Global Studies Major
Global Studies is a rigorous but flexible interdisciplinary major that combines courses across departments and schools at the University of Richmond and at least a semester of study abroad. Students majoring in Global Studies select one of four concentrations, each coordinated by advisors with special expertise in the areas. The GS major and these concentrations provide a well-rounded liberal arts education, awareness of different nations, cultures, and global issues, and preliminary preparation for a variety of careers in the international arena.
The Global Studies major begins with the gateway course, Introduction to Global Studies and at least one of two other foundational courses, Geographic Dimensions of Global Development or Introduction to Comparative Politics. Students also reach advanced proficiency in a second language and experience living in another academic culture. During the final year, after study abroad, GS majors complete a capstone Senior Seminar by researching and writing an original scholarly paper on an important international issue. Successful completion of GS 290 is a prerequisite for GS400.
Students work with faculty advisors to choose additional electives, including courses taken abroad, within each concentration. Selections typically mix courses from anthropology, communications, economics, environmental studies, geography, history, literature, political science, religion, sociology, women’s studies, and the fine arts. Within each concentration, eight units must be taken from three or more departments (with no more than three units from a single department). While studying abroad students are encouraged to work with faculty advisors to identify courses not listed in the Richmond catalog that complement their academic program.
Jennifer Pribble, Coordinator (Political Science)
Global Studies is a rigorous but flexible interdisciplinary major with a cross-cultural emphasis. The major offers the opportunity to take courses across departments and schools at the University of Richmond and requires at least a semester of study abroad. Students majoring in Global Studies select one of four concentrations, each coordinated by advisors with special expertise in the areas.
All students majoring in Global Studies take the gateway course, course: Introduction to Global Studies, usually in the freshman or sophomore year; and at least one of two other introductory courses, course Planet Earth: People and Place or course, Introduction to Comparative Politics. At least two advanced courses in a second language are also required, beyond the concentration. During the final year, after study abroad, all GS majors complete a topical capstone Senior Seminar, course, during which they will research and write an original scholarly paper. Successful completion of course is a prerequisite for course.
Students work with faculty advisors to choose additional electives, including courses taken abroad, within each concentration. Course selections should comprise an interdisciplinary mix of courses from anthropology, art history, classics, communications, economics, environmental studies, geography, history, law, leadership, literature, music, political science, religion, sociology, theater, and women's studies. Within each concentration, eight units must be selected from three or more departments with no more than three units from a single department. While studying abroad students are encouraged to work with faculty advisors to identify courses not listed in the Richmond catalog that complement their academic program.
CODE | NAME | DESCRIPTION |
---|---|---|
Planet Earth: People and Place | Introduction to our earth as home to people and place through geographic approaches that analyze cultural, societal, economic, political, and environmental change. Topics include: human dimensions of climate change; sustainability; spatial analysis t... | |
Selected Topics | Topics and issues in international studies. May be repeated for credit when topics vary. | |
Introduction to Global Studies | Introduces methods and questions of the international studies field through regionally diverse case studies and analyses. Topics may include identity, culture, geopolitics, war, environment, health, media, migration, and inequality. | |
Selected Topics | Selected topics in related subjects as arranged by the program coordinator. May be repeated for credit when topics vary. | |
Internship | May be taken for a grade or pass/fail. Up to one unit may be applied towards the major, only when a grade is awarded. No more than 1.5 units of internship in any one department and 3.5 units of internship overall may be counted toward required degree... | |
Independent Study | Topics independently pursued under supervision of faculty member. | |
Senior Seminar | Follow up on core concepts and approaches introduced in International Studies 290; sets of international issues and relationships are studied using tools and approaches of several disciplines. Seminar topics change from semester to semester. While re... | |
Summer Undergraduate Research | Documentation of the work of students who receive summer fellowships to conduct research [or produce a creative arts project] in the summer. The work must take place over a minimum of 6 weeks, the student must engage in the project full-time (at leas... |
The Global Studies Major
Note: The grade point average of the coursework comprising the major must be no less than 2.00 with no course grade less than C- (1.7).
13 units, including:
FOUNDATIONAL STUDY IN LANGUAGE AND CULTURE
Students specializing in Global Studies should be competent in at least two languages. For students whose secondary education was in English this requirement can be met by completing two courses taught in a language other than English at the 300 or 400 level in the departments of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures or Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies. Students whose secondary education was not in English may satisfy the requirement with two units of world literature at the 300 or 400 level in any language (beyond the concentration).
APPROVED EXPERIENCE ABROAD
All Global Studies students should experience significant cultural immersion via a study abroad program of at least one semester in length, related to the major concentration. Students requesting an exception to this requirement (usually two summers) may submit a written petition to the program coordinator for review by a committee of Global Studies faculty.
For one semester of study abroad, students can transfer back up to 3 units of credit toward the GS major. For a full-year overseas, they can transfer back no more than 5 units.
GLOBAL STUDIES FOUNDATIONAL COURSEWORK AND CAPSTONE
GLOBAL STUDIES CONCENTRATION
Eight units selected from three or more departments with no more than three units from a single department
Students are expected to fulfill all prerequisites necessary for courses within the major. Prerequisites do not count toward the major unless otherwise noted.
Global Studies: Cultures and Communication
Advisors: Yvonne Howell, (Languages, Literatures, and Cultures), Tze Loo (History), Yucel Yanikdag (History)
The concentration consists of eight units in at least three different departments or disciplines, selected in consultation with an advisor, structured as follows:
Skills and Applied Courses
Analytic and applied understandings of intercultural communications. Two courses, chosen from:
Complex Problems
Explore challenges and stakes of efforts to communicate across borders, cultures, assumptions, and beliefs. Two courses, chosen from:
ANTH-300 Sexuality and Gender Across Cultures
ANTH-306 Tourism and Anthropology
ANTH-379 ST: Tech, Surveillence and The Media
ECON-210 Economics of the European Union
ENVR-322 The Global Impact of Climate Change
HIST-236 Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and After
HIST-240 Human Rights and Revolution in the Atlantic World (1750-1850)
HIST-270 Early Islamic World
HIST-329 Brexit: A History
HIST-390 Food and Power in Africa and Asia
LLC-260 Literature and Social Change in Eastern Europe
LLC-360 Representing the Holocaust
LLC-346 Insiders and Outsiders: Arabic Encounters with the West
PLSC-346 Politics of Cultural Pluralism
SOC-308 Sociology of War
WGSS-203 Human Rights and Revolution in the Atlantic World (1750-1850)
Regional Courses
Investigate cultural specificity. Two units chosen from regional courses:
Additional Concentration Electives
Two additional courses, chosen from those above.
Global Studies: Development and Change
Advisors: Mary Finley-Brook (Geography), David Salisbury (Geography), and Jonathan Wight (Economics)
Note: Within the concentration, the eight units must be selected from three or more departments with no more than three units from a single department.
Eight units, including:
ECON-211 Economic Development in Asia, Africa, and Latin America
Developmental Courses
At least three core unit courses, one from each of the following groups:
Group 1: Geographies
Group 2: Politics and Policies
Group 3: Human Experience
Regional Courses
Three elective units covering at least two different 'developing' regions, selected from the regional courses or comparable courses of study abroad.
Development Related Courses
Possible additional electives from courses listed above, selected topics, courses studied abroad, internships, independent study, or the following courses:
ANTH-300 Sexuality and Gender Across Culture
ANTH-303 Biopolitics in Medical Anthropology
ANTH-328 Anthropology of Human Rights
ECON-105 Introduction to Global Economics
ECON-310 International Trade: Causes, Consequences, and Controversies
ECON-360 International Macroeconomics
HIST-391 Transnational Social Reform
PLSC-359 Global Governance
SOC-306 Social Change in a Global Perspective
SOC-335 Feast and Famine: Inequalities in the Global Food System
All students concentrating in Development are encouraged, but not required, to conduct independent research, in consultation with their GS faculty advisor. Summer research may be eligible for University funding.
Global Studies: International Economic Policy
Advisor: Jonathan B. Wight (Economics), Maia Kersti Linask (Economics)
Students are strongly encouraged to develop proficiency in economics with either a minor or double major (see Economics department listings for requirements).
Note: Within the concentration, the eight units selected from three or more departments.
Eight units, including:
International Economics or Finance
Three units, chosen from:
ECON-210 The Economics of the European Union
ECON-211 Economic Development in Asia, Africa, and Latin America
ECON-215 International Monetary Economics
ECON-310 International Trade: Causes, Consequences, and Controversies
ECON-315 International Macroeconomics
FIN-462 International Financial Management
Or, another upper level courses in international economics with approval of GSIEP advisors
Global Power and Politics
Two units from two different departments, chosen from:
ANTH-328 Anthropology of Human Rights
GEOG-320 Power, Space, and Territory: Geographies of Political Change
GEOG-345/j2aucrAwfolszejzm0lg Global Sustainability: Society, Economy, Nature
HIST-236 Russian Empire, Soviet Union and After
HIST-271 The Modern Middle East
HIST-290 Britain and the World
HIST-291 Histories of Public Health and Biomedicine in the Global South
HIST-392 Humanitarianism and Development
PLSC-250 Introduction to International Relations
PLSC-350 American Foreign Policy
PLSC-351 Globalization
PLSC-353 International Security
PLSC-356 International Political Economy
PLSC-359 Global Governance
PLSC-360 International Development Policy
SOC-231 Across the Pond: Europe vs. USA
Regional Courses
These courses focus on a specific region or country in order to emphasize the importance of culture and historical and cultural context in global interactions, both economic and otherwise. Students must take two units, chosen from the list of Regional Courses.One additional unit chosen from courses above.
Global Studies: Politics and Governance
Advisors: David Brandenberger (History), Stephen Long (Political Science), Jennifer Pribble (Political Science), Carol Summers (History)
The concentration is comprised of eight units selected from at least three departments and in the following categories
Diplomacy and World Order
Two units, chosen from:
ANTH-328 Anthropology of Human Rights
ENVR-366 International Environmental Law
GEOG-320 Power, Space, and Territory: Geographies of Political Change
HIST-215 United States and the World Since 1945
HIST-249 Cold War Europe, 1945-1991
HIST-290 British Empire and the World
HIST-341 History and Memory: WWII in East Asia
PLSC-250 Intro to International Relations
PLSC-350 American Foreign Policy
PLSC-353 International Security
PLSC-359 Global Governance
RHCS-359 Media and War
Economic Integration or Interdependence
Two units, chosen from:
ECON-105 Introduction to Global Economics
ECON-210 The Economics of the European Union
ECON-211 Economic Development in Asia, Africa, and Latin America
ECON-310 International Trade and Finance
HIST-390 Food and Power in Africa and Asia
GEOG-345/ENVR-345 Global Sustainability: Society, Economy and Nature
GEOG-370 Geographies of Economic Development and Globalization
PLSC-351 Globalization
SOC-306 Social Change in a Global Perspective
SOC-335 Feast and Famine: Inequalities in the Global Food System
Regional Courses
Two units focused on the same world region selected from regional courses or study abroad.
Additional Concentration Electives
Two units chosen from the areas above.
Regional Studies Courses
Africa
ENGL-214 African Literature
ENGL-331 Literatures of Africa
FREN-328 Introduction to Magrhebian Literature and Culture
HIST-281 Africa c. 1500-1900
HIST-282 Africa in the Twentieth Century
HIST-390 Food and Power in Africa and Asia
PLSC-348 Politics of Africa
Asia
ARTH-225 Art and Asia
ARTH-226 Art and Culture of Japan
ARTH-279 Asian Art
ARTH-383 East Asian Painting, Poetry and Calligraphy
ENGL-214 Literature of India
HIST-250 Modern East Asia 1600-1960
HIST-252 Modern China 1900-1940
HIST-341 History and Memory: WWII in Asia
HIST-390 Food and Power in Africa and Asia
LLC-225 Chinese Culture and Civilization
LLC-227 Action Genre in East Asian Cinema
LLC-325 Revolution and Modernity in Chinese Literature
LLC-355 Chinese Cinema
MUS-125 Indonesian Theatre and Music
PLSC-343 Politics of Asia
PLSC-345 Politics of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan
RELG-210 China: Philosophy & Medicine
RELG-251 Sacred Arts of India
RELG-352 Buddhism in India and Tibet
RELG-355 Selected Asian Religions
RELG-366 Buddhist Philosophy
RHCS-412 ST: Rhetorics in South Asia
Latin America
ANTH-307 Indigenous Peoples of the Americas
ANTH-308 Latin America: An Ethnographic Perspective
ENGL-238 Readings in Caribbean Literature
ENGL-332 Literatures of the Caribbean
HIST-260 Colonial Latin America
HIST-261 Modern Latin America
HIST-262 The Making of Modern Brazil
HIST-265 Gender & Sexuality in Latin American History
LAIS-312 Introduction to Latin American Studies
LAIS-314 Luso-Brazilian Studies: A Global Perspective
PLSC-349 Politics of Latin America and the Caribbean
The Middle East
ANTH-350 Sex and Gender in the Middle East
FREN-328 Introduction to Magrhebian Literature and Culture
HIST-270 Early Islamic World
HIST-271 The Modern Middle East
HIST-370 Contending Visions of the Middle East
LLC-243 Politics and Social Movements in Modern Middle Eastern Literatures
LLC-346 Insiders and Outsiders: Arabic Encounters with the West
LLC-347 Islam, Nationalism, and the West: Modern Thought in the Arab World
HIST-399 ST: Modern Turkey
PLSC-355 International Relations of the Middle East
RELG-103 Introduction to Islam
RELG-230 The History of Israel
RELG-288 Saints and Sinners in Muslim Literature
RELG-385 Sufism: Introduction to Islamic Mysticism
Eastern Europe and Eurasia
HIST-236 Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and After
HIST-244 Propaganda State
HIST-246 Russia in Revolution, 1905-1934
HIST-249 Cold War Europe, 1945-1991
HIST-326 Communism
LLC-260 Literature and Social Change in Eastern Europe
LLC-321 Introduction to 19th-Century Russian Literature
LLC-322 Introduction to 20th-Century and Contemporary Russian
LLC-331 Russian and East European Film
LLC-335 Bolsheviks, Bombs and Ballet: Soviet Culture and Civilization
SOC-232 Postsocialism in Russia and Eastern Europe
Western Europe
ECON-210 The Economics of the European Union
ENGL-346 Twentieth-Century British and Irish Literature
FREN-465 French Film
GERM-472 Culture Wars & Identity Debates in German Society from Empire to EU
HIST-242 Modern Germany
HIST-248 European Diplomacy from Bismarck to Hitler
HIST-249 Cold War Europe, 1945-1991
HIST-329 Brexit: A History
ITAL-311 Italian Culture and Society
ITAL-411 Italian Identities: Sicily, Veneto, and Tuscany
LAIS-305 Spanish in Politics and Society
LAIS-311 Perspectives on People and Cultures of Spain
LAIS 321 Literary Spain: Poetry, Drama, Fiction
LAIS 361 Spanish Misfits
LAIS-462 Visions of Contemporary Spain
LAIS-465 Spanish Cinema
PHIL-344 Twentieth-Century Continental Philosophy
PLSC-344 Europe Today