Global Studies Minor

This minor introduces students to the study of global issues and transnational processes and allows them to explore such themes as: peace, conflict, and security; international economics and development; natural resources and the environment; global health; and comparative cultures, arts, and identities.

Course requirements (18 credits)

  1. One course that serves as an introduction to Global Studies, drawn from the following list: GEOG 2000; HIST 1201; NRE 2600E; POLS 1402; SOCI 1701; WGSS 2124.
  2. Three courses selected from a single theme from the approved courses list. The themes are: peace, conflict, and security; international economics and development; natural resources and the environment; global health; and comparative cultures, arts and identities.
  3. Two other courses. These courses may come from the approved courses list, or may be regionally-focused courses. If both courses are regionally-focused, they must be from two different regions. Regions are defined as: Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Oceania.

Education abroad courses, special topics courses, and variable topics courses may count towards the minor when these courses focus on one of the regions defined above or global issues, processes, trends, and systems. Three credits of independent study may be included when the independent study is focused on a global theme or one of the regions defined above.

No more than six credits may either be taken in any one department or overlap with the plan of study of any one other major or minor.

International Experience Requirement

Participation in an approved Education Abroad program that includes at least six weeks residence in a country other than the United States.

In exceptional circumstances, and with the approval of the Global Studies Minor Committee, this requirement may also be satisfied by either:

  1. An approved Education Abroad experience of shorter duration; or
  2. Completion of two semesters of college-level language study in addition to the university requirements. This may be advanced study of a language the student has already begun to learn or more basic study of a different language; or
  3. Completion, virtually or in-person, of a credit-bearing internship of at least three credits with an organization outside the United States or with a strong international component in an organization in the United States; or
  4. Extended period of residence abroad or period of service learning abroad.

Students pursuing this minor should select their program of study in close consultation with a minor advisor.

This minor is administered by the Individualized and Interdisciplinary Studies Program with oversight by the Global Studies Minor Committee. For more details, including the approved courses list, see the Global Studies Minor website.