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Topics for "Global Issues in the News"

Fall, 2006

Team Project Assignment

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
LAS 101: Global Awareness

Brief Overview of Topic Searching

Econ 103 Topics
Soc 160 Topics
Geog 106 Topics
Anth 103 Topics
Ling 111 Topics
Hist 100 Topics
Engl 112 Topics

 

Brief Overview of Topic Searching

Make sure you find articles that really address the issue/topic you’ve chosen – not just articles that happen to have a few key terms related to the topic in them somewhere. You can use Access World News, Lexis Nexis Academic or Google News (or another Web search interface that searches across international news websites). Find articles that are at least 300 words long. Remember these tips for searching:

 Using OR expands your search to include all articles that include any one of the terms you have entered. “OR is more!”

 Using ANDlimits your search to only those articles that each include every one of the terms you have entered.

 If you have any trouble finding articles on your issue, you can ask a librarian for help.

 

Econ 103: Macroeconomic Principles of Global Economics

Prof. Hadi Esfahani

Choose a topic from one below:

Gasoline Prices:Look for articles about gasoline prices—whether they are high/low, rising/falling— or about the causes of these trends, and/or implications of these trends for countries, regions, or the world. Tips for searching:

Unemployment:Look for articles about rates of employment and unemployment—whether they are high/low, rising/falling—and/or about the causes and/or implications of these trends.Tips for searching:

Dollar-Euro exchange rate:Look for articles about the dollar-euro exchange rate (the strength of the dollar versus that of the euro), causes of changes in the exchange rate, effects or implications of these trends on the global economy and/or on the economy of individual countries or regions. Note: If you use a source that has a lot of business news (like Lexis Nexis or even the Internet), don’t pick articles that just list the exchange rates -- find articles that go into some detail. Tips for searching:

Inflation: Look for articles about the current or predicted economic inflation rate in individual countries, and/or the causes or implications of higher or lower inflation.Tips for searching:

Poverty:Look for articles about the poverty rate in individual countries or regions, conditions for the poor, causes of poverty, and/or strategies for alleviating poverty, etc.Tips for searching:

Economic Growth: Look for articles about the rate of economic growth in individual countries, regions or the world, and/or causes/effects of economic development (or stagnation).Tips for searching:

Budget Deficit: Look for articles about budget deficits in individual countries, or in the Eurozone, etc., and/or causes of government budget deficits and effects on the world economy or national economies.Tips for searching:

Trade Deficit: Look for articles about the trade imbalance experienced by individual countries, causes of trade deficits, and/or effects on the world economy or national economies.Tips for searching:

Investment Climate: Look for articles about favorable (or unfavorable) conditions for capital investment in individual countries, and/or causes and economic effects of a healthy (or deteriorating) investment climate.Tips for searching:

Interest Rates: Look for articles about rising or falling interest rates in individual countries or regions, and/or effects of US interest rates on the world economy or the economy of other countries.Tips for searching:

Trade Restrictions/Trade Talks: Look for articles about negotiations/agreements between countries regarding the lifting (or placing) of restrictions on international trade. You may want to limit your search to a specific trade agreement, such as CAFTA (a.k.a. DR-CAFTA or CAFTA-DR) or NAFTATips for searching:.

Labor unions: Look for articles about labor union activity: collective bargaining, strikes, advocating for better labor laws, protesting trade deals, etc. You may want to narrow your search to one of these types of activities. Tips for searching:

Labor laws: Look for articles about laws relating to labor and the workplace: the right to form unions, limiting the hours of work, workplace safety, setting minimum wages, restricting child labor, etc.Tips for searching:


Soc 160: Global Inequality and Social Change

Prof. Manisha Desai

Choose a topic from one below:

Women’s rights: Look forarticles about social movements to address inequalities, discrimination, or oppression based on sex/gender.Tips for searching:

Ethnic and racial equality: Look for articles about social movements that address inequalities based on race/ethnicity. Tips for searching:

Religious freedom: Look forarticles about social movements to address inequalities or oppression based on religious beliefs and/or practice.Tips for searching:

Economic justice: Look forarticles about social movements to address economic injustice or poverty.Tips for searching:


Geog 106: Geographies of Globalization

Prof. Kathleen O’Reilly

Choose a topic from one below:

Population/migration: Look for articles about how human migration contributes to changing patterns of human population globally or in an individual location, country or region.Tips for searching:

Environmental social movements: Look forarticles about social movements related to some aspect of preserving the natural environment. Tips for searching:

Urbanization: Look for articles about the causes and impacts of an increasing percentage of people living in urban areas as opposed to rural ones, mainly as a result of migration. Articles can focus on a particular city or cities in general.Tips for searching:

Supranational organizations: Look for articles about decision-making organizations that go beyond the authority of the government of any individual country. Supranational organizations usually deal with trade, commerce, or defense, and the decisions made are binding on all of the member countries. The European Union is often considered the prime example of a supranational organization, but there are others that conform to the definition of “supranational” to a greater or lesser extent, and are commonly referred to as such. You should narrow your search to one of these organizations, which are listed below.Tips for searching:

Try one of these in a headline/first paragraph search: “ European Union”, “W orld Bank”,“ International Monetary Fund”, “ World Trade Organization”, G-8.

Anth 103:Anthropology in a Changing World

Prof. Ellen Moodie

Choose a topic from one below:

Indigenous populations: Look forarticles about issues affecting the indigenous peoples of any country/countries or region(s).Tips for searching:

Migration: Look forarticles about human migration trends, patterns, or events.Tips for searching:

Sexual identities: Look forarticles about the social, cultural or political aspects of sexual orientation.Tips for searching:

Gender identities: Look forarticles about the social, cultural or political aspects of how people identify (and/or express themselves) in terms of gender. Tips for searching:

Racial and ethnic identity: Look forarticles about social, cultural, or political aspects of how people identify themselves in terms of race or ethnicity.Tips for searching:

War and illicit economies: Look forarticles about economic activity taking place illegally and/or outside of legitimate institutions during wartime.Tips for searching:

Social/activist movements: Look forarticles about movements for social change. Limit your search to a particular type of social movement, such as those listed below:

Environmental social movements: Look forarticles about social movements related to some aspect of preserving the environment. Tips for searching:

Women’s rights: Look forarticles about social movements to address inequalities, discrimination, or oppression based on sex/gender.Tips for searching:

Ethnic and racial equality: Look for articles about social movements that address inequalities based on race/ethnicity. Tips for searching:

Religious freedom: Look forarticles about social movements to address inequalities or oppression based on religious beliefs or practices.Tips for searching:

Economic justice: Look forarticles about social movements to address economic injustice or poverty.Tips for searching:


Ling 111: Language in Globalization

Prof. Rakesh Mohan Bhatt

Choose a topic from one below:

Language minority rights :Look for articles about the rights of people who speak a minority language (i.e. not the “official” or dominant language) in a given country or region.Tips for searching:

Language discrimination: Look for articles about instances of discrimination against people because of the language they speak (or fail to speak).Tips for searching:

Endangered languages: Look for articles about languages that are in danger of becoming extinct. Tips for searching:

Language laws: Look for articles about proposed or existing laws that regulate which language(s) can be spoken or used in a particular place, which languages will be used in education, which language will be on a citizenship test, which language will be the official or state language, etc.Tips for searching:

Language movements: Look for articles about social movements to preserve, revive, revitalize, and standardize languages; to establish bilingual education; or to establish a national language or official language.Tips for searching:

Hist 100: Global History

Prof. Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi

Choose a topic from one below:

Iraq war: Look for articles about the ongoing war in Iraq.Tips for searching:

“ Axis of evil”:Look for articles about US relations with North Korea or Iran. (President Bush labeled these countries as part of an “axis of evil,” along with Iraq, in his 2002 State of the Union address.)Tips for searching:

Terrorism and Muslims in the West: Look for articles about how the fight against terrorism has affected the freedom or civil liberties of Muslims in the US, Canada, or in European countries.Tips for searching:

Global warming: :Look for articles that focus on the causes and/or effects of global warming, and/or predictions about the effects of human activity on global climate change.Tips for searching:

Renewable energy: Look for articles about the development or use of renewable energy sources.Tips for searching:

Nuclear energy:Look for articles about the development and use of nuclear power.Tips for searching:

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): Look for articles about the North American Free Trade Agreement.Tips for searching:

Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA): Look for articles about the Central America Free Trade Agreement. (which is sometimes referred to as DR-CAFTA or CAFTA-DR because it also includes the Dominican Republic).Tips for searching:

US culture and globalization: Look for articles about US companies globalizing, and how they dominate, merge with, influence, or otherwise affect cultures (i.e. entertainment, foodways) around the world. Focus on a particular company or culture industry such as Disney, McDonald’s, or Hollywood.Tips for searching:

AIDS: Articles about the impact of AIDS, and/or efforts to combat the disease.Tips for searching:


Engl 112: Literatures of Global Culture

Prof. Zohreh T. Sullivan

Choose a topic from one below:

Global economy:Look for articles about the economic impacts of globalization – on individual countries, regions, social or economic groups, etc.Tips for searching:

Human rights violations:Look for articles about reports of human rights abuses.Tips for searching:


Slavery and forced labor : Look for articles about modern-day slavery, or people working under conditions that are described as forced labor.Tips for searching:

Racial and ethnic identity: Look forarticles about social, cultural, or political aspects of how people identify themselves in terms of race or ethnicity.Tips for searching:

The immigrant/emigrant experience: Look for articles about what it is like for people when they move from one country to another, and/or about the factors that cause people to emigrate to another country.Tips for searching:

Independence and sovereignty movements : Look for articles about efforts by groups of people/countries/regions to have their own independent government.Tips for searching:

Colonialism : Look for articles about neo-colonialism, the legacy of colonialism, reparations, land reclamation, etc.Tips for searching:

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