International Relations

Survey Time!

ChecklistNext week we’ll begin surveying students about their experiences using Soomo’s webtexs. And as a bonus, students who complete the survey are automatically entered in a drawing for an iPad! Last semester’s winner was a student at Monroe County Community College, so let your students know that we really do give away an iPad.

 

Fall 2012 Survey Responses

Student and professor feedback is very important to us because it helps us prioritize new content and feature development. Below are a few highlights [click to continue…]

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Posted April 9, 2013 by Maureen Yann in American Government, Comparative Government, International Relations

UN Human Development Report for 2013

waterdrinkerThe 2013 United Nations Human Development Report is out! This year’s highlights include China’s growing middle class, Brazil’s rise in overall living standards, and a special feature on “The Rise of the South,” which spotlights the remarkable development taking place in countries such as Indonesia, Mexico, and South Africa.

On April 8 there is a live webcast of the Columbia University Conference on the 2013 Human Development Report. The Plenary, “The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a [click to continue…]

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Posted April 8, 2013 by Zara Elizabeth Crockett in Comparative Government, Global Studies, International Relations

Where’s the Data?

SpreadsheetAt the APSA Teaching and Learning Conference last week, I attended a workshop called Navigating Data Resources: How to Teach Students to Find Data Sets. Presenters Mara Rojeski (Georgetown) and Annelise Sklar (UC-San Diego), both data librarians, are experts in helping students and instructors find data sets for their particular research interests. Here is the fantastically helpful list of data they put together (along with a few of my comments).

Web Resources

  • FRED (St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank) – economic and related data
  • Zanran - a search engine for data and statistics

Political Science Datasets [click to continue…]

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Posted February 16, 2013 by Mary Jane Lindrum in American Government, Comparative Government, Conferences, International Relations, Teaching and Technology

The Global Governance Monitor

While researching new artifacts for assignments, I found this incredible interactive tool for monitoring international politics. My new favorite tool from The Council on Foreign Relations (which publishes Foreign Affairs) covers issues such as nuclear proliferation, climate change, public health, human rights, terrorism, and armed conflict.  For each of these topics, users can view issue briefings, maps, timelines, overviews, relevant treaties, and even updates on current events. It seems like this site could be a fantastic  resource for many topics in introductory IR and comparative politics classes.

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Posted December 11, 2012 by Zara Elizabeth Crockett in Comparative Government, Global Studies, Infographics, International Relations, Teaching and Technology

Where in the World?

I’m always on the search for great ways to teach geography and today I found a cool mapping tool from National Geographic Education. Called MapMaker Interactive, it allows the user to create customized maps by selecting a map type (topo, satellite, street, etc.) and then layering on themes, markers, and even custom drawings. Themes are transparent layers that add information such as population density, religion, climate, language, etc. There’s also a measuring tool so you can find distances between places. The best part is that when you are finished, you can share your finished map (URL, email, or print).  This tool would be a GREAT way to teach basic geography or create map assignments for case studies. Check it out and please leave a comment below to let other instructors know your ideas for teaching with maps.

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Posted December 6, 2012 by Zara Elizabeth Crockett in Comparative Government, Global Studies, International Relations

Cool Infographics: GDP Two Ways

Picture of blue circle representing U.S. GDPI was catching up on some reading over the weekend, and I came across these great infographics from NPR’s Planet Money Blog. The two graphics present nice visualizations of GDP by country which are colored to indicate region. The first one sizes country bubbles according to their total GDP and the second one provides a dramatically different visualization by comparing per capita GDP. What do you think about pairing these infographics with the GINI index to make an IPE assignment?

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Posted June 6, 2012 by Mary Jane Lindrum in Comparative Government, Global Studies, Infographics, International Relations

Spotlight: Top 10 Assignments

Curious to learn which of our assignments are tops with professors? Well so were we. So we did some number crunching to find the most popular assignments used in both our Americans Governing ancillary and our webtext, Central Ideas in American Government. The assignments with the highest number of student responses for Spring 2012 are listed below.

1) What Is the Purpose of Government?

2) Learn About Congress

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Posted June 5, 2012 by Maureen Yann in About Us, American Government, International Relations, Soomo Judo

Add New Assignments to Your Course

Soomo has so many sweet assignments that we can’t fit them all into our standard collections. So, for your perusing pleasure, we’ve added a Quick Start Guide for Adding Assignments to our handy library of Quick Start Guides. The new guide will walk you through the process of using our easy-to-edit platform to add assignments from our catalog to your Americans Governing, Between Nations, or Comparing Governments course. You can even create your own custom assignments. Now if only there were a quick start guide for Christmas shopping and family reunions!

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Posted May 1, 2012 by Zara Elizabeth Crockett in American Government, Comparative Government, International Relations, New Assignment, Soomo Judo

Teaching IR Through Games and Films

At the ISA conference in San Diego, I attended a fascinating panel called, “Gaming and Films in the Teaching of International Relations.” Participants presented papers on the various films, books, and games they use in their classrooms to illustrate key concepts in IR. The biggest takeaway for me was how innovative professors can be in reaching out to students to help them better understand the discipline.

Bethany Barratt, Associate Professor at Roosevelt University, presented one of my favorite papers which focused on using the Harry Potter series of novels to teach about [click to continue…]

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Posted April 26, 2012 by Zara Elizabeth Crockett in Conferences, International Relations, Video

Teaching Social Contract Theory with Postapocalyptic Fiction

Looking for a way to get your students interested in social contract theory? Trying to find some way to work a discussion of The Hunger Games into your class? If so, Postapocalyptic Fiction and the Social Contract: “We’ll Not Go Home Again” by Claire P. Curtis may interest you. As the title suggests, Curtis uses social contract theory as a framework to examine postapocalyptic novels and short stories.

In a review of it published in the most recent volume of Perspectives On Politics, Soomo user Joseph Lane, Jr. (Hawthorne Associate Professor at Emory and Henry College) says that the “book should be of particular value to those [click to continue…]

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Posted April 3, 2012 by Maureen Yann in American Government, Comparative Government, Global Studies, International Relations

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