Tbers,


The posting below describes a new multi-disciplinary curriculum using
Wal-Mart as a case study.  It is by Elizabeth Cohn, Ph.D.
([log in to unmask]). Copies of "Wal-Mart: A College Curriculum" are
available at www.walmartwatch.com/curriculum. Faculty members are
encouraged to send comments on the curriculum, as well as additional
readings or assignments they use to teach about the issues raised in
the curriculum, to <[log in to unmask]>. The full
curriculum is available at: [www.walmartwatch.com/curriculum].



                NEW MULTI-DISCIPLINARY COLLEGE CURRICULUM ABOUT WAL-MART

Written for college professors.  Wal-Mart's multi-faceted impact on
society means that this curriculum reaches across academic
disciplines, including Political Science, Sociology, Economics,
Business, Management, Urban Planning, Geography, English, Labor
Studies, American Studies, International Relations, Global Studies,
Environmental Studies, and Women's Studies. This curriculum uses
Wal-Mart as a case study to examine: Business and management
decisions, Labor and the American economy, Global supply chains and
market forces, Democracy and capitalism.

Wal-Mart, the largest company in the world, is praised and vilified
with equal passion. Fortune magazine named it the most admired
company in 2003 and 2004, while newspaper editorials lament
"Wal-Martization." Consumers praise its low prices while unions
challenge the fairness of its business model. Communities across
America are debating the pros and cons of welcoming new Wal-Mart
stores. And Wal-Mart itself, from its outpost in Bentonville,
Arkansas, has entered the debate full-force, pouring millions of
dollars into public relations and image advertising.

What both admirers and critics of Wal-Mart agree on is that Wal-Mart
- by virtue of its size, scale, and talent for innovation - is
changing the world, or at least accelerating changes underway as a
result of globalization. As the largest private employer in the
United States, Wal-Mart sets the standard for wages and working
conditions in retail, with ripple effects in other sectors. As the
nation's largest grocery store, toy store, jewelry store, and third
largest pharmacy, it affects rival businesses, large and small.  And
in its quest for "Always Low Prices," Wal-Mart has helped push
manufacturing overseas and revolutionized the global supply chain in
the process.

The public debate over Wal-Mart is just beginning. New books and
academic studies on the subject, or related subjects, continue to be
published. And a growing number of college professors are
incorporating this subject matter into their courses.

To contribute to a better understanding of these profound changes in
the world economy, Wal-Mart Watch, a campaign of the Center for
Community & Corporate Ethics, has published Wal-Mart: A College
Curriculum, written by Elizabeth Cohn. The Center was established in
January 2005 to study the impact of large corporations on society and
develop a set of standards for responsible corporate behavior.
Elizabeth Cohn has a Ph.D. in International Relations from American
University. She has published on U.S. foreign policy and Latin
America and taught for the last ten years at Goucher College and the
Monterey Institute of International Studies.

"Wal-Mart: A College Curriculum" is a 37-page, multi-disciplinary
curriculum designed for college and university professors to
incorporate into their undergraduate courses. The material is
structured not as an integrated course curriculum, but rather as a
series of five modules that allow faculty to select the parts that
pertain to their own areas of teaching. More than 70 carefully
selected readings offer a variety of perspectives - some supportive
of Wal-Mart and others critical. The curriculum also includes
introductions to each module, discussion questions based on the
readings and suggested assignments.

The first module provides a brief overview of all of the issues that
can be addressed by studying Wal-Mart, and then narrows the focus to
the students' personal experiences with Wal-Mart. It can be used as a
general introduction for those who have several weeks to devote to a
Wal-Mart case study or as a cursory exploration for those who wish to
devote only one class session.

The following four modules use Wal-Mart as a case study to examine:

* Business and management decisions: How Wal-Mart has shifted power
from producers to retailers, through technological innovation and
market dominance;

* Labor and the American economy: How Wal-Mart's labor practices
affect wages and benefits within the retail sector and beyond, and
raise important questions about the division of responsibility
between corporations and government;

* Global supply chains and market forces: How Wal-Mart reflects and
drives changes in the global economy, with emphasis on China's new
role as the manufacturing center of the world;

* Democracy and capitalism: How local governments, small business,
community groups, and citizens respond when Wal-Mart enters their
community.

This curriculum examines the above trends and the problems they
create, as well as  different responses and solutions - such as
citizen campaigns to make Wal-Mart more accountable to community
stakeholders; labor protections, whether enacted through legislation
or union representation; and social auditing of overseas factories
and sourcing practices.

At the heart of this curriculum are fundamental questions about the
political, economic and social direction of America and the world.
Wal-Mart's size and impact worldwide make it the ideal vehicle for a
serious discussion of urgent questions of public policy and corporate
responsibility. The guiding question, as Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott,
Jr. posed it at a town hall meeting in Los Angeles, concerns "the
proper role of business and government in assuring that capitalism
creates a decent society."

Wal-Mart's multi-faceted impact on society means that the curriculum
reaches across academic disciplines, including Political Science,
Sociology, Economics, Business, Management, Urban Planning,
Geography, English, Labor Studies, American Studies, International
Relations, Global Studies, Environmental Studies, and Women's
Studies. Although interdisciplinary in nature, each module is
generally geared toward certain disciplines as follows:

Part I: Interdisciplinary overview
Part II: Business, Management, Sociology
Part III: Sociology, English, American Studies, Women's Studies, Labor
Studies
Part IV: Economics, International Relations, Global Studies, Sociology
Part V: Political Science, Urban Planning, Geography, Environmental Studies

----
Elizabeth Cohn has a Ph.D. in International Relations from American
University. She has published on U.S. foreign policy and Latin
America and taught for the last ten years at Goucher College and the
Monterey Institute of International Studies. She teaches in
International Relations, international political economy, Latin
American politics, U.S. foreign policy, American politics, and the
media and politics.



Mr. James B. Greenberg
Director Teaching, Learning and Technology Center
Milne Library
SUNY College at Oneonta
Oneonta, New York 13820

email: [log in to unmask]
phone: 607-436-2701
fax:   607-436-3081
IM:  oneontatltc

"Ignorance is curable, stupidity lasts forever"