Stream Overview
What does it mean to imagine ourselves as members of a global community? How do we, and how should we, live together on this planet—and how does climate change make these, perhaps the key questions of the 21st century? How does a global lens help us approach sustainability in all of its forms? Through thematically-linked courses in geography, political science, literature and culture, sociology, and language, this stream invites students to think critically about global issues and discover their own agency amidst the powerful forces of globalization and change. Themes include justice and equality, forced migration, colonization, racialization, citizenship and belonging, history, trauma, Indigenous sovereignty, climate change and sustainability.
Students also have opportunities to take their learning beyond the classroom by participating in community-engaged learning projects.
Term 1: ASTU 100, SOCI 102, POLI 100; Term 2: ASTU 100, LING 101, GEOG 122
“I chose the CAP [Global Stream] because it immersed me in a small yet diverse student group to collaborate and discuss a wide range of contemporary topics of global citizenship, while linking ideas between different discourses. The joint lectures with all CAP professors were particularly memorable and highlighted the interactive and collaborative nature of the CAP program. My year in CAP consolidated my decision to major in international relations, and I hope to later find a career in international humanitarian work.”
—Lauren Shykora, intended major International Relations
Click here for more student testimonials.
Note: This stream was formerly our “Global” Stream (first known as Global Citizens, then later Globalization, Power & Society). Our new name, “People & Planet” signals our growing commitment to focusing on issues of land, and environment, the relation of people to their world both locally and globally. Stay tuned for more changes to the stream that will come in the fall of 2024 as we continue to grow this commitment.
Courses
Arts Studies, Sociology, Linguistics, Political Science, Geography.
All course descriptions and information are subject to change.
In your first term, you will enrol in Arts Studies, Sociology, and Political Science to learn how society and politics play a role in our global lives in issues of power, representation, and structure. You will be introduced to features and techniques of academic writing in your courses, and exhibit them in a research paper in your political science course.
Arts Studies (ASTU) 100 Seminar
(6 credits/2 terms) – First Year CAP Seminar: Focuses on writing and reading, including both literature and introduction to academic scholarship. This course provides an interdisciplinary foundation for academic writing and related research communicative practices within an interactive learning environment. Topics for each section vary by according to faculty.
Students will choose one out of four different sections (G01/G02/G03/G04), based on their scheduling needs and academic interests, and stay in the same section for both terms.
- ASTU 100 Sections G01: Literature as Memory in a Changing World
Instructor: Dr. Moberley Luger
Email address: mluger@mail.ubc.ca
In this course, we will explore the intersections of globalization, power, and society by looking to literature—including film, graphic narratives, novels, short stories, and poems. We will read texts that invites us to consider related issues around race, displacement, colonization, and memory. We will ask questions like these: How does literature function as a record of history? What obligations does literature have toward “truth” – and what kinds of truths does it convey or suppress? Who “owns” a story and who can tell a story? Should we only speak for ourselves, or must we also speak for others? The texts on our reading list will explore these questions through literature that remembers both local histories (e.g. residential schools in Canada) and global ones (e.g. the Vietnam War). Here are some sample texts: Alice Gu’s Donut King (film) Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West (novel); Jordan Abel’s Injun (poetry); Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse (novel); Thi Bui’s The Best We Could Do (comic).
And, because this is a course that covers both literature and academic writing, we will not only practice our skills as readers—but also develop our skills as writers. Students will learn the conventions of knowledge-making and writing in Arts disciplines. This means you will join in the scholarly conversations you read and contribute new knowledge to them. To do this, you will produce a writing in the form of blogs, literature reviews, research essays, editorials, and/or conference papers.
- ASTU 100 Section G02, G03 & G04: Migrant Futures: Displacement & Belonging
Instructor: Dr. Erin Goheen Glanville
Email address: egoheeng@mail.ubc.ca
This course’s reading materials and assessments introduce you to the skills you need to participate in scholarly communities and to the study of literature. By the end of the course you will understand the components of academic research and writing and have language to describe these techniques. You will have practiced producing academic writing and research and be confident to approach writing assignments in your courses going forward. You will also be able to analyze and discuss literature and media using the conventions of literary cultural studies.
Who belongs where and why? Is it possible for different communities to belong equally in the same place? What happens to your sense of belonging when you are displaced? What if you belong nowhere? How do stories create belonging? This section of ASTU explores how narratives and storytelling both support and create barriers to belonging in a globalized world. In the first term we will analyse literature that addresses global forced migration and belonging in nation-states. In the second term we will focus on local displacement and the possibilities of refugee-Indigenous solidarity. As part of our exploration of belonging, students will have multiple opportunities for community-engagement, including site visits to the refugee support sector and a creative public-facing project.
Sociology (SOCI) 102 - Inequality and Social Change
(3 credits/1 term)
Instructor: Neil Armitage
Email address: neil.armitage@ubc.ca
How do we work together towards a more just, fair and sustainable society? A society in which health and happiness is a social right irrespective of class, gender, race, or age. Is there such a thing as a global society? A society in which you are able to participate irrespective of the circumstances you are born into. These types of questions have guided sociology since it’s foundations over a century ago and will guide your journey on Sociology 102 – Inequality and Social Change. The course will encourage you to start thinking sociologically on a range of issues, and see how they relate to your everyday life. The course challenges you to challenge your ideas and opinions, and provides you with the tools and the supports for you to succeed on your UBC journey.
Political Science (POLI) 100 - Introduction to Politics
(3 credits/ 1 term)
Instructor: Joëlle Alice Michaud-Ouellet
Email address: ja.mo@ubc.ca
Political Science 100 is a hybrid course that will introduce you to key concepts, ideas, and debates in the study of politics. It is meant to teach you the research and analytical skills necessary to pursue more advanced studies in political science at UBC. The course is made of a combination of readings, lectures, learning activities, and group discussions.
One recurring theme in the course is how relations of power and aspirations to freedom and justice influence political relations. The meaning of justice and freedom is not predetermined; these notions mean different things to different people and contexts, which can lead to political conflicts and struggles that involve recourse to power. Important subthemes in the course are legitimacy, democracy, sovereignty, ideology, and citizenship. A special attention will be given to the state as a pillar of modern politics. We will study its interactions with citizens and alternative political communities such as Indigenous peoples, minority identity groups, social movements, and the global community.
In your second term, you will continue your studies in Arts Studies as well as be introduced to Geography, and Linguistics where you will learn more about our globalising and modernising world and how literature and language play a part in both shaping and resisting the structures surrounding our world.
Arts Studies (ASTU) 100 Seminar
(6 credits/2 terms) – First Year CAP Seminar: Focuses on writing and reading, including both literature and introduction to academic scholarship. This course provides an interdisciplinary foundation for academic writing and related research communicative practices within an interactive learning environment. Topics for each section vary by according to faculty.
Students will choose one out of four different sections (G01/G02/G03/G04), based on their scheduling needs and academic interests, and stay in the same section for both terms.
- ASTU 100 Sections G01: Literature as Memory in a Changing World
Instructor: Dr. Moberley Luger
Email address: mluger@mail.ubc.ca
In this course, we will explore the intersections of globalization, power, and society by looking to literature—including film, graphic narratives, novels, short stories, and poems. We will read texts that invites us to consider related issues around race, displacement, colonization, and memory. We will ask questions like these: How does literature function as a record of history? What obligations does literature have toward “truth” – and what kinds of truths does it convey or suppress? Who “owns” a story and who can tell a story? Should we only speak for ourselves, or must we also speak for others? The texts on our reading list will explore these questions through literature that remembers both local histories (e.g. residential schools in Canada) and global ones (e.g. the Vietnam War). Here are some sample texts: Alice Gu’s Donut King (film) Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West (novel); Jordan Abel’s Injun (poetry); Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse (novel); Thi Bui’s The Best We Could Do (comic).
And, because this is a course that covers both literature and academic writing, we will not only practice our skills as readers—but also develop our skills as writers. Students will learn the conventions of knowledge-making and writing in Arts disciplines. This means you will join in the scholarly conversations you read and contribute new knowledge to them. To do this, you will produce a writing in the form of blogs, literature reviews, research essays, editorials, and/or conference papers.
- ASTU 100 Section G02, G03 & G04: Migrant Futures: Displacement & Belonging
Instructor: Dr. Erin Goheen Glanville
Email address: egoheeng@mail.ubc.ca
This course’s reading materials and assessments introduce you to the skills you need to participate in scholarly communities and to the study of literature. By the end of the course you will understand the components of academic research and writing and have language to describe these techniques. You will have practiced producing academic writing and research and be confident to approach writing assignments in your courses going forward. You will also be able to analyze and discuss literature and media using the conventions of literary cultural studies.
Who belongs where and why? Is it possible for different communities to belong equally in the same place? What happens to your sense of belonging when you are displaced? What if you belong nowhere? How do stories create belonging? This section of ASTU explores how narratives and storytelling both support and create barriers to belonging in a globalized world. In the first term we will analyse literature that addresses global forced migration and belonging in nation-states. In the second term we will focus on local displacement and the possibilities of refugee-Indigenous solidarity. As part of our exploration of belonging, students will have multiple opportunities for community-engagement, including site visits to the refugee support sector and a creative public-facing project.
Linguistics (LING) 101 - Languages of the World
(3 credits/1 terms)
Instructor: Dr. Strang Burton
Email address: strang.burton@ubc.ca
A survey of the linguistic map of the world, examining how languages are genetically classified and how different languages evolve. Principles underlying different writing systems and the decipherment of historical documents. Issues of languages in contact, minority language endangerment, language death and the role of English as a world language.
Students will first explore aspects of the linguistic history of several large families of languages, and then compare features of the sound systems of a variety of modern languages. Topics will include a survey and comparison of different types of consonant systems, vowel systems, stress systems, and of systems that use tone. Students will explore how languages influence and borrow from one another, and look at different approaches to representing language in writing. The course will end with some reflection on claims about the value (or not) of linguistic diversity, and about the supposed ‘inferiority’ of certain languages and dialects.
Geography (GEOG) 122 - Geography, Modernity, and Globalization
(3 credits/1 term)
Instructors: Professor Trevor Barnes
Email addresses: trevor.barnes@geog.ubc.ca
Geography 122 is an introduction to human geography and to the history and present character of our globalizing world. Overall, the course seeks to interpret geographically and historically globalization, its consequences, regional expressions, and reactions against it. The course is divided into five main blocks, each one concerned with the history and human geography of a different substantive theme critical to shaping our present global world. The first is about the development of settler colonialism in North America as well as responses by Native peoples. The second is about the emergence of industrial capitalism from the 17th century in Western Europe to its transformation into a global economic system, which for the most part is now dominated by high-income countries of the Global North. The third is about the corresponding form of development in the Global South, countries with low incomes, which often historically experienced the malevolent effects of European colonialism, but recently have undergone rapid economic change. The fourth focuses on twentieth-century geopolitics, that is, international political relations, their motivations and consequences, among countries. The fifth is about the intersection of human geographies with nature and the physical environment, now one in which humans have fundamentally changed the material form and physical processes of the planet (we are in the epoch of the Anthropocene).
Timetable
Please note that you will only register in one ASTU 100 seminar, and one SOCI 100 and POLI 100 discussion section. This timetable is subject to change.
Please note that you will only register in one ASTU 100 seminar and one GEOG 122 discussion section. This timetable is subject to change.
