INR 3502, Spring 2004 (Jan. 5-April 14)
Overview: This project requires you to select a country at the beginning
of the semester, and to research and analyze its relationship with and
participation in at least 4-6 international organizations.
Objective: In-depth country and IO study utilizing a variety research
resources
Date due: April 7, 2004.
Instructions:
Note: Resources referred to below which are marked
with an asterisk (*) may be found, along with many other useful research tools
for this course, on the class web page <http://mcohen02.tripod.com/intlorgs.html>.
You may also gain some valuable assistance in selecting, researching,
organizing and preparing your project from the Internet Public Library’s
Research and Writing links.
1.
Select
a country whose relationship with IOs you would like to learn more about.
2. Utilize the resources, including
searchable databases, to find articles and papers about your selected country’s
current involvement and participation in various IOs, and the concerns of
various IOs (including NGOs and MNC’s) about your country. From these you can choose 6-8 IOs you’d like to research in more
depth. These must include:
1. the United Nations and its
constituent agencies
2. at least one economic IO
(IMF, World Bank, WTO) – (Your country
may either be a donor or a recipient of economic aid offered by an IO.)
3. a discussion of one or more environmental
issues your selected country confronts, as viewed from the perspective of
an environmentally focused IGO or NGO.
4.
at least one NGO (in addition to #3 above) and its concern about
this country - economics, trade, human
rights, health, development, women’s rights, children’s issues, weapons
proliferation, etc. relevant to your selected country
5. at least one MNC active in this country and its
involvement in and/or contribution to the economy of this country.
Feel free to
personalize these, and your other choices of IO’s, to reflect your personal and academic interests and your career
goals as well as what is going on in the country you have chosen. Is this country involved in any conflict
with its neighbors or experiencing any domestic ethnic conflict? If so, which IOs are addressing it? Are there refugees coming into or fleeing
the country that IGOs or NGOs are
trying to deal with? Does this
country require humanitarian relief to deal with a natural disaster? What health problems are of greatest concern
and why, and what assistance are IOs providing (or not providing)?
3. Watch for
news articles from a variety of sources (wire services; U.S. and foreign
media*; UN Wire* about current events having to do with your selected country’s
relationship with IOs (e.g. participation in peacekeeping forces, World Bank*
loans, World Trade Organization disputes*, IGO and NGO reports of environmental
concerns*, human rights complaints, need for humanitarian intervention,
etc.) You will find links to online newspapers and magazines
around the world on my web page: http://www.mcohen02.tripod.com. Using the Google Search tool and various
library full-text database resources, you can also type in the name of your
country along with the name of a
particular IO,or an issue such as “human rights” or “refugees,” and get a list
of numerous articles written recently which mention both of them.
PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO DOCUMENT YOUR SOURCES AS YOU ACQUIRE INFORMATION
(see below).
4. At the end
of the semester, you will turn in a 10-15 page paper which details your
findings. Your conclusion should summarize and analyze what
you have learned about this country,
and about International Organizations from doing this project. How have
some of the concepts and theoretical
approaches you have learned in this course
helped you to understand this particular country’s relationship to IO’s,
as well as the role of IOs as actors in the international system?
Evaluation: Your project, which accounts for 40% of your semester
grade, will be evaluated according to:
Your
general sense of familiarity
with what is going on in this country that
you convey as a result of
your research (30%)
The span and scope
of your paper in terms of duration
of research
and key issues examined,
depth of analysis and variety of news
sources
utilized; critical thinking (30%).
The structure and organization of your paper (20%)
Your documentation of your
sources
– You must have footnotes,
endnotes or parenthetical citations (if using parenthetical citations, a Works
Cited is also required) in a proper
format
showing where and when you got your information. See recommended
websites below where you can learn acceptable citation formats (20%)
Standards for Written
Work: Your project must be typed. Sentence
and paragraph structure, spelling, and grammar "count." Any information or opinion in your written
work which is derived from, or quoted directly or indirectly from, a primary or
secondary source (including the Internet), must be cited in a footnote, endnote, or
parenthetically within the text.
Failure to cite your source of information is called plagiarism,
and carries the consequence not only of a failing grade on the assignment, but
also the possibility of failing the course and of expulsion from the
university. Projects must include a
Bibliography or list of Works Consulted. (If you include no sources
because you have used none, I will assume you have done no research.) For citation and documentation instructions, click here or paste this
link to the Internet Public Library <http://www.ipl.org/div/aplus/linkciting.htm> into your browser.