GLOBAL STUDIES: DEFINITION AND RATIONALE

The Global Studies Major takes a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the growing interconnectedness between people of, and interdependence among, the countries of the world. Courses in this major explore the causes and consequences of this multi-faceted phenomenon and examine the various responses to it. Global Studies examines change at the global and local level. In this program, humanities, social and natural science courses provide a foundation for the understanding of global change, the varied human reactions to this change, and the possibility that this change can have a positive impact on humanity as a whole. Global Studies thus covers a field of study that cannot be adequately captured by one discipline or field of knowledge. Students majoring in Global Studies gain a sound understanding of the forces shaping our world and lives so that students are prepared to participate effectively in the world they encounter after graduation, whether they decide to work in the US or abroad.

Because this program contains many courses that are drawn from different disciplines, students will find that it is a major that can be taken either independently, or combined fairly conveniently with another major or minor. Several University Studies Program (General Education) courses also fulfill the requirements of this major, thus enabling the students to complement it with another major or minor of their interest. Alternatively, students with a strong preference for other majors will find it useful to have Global Studies as a minor that can provide a global context for the area of knowledge they have acquired.

This major has two parts. Part I provides the students with a general framework that organizes the different aspects of globalization. Part II offers the students an opportunity to gain an in-depth knowledge about a region of the world, North America or Asia. The expectation is that they will examine the impact of global changes on the region they choose to study, and conversely, the impact of regions in influencing the global forces. The emphasis upon global –regional interaction is the distinguishing feature of this program.