2005-2006 Program Theme
Globalization & Empire
How have networks of intercontinental connection, past and present, influenced the distribution of economic and political power across the world? What are the practical as well as the critically theorized features of globalization today, and how do these compare and contrast to imperial and other systems of intercontinental connection in the past? During the 2005-06 academic year, the Institute for Comparative and International Studies will address these questions in two graduate–faculty seminars and in a series of related public lectures and events.
One fall, 2005 seminar is a "Globalization Practicum." This seminar will critically consider both the theorization and the practice of globalization by deconstructing received assumptions and reconstructing new perspectives from alternative political-economic and cultural-historical vantage points. Theoretically informed case studies and humanistic perspectives will be complemented by engaging the work of specific practitioners, including those from global financial and economic organizations, CEOs, NGOs, and journalists. The seminar will be led by Professors Sam Cherribi (Center for the Study of Public Scholarship & Department of Sociology) and Bruce Knauft (ICIS & Department of Anthropology), along with the financial practitioner and critic of globalization, George Vojta.
During the spring, 2006 semester, an ICIS seminar entitled "Empires Past and Present" will examine the historical specifics of selected imperial system and consider these in relation to recent imperial and/or neo-imperial developments. How has the character of empire altered in time and space, and how do political power and economic influence interact with cultural sensibilities in different historical and geographic contexts, including under emergent capitalist regimes? The seminar will be led by Professors Clifton Crais (Institute of African Studies & Department of History) and Mark Ravina (Asian Studies & Department of History).