Only one person came to the asesoría

And she left after half an hour.

Music choice for the rest of the 90 minutes I spent in the classroom: "Alone" by SISTAR

The world at your feet: How to build a career in foreign relations, by Gareth Evans

"There are a great many students who are enormously attracted by the idea of a diplomatic career. Or if not in the foreign service as such, certainly a job which takes you out and about internationally and gets you engaged with international policy issues, be they to do with peace and security, aid and development, trade or any one of the innumerable transnational policy issues – from climate change to people trafficking to managing health pandemics – which former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan once described as “problems without passports”.

It’s no surprise that so many young people should want to get into these jobs. They sound inherently fascinating, and they are.

So how can you best prepare yourself for a foreign policy related career? How can you maximise your chances of cracking it in what is always going to be a very competitive field?"

Read the rest of the article here. 

Asesoría, April 27

Place: Aulas 1, Room 106

Date: Wednesday, April 27, 2016.

Hour: 15:30 to 17:00.

See you there!

CIGP: Participation checklists for Academic Seminar and Tabula Rasa

For the Academic Seminar (April 26 to 28):

1. Re-state the presenter’s main idea. (33%)
2. Say whether if the arguments make sense. (33%)
3. Suggest at least one change or addition to their work. (34%)

This is a presentation, but you don't need to bring slides or dress up. The order of participation was established on March 31st and may be viewed here. 


For the Tabula Rasa (April 29-May 3):

1. Ask for the floor before participating. (25%)
2. Wait for your turn. (25%)
3. Direct your participation at “the delegate of” another country or to the entire summit. (25%)
4. Keep each participation under 2 minutes. (25%)

Please come to class dressed for a formal presentation and prepared to participate according to procotol. We won't be stringent about it, but there will be two kinds of participation and two kinds of intervention:

- When you participate, you may ask for the floor to give a statement as part of the summit (these are the ones that must be addressed to the other delegates and for which you will be graded) or you may propose a caucus, which means you get 3 minutes to suspend the Summit and stand up for one-on-one negotiations.

- Simultaneously, you may get information from News Flashes or Secret Messages from your own home government, which I will distribute when the time comes. While News Flashes give general information and may be openly discussed, the information in Secret Messages is only for whoever receives them.

CIGP: Racism (Unit 10, L9, April 22)

Recommended content:

1. "How do you identify racism? The angry eye" by Jane Elliott

2. "Asian-American actresses discuss 'Ghost in the shell', Oscars controversies" by Rebecca Sun

3. "Los negros de México que han sido 'borrados de la historia'" by Arlene Gregorius

4. "5 facts about race in America" by Bruce Drake

CIGP: LGBT Rights (Unit 10, L8, April 21)

Recommended content:

1. "Human sexuality is complicated" by Hank Green

2. "Your arguments are invalid: Gay marriage" by Hank Green

3. "Equality to brutality: Global trends in LGBT rights" by Graeme Reid

4. "How one woman's 'bathroom bill' campaign went viral" by BBC Trending

5. "4 LGBT issues to focus on now that we have marriage" by Annamarya Scaccia

6. "Grace Kelly" by Mika

Infographic: Yes, we still need feminism

CIGP: Women's Rights (Unit 10, L7, April 20)

Recommended content:

1. "Girl destroys feminism in 3 minutes" by Lauren Southern

2. "At least a third of all women murdered in the U.S. are killed by male partners" by Alissa Scheller

3. "Statistics" by Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN)

4. "Why women are less likely than men to commit suicide" by George E. Murphy

5. "Unemployment Statistics" by U.S. Department of Labor, Women's Bureau

6. "U.S. paid family leave versus the rest of the world, in two disturbing charts" by Adam Peck and Bryce Covert

7. "He said, she said: The mythical history of the false rape allegation" by Donna Zuckerberg

8. "Topics in Feminism" by Sally Haslanger, Nancy Tuana, and Peg O'Connor

9. "The 1996 article every millenial should read" by Savannah Barker

10. "What it feels like for a girl" by Madonna

CIGP: Drug Trafficking (Unit 10, L6, April 19)

Recommended content:

1. "The history of drug trafficking in the USA"

2. "These three maps show how drugs move around the world" by Sangwon Yoon

CIGP: Food and Water Security (Unit 10, L5, April 18)

Recommended content:

1. "Water and Classical Civilizations, Crash Course World History 222" by John Green



2. "Drought and Famine, Crash Course World History 208" by John Green

 

3. " Food Security" by the World Health Organization

4. "Water Security" by UN Water

5. "Prepare for the Worst: Venezuela is heading toward complete disaster" by the Washington Post

6. "Kashmir and the politics of water" by Ayesha Siddiqi

Homework for April 22

1. Watch the following movies:

- "Freeheld" (2015) by Peter Sollett

- "Paris is Burning" (1990) by Jennie Livingston

2. Write a 500-word essay where you compare and contrast the experiences of the main characters in both movies and the social realities they deal with, particularly regarding the intersectionality between economic inequality, LGBT rights, women's rights, and racism. Upload it to Blackboard by April 22, 11:59 PM. The link will be in the "Assignments" tab and titled "Essay 10_Freeheld, Paris is Burning". E-mailed essays will get an automatic zero.

CIGP: Corruption (Unit 10, L4, April 15)

Recommended content:

1. "Corruption" by Seumas Miller

2. "The Pursuit of Absolute Integrity: How Corruption Control Makes Government Ineffective" by Frank Anechiarico and James Jacobs

3. "Becoming Denmark: Understanding Good Governance Historical Achievers" by Alina Mungiu-Pippidi

4. "La casa blanca de Enrique Peña Nieto, en las Lomas" by Aristegui Noticias

5. "Brazil's government is falling apart... And it's good news?" By Hank Green

CIGP: Immigration and Nationalism (Unit 10, L3, April 14)

Recommended content:

1. "Mexican Immigration is Going South: More Mexicans Leaving the U.S. than Entering" by AJ+

2. "Immigration Wave: Will Europe Still Be Europe?" by CBN News

3. "Samurai, Daimyo, Matthew Perry, and Nationalism: Crash Course World History 34" by John Green

4. "Immigration" by Christopher Heath Wellman

5. "Nationalism" by Nenad Miscevic

6. "Patriotism" by Igor Primoratz

CIGP: Terrorism (Unit 10, L2, April 13)

Recommended content:

1. "Terrorism, War, and Bush 43: Crash Course US History #46" by John Green

2. "The History of Terrorism: From Antiquity to Al Qaeda" by Gérard Chaliand and Arnaud Blin

3. "The Wrong Mindset to Fight Terrorism" by Yasin Aktay

4. "Mapped: Terror Threat Around the World" by Oliver Smith

5. "The Monterrey Massacre: A New Nadir in Mexico's Drug War" by Karla Zabludovsky

CIGP: Asesoría, April 14

Date: Thursday, April 14, 2016.
Place: Aulas 1, 108
Hour: 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM

See you there!

Recommended content:

1. "DIY Giant EOS Lip Balm Cake" by Ann Reardon

2. "DIY Giant EOS!" by Breland Emory

CIGP: Health Security (Unit 10, L1, April 11)

Recommended content:

1. "The Economics of Healthcare: Crash Course Economics #29"

2. "How Pandemics Spread" by Mark Honigsbaum

3. "Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality" by Angus Deaton

4. "Disease! Crash Course World History 220" by John Green

CIGP: Human Rights (Unit 9, L8, March 7)

Recommended content:

1. "The Story of Human Rights"

2. "Eleanor Roosevelt: Most Iconic First Lady"

CIGP: Trade Blocs & International Economic Institutions (Unit 8, L3, March 6)

Recommended content:

1. "Trade Blocs and Trade Blocks" by Richard Levich

2. "The IMF at a Glance" by the IMF

3. "The IMF and the World Bank: How Do They Differ?" by David Driscoll

4. "Understanding the WTO: What We Do" by the WTO

5. "GATT and WTO" by Julia Marion

Conference: "Recordar a los difuntos"

Conference with Arnoldo Kraus, author of "Recordar a los difuntos".
April 12th, 2016, 14:30-16:00. Auditorio.

See you there! Say hi to me so I can give you an extra 100 in Participation.

CIGP: Peace (Unit 9, L7, April 5)

Recommended content:

1. "War" by Brian Orend

2. "Pacifism" by Andrew Fiala

3. "Nonviolence and Peace Movements Crash Course World History 228" by John Green

Homework for April 11

1. Read the book "Recordar a los difuntos" by Arnoldo Kraus.

2. Write a 500-word essay about how the Mexican healthcare system treats death and grief, and how they should be treated. This will be a normative essay. Upload it to Blackboard by April 11, 11:59 PM. The link will be in the "Assignments" tab and titled "Essay 9_Recordar a los difuntos". E-mailed essays will get an automatic zero.

CIGP: War Crimes & Law of War (Unit 9, L6, April 4)

Recommended content:

1. "List of Customary Rules of International Humanitarian Law" by the International Committee of the Red Cross

2. "What is a War Crime?" by Tarik Rafala

3. "For the sake of warriors: Accepting the limits of the Law of War" by Geoffrey S. Corn

Case studies:

1. Armenian genocide

2. Syrian Civil War

CIGP: Argument practice

The Volupides case:

"At five-feet-six and a hundred and ten pounds, Queenie Volupides was a sight to behold and to clasp. When she tore out of the house after a tiff with her husband, Arthur, she went to the country club where there was a party going on.

She left the club shortly before one in the morning and invited a few friends to follow her home and have one more drink.

They got to the Volupides’s house about ten minutes after Queenie, who met them at the door and said, “Something terrible happened. Arthur slipped and fell on the stairs. He was coming down for another drink—he still had the glass in his hand—and I think he’s dead. Oh, my God—what shall I do?

The autopsy conducted later concluded that Arthur had died from a wound on the head and confirmed that he’d been drunk."

March 2016 Favorites

1. "House of Cards" (2013-x). It's good entertainment AND a taste of global politics, especially in the third season.

2. "Tracy Chapman" (1988) by Tracy Chapman. Great album.

3. "Perfect Sponge Cake" (2013) by Ann Reardon.

4. "Fresh Meat" (2011-x). Good series, if you're into British humor.

5. "A Passage to India" (1924) by E. M. Forster. It's about racism and sexism in colonial India. Pretty cool, especially if you liked "To Kill a Mockingbird" and other similar novels.

6. "12 Angry Men" (1957) by Sydney Lumet. It's originally a play, and it's good for looking at biases and the way arguments can be constructed and reconstructed.

7. "Evita" (1996) by Alan Parker. It was originally a Broaday musical, and this is the feauture film with Madonna as Eva Perón. It shows the outside/American view of Argentina in the 20th century. They saw her as more of a celebrity and a tragic figure than a political/elite actor.

8. "Eva Perón" (1996) by Juan Carlos Desanzo. This is the response by the Argentinean government to the musical. It shows Eva Perón as more of a political actor who dealt with the unfairness that women were simply not taken seriously.