International Studies 100 at the University of Wisconsin Madison is by far one of the most rewarding courses underclass badgers can enroll in. This four credit course by Kathrine Jensen and available to take in fall 2020, IS 100 is the first course I personally took that made me aware and passionate about various niche happenings in our global community.
Students will find themselves learning about activities then never imagined excited and how those happenings have a direct tie toward their life in Madison. You may wonder how fast fashion and poor labor conditions in Asian countries may relate to you when you’re walking down State Street, or how your iPhone connects you to underage miners in Africa. However, by taking IS 100 you will not only see those connections but learn how they came to be.
The course is challenging and can hold up to 100+ pages of reading a week- a feat that may scare some potential students off. However, this was one the first courses that I found myself getting lost within the reading in the best way possible- 30 page articles would fly by as you learn about how surrogacy in Nepal is really an international commodity or why yoga is a form of cultural appropriation.
The material covered within this course is eye-opening and forces students out of their comfort zones by teaching them the less idealistic aspects of our international community, and how we unknowingly perpetuate some of those behaviors. Students leave the course with new perspectives, insights, and action items on how to be a more aware global citizen, even within their own community at UW-Madison.
Unit 2 Class Suggestions