IDIS W44 Disney, Culture, & Progress

This course equips students to explore cross-cultural understandings of progress. Students will learn how culture can facilitate or impede progress, and learn how different cultures differently understand the concept of progress.

Walt Disney World projects a vision of global progress in cross-cultural engagement, scientific and technological innovation, environmental sustainability, and global citizenship. But this message of progress is often contested, and such a singular presentation raises a multitude of questions. Have we really progressed when there is so much violence, inequality, interethnic hostility and discrimination, environmental deterioration, and misuse of technology? How can we reconcile ideas of progress with the reality of a fallen world? Can we identify a global vision of progress, or are these ideas merely a veiled presentation of the “American dream?” A significant portion of the class will take place off-campus at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, where students will explore representations of human progress in science, technology, cross-cultural engagement, environmental protection, and global citizenship. During this visit we will reflect on some key questions: What does it take to progress towards a more sustainable future? Are we called to be global citizens or rooted in our local communities? Is progress a Western, liberal concept, or can we understand progress within our own cultural communities? How does our understanding of progress impact the way we engage across cultures? Most importantly, are there particular visions of progress that Christians should or should not endorse? Students will consider these questions individually and collectively through group discussions, experiences with partners, reflective written responses, and a final class presentation.

Orlando, Florida

Population

262,372

Academics

This course may fulfill an elective in the Political Science and International Relations major.  This course will fulfill the CCE requirement.

Cost

$2,345 (exact)