Global Fault Lines

Our world is interconnected thanks to the worldwide web, social media, academic institutions, news outlets, ease of international travel, fashion trends, diasporic communities, music...the threads that are woven into the global textile are boundless. However, this textile is torn and frayed. People are – as they have been for centuries - fragmented by war, religion, disasters and crises, poverty, and disparate concentrations of wealth. In this class, we will examine these various fault lines, by addressing issues such as cultural difference, nationalism, populism, and identity politics. By understanding the fissures in our collective humanity, we will have a better understanding of what binds us together.