Staging the Future: A Curriculum for Understanding Globalization through World Fairs

Curriculum Project for The Ages of Globalization, Columbia University Center for Sustainable Development

This curriculum proposes an interdisciplinary framework for analyzing globalization through World Fairs. Using events from the 19th century to the Osaka Expo 2025, the curriculum posits World Fairs as critical microcosms where geopolitical ambitions, economic paradigms, and cultural narratives are staged and projected globally.
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The curriculum has three pillars. First, Geopolitics and Soft Power examines how nations use pavilions to craft their international image. Second, Economic Systems and Technological Visions investigates how Fairs promote models of progress, including Sustainable Development Goals and AI-driven societies. Third, Cultural Representation and Exchange analyzes the construction of "national" identity versus the "other," addressing cultural appropriation and authenticity. The curriculum employs project-based learning, challenging students to deconstruct official narratives and develop an understanding of the forces shaping our interconnected world.

The Globalization of Western Psychology: How the world has embraced a unified language to explain our emotions

Western psychology has become the world's dominant way of talking about mental health through adopting terms like "depression" and "anxiety" into non-Western cultures. These terms provide a common language for global health efforts, but can push out local understandings. Cultures explaining distress through spiritual or social harmony find their concepts, like Chinese shengjing shuairuo or Latin American susto, overlooked. This study uses a qualitative, case-study approach, examining popular media, self-help books, and academic texts from China, South Korea, and Japan to track how Western terms are used, adapted, or resisted in local contexts. Western psychological models guide some practices but blend with local ways to understand human experience. True progress requires blending Western terms with local wisdom, creating inclusive approaches to well-being.