Social And Global Issues Analysis

Over the course of this semester this class has enhanced my awareness of social and global issues. A social issue is an issue that relates to society’s perception of a person’s personal life. Different cultures have different perceptions and what may be “normal” behavior in one society may be a significant social issue in another society. Global issues are those that have, or hold, the potential for impacting the whole world. I learned a lot about global and social issues in the readings we did for this course.

In The Origins of the Modern World by Robert Marks I learned about the rise of the west. The idea behind the rise of the West began to emerge after the Spanish conquest of the Americas. Prior to the rise of the West the world was polycentric meaning it was made up of many centers of authority or control (i.e., it was composed of multiple central parts); however, China and India were powerful. During this time trade was occurring between Europeans and Asians as evidenced by the spread of the Black Death. The Black Death originated in the arid plains of central Asia, where it then travelled along the Silk Road. The Black Death was most likely carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships, spreading the Black Death throughout the Mediterranean and Europe. Today, the world is no longer polycentric. Today, the West is more powerful than other countries; however, this could have not been the case. The rise of the West happened accidentally and could have happened in another part of the world. This book taught me a lot about global issues because it focused on how the rise of the west affected the rest of the world. Up until this class I haven’t learned about non-Eurocentr...

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...ion, marry whoever we want, we are not ashamed if our first born child is a female. I have always known women in other countries are not treated equally; however this book really drove that point home and made me realize how glad I am not to live in a society where women are looked down on.

Throughout this course I have learned about gender issues, the affects of colonialism on Natives, Americans going into foreign countries, and I learned about history through a non-Eurocentric standpoint. This class taught me to look at the big picture not just look at how an issue might affect America but how it might affect the rest of the world. It made me realize that even though the world is no longer polycentric the actions of one Nation can affect the whole world. It also taught me to look at social issues across the globe not just to look at the social issues in America.