My political science course focused on global politics. I quite enjoyed the course content and the subjects we focused on such as the growth of China, the rise of the dictatorship and politics of Iran, and the origins of turmoil in the Middle East. I found that taking this course concurrently with Geography 241 (Cultural Geography) made it much more interesting as I was able to draw comparisons between the two to bolster arguments and make connections. The topics I enjoyed the most were our studies on Iran’s history and political system during our unit on authoritarianism. As a fan of Marjane Satrapi’s memoir Persepolis and the work of Tony Mendez in the Canadian Caper, I was already somewhat familiar with some aspects of Iranian political history. Having the background information on the Shah’s corrupt government and the complex political system gave me a new understanding of Satrapi and Mendez’s works. Another topic I enjoyed was an assigned reading on the rise of nationalism in Japan in the early 21st Century. Having previously studied the history of Japan, I was happy to be able to apply what I had learned in my analysis of the article. My interest in our Iran unit and the reading on Japan resulted in a written report.