Welcome
to the first edition of the Online Global Problems Reader.
The staggering growth of information on the
Internet is a windfall for educators. The problem is how do we access and organize
it? This collection of Online readings and exercises represents one solution to that
problem. Its purpose is to provide educators, students, public policy analysts,
among others, with a body of Internet material on global problems, such as hunger,
poverty, disease, environmental devastation, and social unrest. The organization of
this reader follows that of the book, Global Problems
and the Culture of Capitalism by Richard H. Robbins, and is, in part, designed to
complement the book and courses in which it is used. However the Online Global Problems Reader can be used for any university or
secondary school course, or as a source of information for interested readers. Best
yet, it's free!
The articles and exercises included in the first
edition of the reader are all freely available on the Internet; we have reviewed thousands
and selected those that allow some degree of continuity from selection to selection.
We have not limited ourselves in the kind of material you will find in the
reader. There are articles from Online journals, newspapers, magazines, symposia,
and courses; position papers and press releases from NGOs and think tanks, excerpts from
Online books, and presentations from museums. Some of the selections are virtual
tours, while others contain data relevant to specific topics. There are even Online
quizzes and simulations of various sorts. The selections also represent a range of
difficulty, although we have provided introductions to the readings that we hope will make
even the more difficult accessible to all students and general readers. We will
continue to review and update the selections, archiving those that are removed just in
case you'd like to continue using or assigning them. And we would greatly appreciate
suggestions for items to include; the Internet and projects such as this provide a
wonderful opportunity for collaboration.
You can also periodically check our Global Updates page for recent global
developments and find even more material at our Internet Resources page that includes annotated links to sites relating to
topics addressed in Global Problems and the
Culture of Capitalism, along with information on countries, corporations, and links to maps.
We would also appreciate suggestions for
features to add to the site or the reader. We plan to attach a link to each reading
that will include study questions, a response field to enable students to submit their
answers and comments on the reading to instructors, and an evaluation form on the
readings.
We plan to periodically check to ensure that
links included in the reader work. However, since the selections exist on other Web
Sites, we have no control over their maintenance. Consequently some may be removed, URLs
may change, or sites may be temporarily down. We would appreciate knowing when you
have difficulties accessing any of the selections.
