Political Science/Sociology

International Political Economy (POLI 372)

Anas Malik, Ph.D.
Mentor: Trudelle Thomas, Ph.D. (English)

Xavier Campus Interactions with Mentor (Trudelle Thomas)

knew Mentor from previous discussions about writing (we coauthored a piece on writing for Grapevine)
met numerous times, got to know Trudelle, her son Gabe and husband Bill better
discussed Ignatian values from our respective faith traditions (Muslim and Christian)
wrote regularly and extensively in an intense, exploratory journal
traded written reflections on our personal journeys
considering co-authoring another article that draws on this experience

The course: International Political Economy (IPE)

Specific Change 1: Philanthropy Grant

Philanthropy Grant Program: class gets $4000 to give to a nonprofit (technically a 501(c)(3)) organization in the Cincinnati area
Decided to pursue this as a way to engage students directly with community organizations
with students, decided to focus on recent immigrant needs; worked on grant mission statement; brainstormed possible organizations; sent Request For Proposals
narrowed down to 4 organizations, students currently busy with site visits; have lively discussions; students take their task seriously, and have volunteered to put in extra time
class looks at big macro picture, and this is about the local micro effects; some disconnects but overall student engagement with issues has increased
has produced deliberation over values and preferences as students try to make choices between different yet worthy programs

Specific Change 2: Nicaragua Interactions

met with Nicaragua Service Learning Program (NSL) students at the semester's start, and their leader Irene Hodgson; outlined basics in International Political Economy
Discussed collaboration; agreed that students in Nicaragua would send my class two case studies by a set date; IPE students would respond with analysis and questions; NSL students would respond to the response; IPE students would send a response to that
IPE and NSL students would meet in person at a gathering at the end of the semester for further conversation
Goal was to increase student engagement by relating to their peers in another program overseas, and to increase their sense that the cases are real, live, current, and significant
Another goal was to demonstrate that IPE analytical tools have direct, relevant implications for understanding world situations

Specific Change 3: Student Ownership Over Decisions

at several points when group decisions had to be made regarding the Philanthropy Grant process, decisionmaking suffered confusion and grid-lock
students aware of the Arrow Theorem: majority voting is subject to strategic manipulation or arbitrary results where there are more than two voters and more than two choices placed in rank order; the resulting "cycling majorities" problem means that there is no obviously superior how-to rule in group decision-making
partly from time constraints, and partly to give students ownership, I simply set a deadline (eg., 25 mins), and said if by that time they hadn't come up with an answer, I would impose a decision-rule
in every case, students came up with a group decision
students gained experience in group deliberation, decision-making, and responsibility
I also learned to trust my students as capable, responsible decision-makers

Overall Impact

enriching, bonding experience with mentor
expect to continue conversations, and do more coauthoring
develop community involvement as strategy to generate interest and engagement with course material
students more aware that analysis can inform ethical choices; enhanced the informed value judgment component in classroom discussion and student writing
more interdisciplinary/cross-course connections as way to enhance student learning
greater mutual trust and sense of common purpose between students and instructor