Topics in Globalization Summer Reading Assignment 2009

Welcome to Topics in Globalization! 

Since 2003 this integrated course of A.P. Government and A.P. English Language has assigned summer reading to prepare students for the school year.  This year we have selected a sampler of pieces – chapters from books, an interview, a novel about India, and TJ’s One Book Three Cups of Tea – to introduce you to perspectives on globalization.

Before you begin reading, consider what you know about globalization (former students put themselves between “not much” to “quite a bit”) and what questions you have. 

The essential questions for our course are the following:
  • What does it mean to be a global citizen?
  • What is the U.S.’s role in the world?  And how does the world see the U.S.?
  • Why is the gap so big between developing and developed nations?  Does it matter?
  • How will globalization personally affect you beyond June 19, 2010?
  Keep these questions as well as your own in mind as you read, listen, and take notes.  If one of the scanned chapters interests you, you may want to check out the entire book from the library and read more. 

We will be discussing and working with the summer reading as soon as we get back in September.  In the first few weeks of school you will be researching and writing about your position on a question central to globalization.  Information from these sources will help you to develop your thesis and to make a strong case for your viewpoint. 

We look forward to meeting you and working with you in September. 

Cathy Colglazier                       Jay Lamb                                 Susie Lebryk-Chao

Melissa Schoeplein                   Sherwood Williams                   David Zack

The Assignments

1. The Lexus and the Olive Tree  by Thomas Friedman, 2000     Chapter 1, The New System  (1st page scanned twice.  Don't ask.)        
                                                                                                    Chapter 3, The Lexus and the Olive Tree
2, "It's a Flat World, After All" by Thomas Friedman, 2005           Click Here
     
3.. The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs,  2005                           Chapter 1, A Global Family Portrait

4. "The Myths of Globalization"  Conversations with History,     A conversation with Amy Chua, Jan. 22, 2004, Institute of  International Studies, U.C. Berkeley.
5. Making Globalization Work  by Joseph Stiglitz, 2006              Chapter 6, Saving the Planet
6. Choose one of these three novels to read then go buy it, maybe at a used book store.  Take it on summer vacation with you:
                *  The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
                *  The Space Between Us  by Thrity Umrigar
                *  The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

Consider these questions as you read the novel:  what view on the world does it offer?  what aspects of the novel do you find universal?  what are you leaning about setting (time, place, culture) that is interesting, intriguing, or even troubling?  what aspects of the book give rise to your responses?
7. The Post-American World  by Fareed Zakaria, 2008              Chapter 5, The Ally
8.  Read the TJ One Book, Three Cups of Tea  by Greg Mortenson