What Globalization101.org Can Teach Our Spanish Community Service Learning Students

by Ann Abbott

I have blogged before about the fabulous resources at globalization101.org. My students read their definition of globalization to get us started in my Business Spanish class. It served as a basepoint to talk about gender and globalization in a case analysis of my brother-in-law's business. My students read the site's analysis of the Honduran coup and we followed that situation all semester long to think about its impact on business. And I mentioned their information on social media and Barack Obama's election.

Here is the latest information on their site, taken from the newsletter I just received. I've noted below them my ideas for class activities and connections with Spanish community service learning (CSL).

There are two new Issue Briefs:
Global Education, which analyzes education as a business; public sector and pedagogical and curricular developments related to the theory of global education; the role of civil society and international organizations; and governmental policies regarding education.

*Our Spanish CSL students often work in educational settings with immigrants. Can they understand how their work with these students fits within the educational trends that follow global human migration patterns? Moreover, can they understand how their course on Spanish CSL is part of a push toward "global education" that produces globally aware and competent students? (In case you're interested, Comunidades has an entire unit on education and Spanish CSL.)

Global Media, which addresses what the media is and how it interacts with society-specifically, the types of media, the media's role in society, governmental roles in media, control of media, alternative media, the economics of the media industry, and a case study on a pivotal moment in history involving the media and its implications.

*Ask your Spanish CSL students to go to the links provided on the page with "A few examples of alternative media" and research their portrayal of immigration and immigrants. Students can also read the pages about the business of media and look for examples of the issues presented within their local Spanish-language media outlets--or analyze the lack of Spanish-language news!

There are four new News Analyses:
International Corporate Social Responsibility, which highlights efforts from companies around the world to be more socially conscious.

*In my Spanish & Entrepreneurship course, I give a lesson on Responsibilidad Social Corporativa (RSC), and I use examples of the clothing company, Mango, and the bank, Banco Santander. I can assign this news analysis to my students as background reading before coming to class.

Financial Crisis Commission Inquiry: Looking Backward and Moving Forward, which analyzes the new Congressionally-appointed commission to examine the root causes of the current financial crisis
Tap or Bottled Water: Which is better, which highlights the regulatory, environmental, and health challenges associated with the making of and distribution of drinking water
Al-Qaeda Worldwide and Vulnerable Yemen, which analyzes international security challenges and threats.