectives:

Working with Diverse Teams

In the course, we did a few group exercises where we would get into groups and discuss certain topics, or we would discuss what we knew about certain topics before learning about them in class. Similar to other GWST courses I had taken, the class was pretty diverse and was full of people who brought their own unique perspective to the conversation, while still being willing and able to listen to. The professor also invited different guest speakers to discuss certain topics that they had more background and experience in, which provided a more personal perspective that caused more interesting class discussions

Cultural Awareness

We learned about a variety of different cultures and histories throughout this course. While we did learn about broader events, such as WWII, and their global impacts, we also learned about more “localized” events that were impacted by larger nations, such as the military dictatorship in Chile. Throughout the course we learned about the histories and cultures of many different places, learning the larger reasons why things were the way they were or are. Almost always, whatever happened was not wanted by the people who lived there. The course encouraged us to take a look at things in a broader sense, which always leads to a less judgmental outlook.

Global Citizenship

The main subject of the course was globalization, that being the way in which different nations, economies, and cultures are interconnected through the cross-border flow of products, information, and ideas. A primary focus of the course was the United States’ contribution to globalization, and how it has been and currently is affecting other countries (for better or for worse). Students were taught to be aware of how things we do, like the companies we support or the products we pay for, can affect people around the world, and we have a responsibility to help wherever we can.

Openness to Difference

As stated in "Cultural Awareness", students learned about a variety of different cultures and were encouraged to take a broader and non-judgmental outlook to things. We had a few guest speakers who discussed certain nations and the histories of important events. We were not directly interacting with these cultures, but we were learning about them from a perspective that was far more respectful than they are often talked about (like in media). Our professor also made sure to tell us about local groups and nonprofits that worked with different communities.

Global Learning Objectives of Personal Importance:

Identify and address ethical issues arising from cultural or national differences

For the final project, I knew that I wanted to write about water usage and the water crises faced by different communities; the title of my final synthesis was “Gendered Inequalities Due to the Climate Crisis: Considering Water”. I wrote about how the women is Somalia and Cameroon experience gender inequality, but it has become worse due to the water crises in those areas, despite the fact that those communities do not contribute much to climate change. Rather, they have been the first to experience the consequences of climate changed, which has been primarily caused by larger countries like the United States.

Be aware of cultural differences relating to product design, manufacture, and use

In the final synthesis and visualizer, I discussed Indigenous women in America and Canada and their responsibilities regarding water. In Indigenous culture, women and water are believed to have a sacred connection, therefore they are seen as stewards of the land and water and are highly respected within the community. However, these women are often excluded from conversations and decision making in policy and resource management from the governments of Canada and the United States. There is a constant battle between indigenous people and colonial governments regarding their resources such as water.

Reflection on my Experience and Grand Challenge:

While the class itself covered an incredibly wide variety of topics, I was happy to be able to strongly connect my final projects with my selected challenge of “Provide Access to Clean Water.” I would consider this to be a rank 3 challenge. I was able to research and write about water crises around the world, and compare and contrast them. It is important to be able to find trends and similarities in these sorts of things, as well as be able to distinguish their differences. It is also valuable to take initiative to look into these kinds of issues yourself.

The class itself ran the entire Spring 2024 semester, with the last few weeks of class being dedicated to out final projects. This class is a foundational elective in the Global Studies Major, which makes it a bronze level grand challenge.

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