Program Requirements

  • Total Units Required: 36
  • Grade Requirements: Students must receive a grade of C+ or higher in all courses.

Why do states, nations, and societies cooperate, compromise, and fight? Living and working in our rapidly changing global arena presents great opportunities to advance the human condition, improve political and civil liberties, recast bargains between governments and their societies, transform social welfare, and advance the boundaries of knowledge and scientific exploration. Yet, this same context presents great risks as people fear loss of identity, worry about economic subordination and loss to those beyond their borders, encounter the export of environmental degradation, and confront potential decline in personal and social autonomy. Students can explore the heightened economic, political, social, cultural, and environmental interdependence that generates prospects for cooperation; at the same time, this interdependence involves serious challenges, which create the possibility for conflict but also for compromise.

Concentration Objectives

The concentration in International Affairs offers an interdisciplinary approach to understanding relations between societies. It provides opportunities to examine complex global issues and processes from multiple perspectives and to help understand the fundamental processes of cooperation, compromise, and conflict in the global arena. The program provides students with knowledge and skills for understanding and working with difficult international and cross-cultural problems that states, societies, and communities face.

General Requirements

One semester of language must be completed before declaring the major.

  • Students must complete a minimum of 36 units in Global Studies, including at least three courses focused on a world area.
  • Students must complete at least 24 units at the 3000 level or above, including at least one course in the social sciences and one course in the humanities.
  • Students must complete at least 6 units at the 4000 level, no more than 3 of which may be directed research or independent study.
  • In addition to the 36 units, students must complete a four-semester sequence of courses in one modern language appropriate to their concentration.

These requirements may be fulfilled only with college-level coursework undertaken during a student's undergraduate enrollment. Courses must be taken for a grade, and a student must receive a grade of C+ or higher in all courses, including courses for the language requirement and study abroad courses.

This concentration requires 36 units of coursework:

  • 3 units of core coursework: GLOBAL 2020 Global Futures: An Introduction to Global Studies
  • 3 units of Research Methods coursework (3000-4000 level)
  • 6 units of introductory coursework (1000-2000 level) from two different academic disciplines
  • 9 units of advanced coursework from the Core Courses list (3000-4000 level)
  • 15 units of advanced elective coursework (3000-4000 level)

Africa, East Asia, Eurasia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Oceania, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and North America are considered world areas for the International Affairs concentration. A student must complete two courses in one of these world areas and one course in another world area.

Note: A single course may satisfy more than one of the distribution requirements (i.e., disciplinary or world area). Some of these requirements may be completed while abroad.

Research Methods Courses

Students choose one course from this list, for a total of 3 units:

APL 4111Linguistics and Language Learning3
COMPLITTHT 3120Introduction to Digital Humanities3
ECON 3150Introduction to Econometrics3
ELIT 3000Introduction to Literary Theory3
ENST 3710Introduction in GIS3
GLOBAL 4007Global Studies Research Methods Proseminar and Assistantship3
HISTORY 3006Historical Methods3
POLSCI 3630Quantitative Political Methodology3
PSYCH 3000Introduction to Psychological Statistics3
PSYCH 3150Introduction to Social Psychology3
REST 3635Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion3
SOC 3040Statistics for Sociology3

Introductory Courses

Students choose two courses from this list, for a total of 6 units:

AFAS 1105First-Year Seminar: Imagining and Creating Africa: Youth, Culture, and Change3
AFAS 2550Introduction to Africana Studies3
ANTHRO 1101First-Year Seminar: Past Tense, Future Imperfect: The Rise & Fall of Societies & Global Civilization3
ANTHRO 1520Introduction to Cultural Anthropology3
BEYOND 1006Beyond Boundaries: Gender, Youth, and Global Health3
BIOL 2150Introduction to Environmental Biology3
CAPS-GIS 2000Introduction to GIS3
CHINA 2100Sophomore Seminar: U.S.-China Relations: Perceptions and Realities3
CHINA 2270Chinese Civilization3
COMPLITTHT 2109Modern Political Thought: Text & Traditions3
ECON 1501Introduction to Microeconomics3
ECON 1502Introduction to Macroeconomics3
EEPS 1110Introduction to Global Climate Change in the 21st Century3
EEPS 2010Earth and the Environment4
EEPS 2020Introduction to Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Science3
EEPS 2190Energy and the Environment3
ENST 1540Beyond Boundaries: Environmental Racism and the Health of Everyone3
ENST 1150Environmental Issues3
GLOBAL 1008Ampersand: Connecting Local Worlds and Global Systems Global Citizenship Program3
GLOBAL 1102First-Year Seminar: The Vietnam Wars3
GLOBAL 1103First-Year Sem: Bridging London: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of One of the World's Great Cities3
GLOBAL 1104First-Year Seminar: Chinatown: Migration, Identity, and Space3
GLOBAL 1106Ampersand: Geographies of Globalization and Development3
GLOBAL 1107Ampersand: Global Migration and Transnational Cultures in Modern Times3
GLOBAL 1109First-Year Seminar: Mapping the World: Introduction to Human Geography3
GLOBAL 2000Crossing Borders: An Introduction to Institutions and Concepts in Global Studies3
GLOBAL 2009Introduction to European Studies3
GLOBAL 2100Sophomore Seminar: The Public Servant and Other Heroes: A History of Japan Through Film3
HISTORY 1020Introduction to Modern European History3
HISTORY 1120First-Year Seminar: Race and Ethnicity in Latin America: Myths, Realities and Identities3
HISTORY 1124First-Year Seminar: The Meaning of Pakistan: History, Culture, Art3
HISTORY 1146Introduction to World History: The Second World War in World History3
HISTORY 1151Health and Disease in World History3
HISTORY 2158First Year Seminar: Outcasts and Outlaws: The History of Othering in Modern Europe3
JAPAN 2260Japanese Civilization3
JIMES 2081Introduction to Jewish Civilization: History and Identity3
JIMES 2100Introduction to Islamic Civilization3
JIMES 2242Ampersand: Migration Policies and Colonialism: Refugee Resettlement and Integration3
JIMES 2243Ampersand: Mediterranean Migration: Dynamics and Consequences on the EU and MENA3
JIMES 2630Democracies & Dictatorships in the Middle East3
JIMES 2910Racism and Antiracism3
KOREA 2230Korean Civilization3
LATAM 1000Latin America: Nation, Ethnicity and Social Conflict3
MEC 2900Microeconomics3
MEC 2920Global Economics3
PHIL 1000Logic and Critical Analysis3
PHIL 1060Present Moral Problems3
PHIL 2060Biomedical Ethics3
PHIL 2080Introduction to Environmental Ethics3
POLSCI 1100Introduction to Comparative Politics3
POLSCI 1200International Politics3
POLSCI 1300Introduction to Political Theory3
POLSCI 2000Introduction to Environmental Policy3
POLSCI 2102Introduction to Migration Policy and Politics3
PSYCH 1000Introduction to Psychology3
PSYCH 2210First-Year Seminar: Introduction to Memory Studies3
PUBHLTHSOC 2000Introduction to Global Health3
RELPOL 2020Islamophobia & U.S. Politics3
SDS 1600Introduction to Statistics3
SDS 2020Elementary Probability and Statistics3
SOC 1006Social Problems and Social Issues3
SOC 2010The Roots of Ferguson: Understanding Racial Inequality in the Contemporary U.S.3
SOC 2030Social Movements3
SOC 2040Social Inequality in America3
WGSS 1500Introduction to Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies3
WGSS 2070Sexuality and the State: Introduction to Sexuality Studies3
WGSS 2101Sophomore Seminar: Globalization and Its Disguises3

Core Courses

Students choose three courses from this list, for a total of 9 units: 

ANTHRO 3283Introduction to Global Health3
ANTHRO 3391Economies as Cultural Systems3
ANTHRO 3612Population and Society3
ANTHRO 4022Transnational Reproductive Health Issues: Meanings, Technologies, Practices3
ANTHRO 4517Anthropology and Development3
ECON 3350Environmental Policy3
GLOBAL 3176Chinese Economy in World History3
GLOBAL 4201International Relations of Latin America3
GLOBAL 4204International Relations of Latin America (WI)3
GLOBAL 4414Gender Analysis for International Affairs3
GLOBAL 4622Labor and Labor Movements in Global History3
HISTORY 3147The Wheels of Commerce: From the Industrial Revolution to Global Capitalism3
HISTORY 3148The First World War and the Making of Modern Europe3
HISTORY 3294History of Global Capitalism: From Slavery to Neoliberalism3
HISTORY 3296Environment and Empire3
HISTORY 3404The Creation of Capitalism3
POLSCI 3173International Political Economy3
POLSCI 3328Energy Politics3
POLSCI 3399Political Violence3
POLSCI 4306Global Justice3
SOC 3000Social Theory3
SOC 4170Global Structures and Problems3
WGSS 4153Decolonization to Globalization: How to End an Empire3

Advanced Courses

Students choose five courses from current, relevant, internationally focused course offerings in the following departments.* All courses must be approved by the student's Global Studies advisor in order to count for the major. Visit the concentration webpage and concentration course list for the most current and full list of options.

African and African American Studies
  • AFAS 3062 Islam, Culture and Society in West Africa
  • AFAS 3070 Topics On Africa: African Urban Futures
  • AFAS 3105 Transnational Black Feminisms
  • AFAS 3113 Culture, Politics, and Society in Francophone Africa
  • AFAS 3120 African Immigration to the United States of America
  • AFAS 3130 African Civilization: 1800 to the Present
  • AFAS 3160 African Civilization to 1800
  • AFAS 3304 Race and Global Health Inequities: Social determinants and Intersectionality
  • AFAS 3385 Emerging Africa: Language, Identity, and Social Change
  • AFAS 3601 Beyond Sea, Sunshine and Soca: A History of the Caribbean
  • AFAS 3610 Environmental Justice and Black Lives: Decolonizing the Land
  • AFAS 3880 Terror and Violence in the Black Atlantic
  • AFAS 4010 Who's Afraid of Black Marxism? The Crises of Capitalism and Futures of Solidarity
  • AFAS 4040 Gender, Sexuality, and Change in Africa
  • AFAS 4160 Engineering Authority: Design, Architecture, and Power in Africa
  • AFAS 4104 Black Decolonial Thought: Conceptualizing Epistemic Violence From Frantz Fanon to Achille Mbembe
  • AFAS 4090 Topics in African History: Power and Rebellion in 20th-Century Africa
  • AFAS 4213 Sufism and Islamic Brotherhoods in Africa
  • AFAS 4236 Blackness in Brazil
  • AFAS 4270 What is Africanfuturism? 21st Century African Speculative Fiction
  • AFAS 4290 Advanced African History Seminar
Anthropology
Applied Linguistics
  • APL 4023 Second-Language Acquisition and Technology
  • APL 4111 Linguistics and Language Learning
  • APL 4692 Reading Across Languages and Cultures: Theory, Research and Practice
Arabic
  • ARAB 4130 Topics in Modern Arabic Literature in Translation: The Syrian Revolution: Literature, Art, Ideology 
Architecture
Art History
Biology and Biomedical Sciences
Chinese
  • CHINA 3160 Historical Landscape and National Identity in Modern China
  • CHINA 3210 Contemporary Chinese Popular Culture
  • CHINA 3300 Topics in Chinese Literature and Culture: Chinese Cities in the Global Context 
  • CHINA 3500 U.S.-China Relations from 1949 to the Present
Classics
  • CLASSICS 4760 Money, Exchange, and Power: Economy and Society in the Ancient Mediterranean World
Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences
  • EEPS 3080 Topics in Environmental Sustainability
East Asian Languages and Cultures
  • EALC 3250 Topics in Early Modern Korea: Guns, Tobacco, and Sweet Potato: A History of Material Culture
  • EALC 3600 US-China Relations from Conflict to Engagement, 1949-2016
  • EALC 4200 Nature, Technology, and Medicine in Korea
Economics
Education
Environmental Studies
Film and Media Studies
  • FILM 3410 Transnational Cinema(s): Film Flows in a Changing World
Germanic Languages and Literatures
  • GERMAN 3060 Topics in Holocaust Studies: Children in the Shadow of the Swastika
Global Studies
Hindi
  • HINDI 3050 Religion and Culture in South and Southeast Asia
History
International Affairs (CAPS)
Italian
  • ITAL 3500 Topics: Global Italy: Race, Gender, Migration and Citizenship
Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies
  • JIMES 3036 Antisemitism: History, Causes, Consequences
  • JIMES 3093 Becoming "Modern" : Emancipation, Antisemitism and Nationalism in Modern Jewish History
  • JIMES 3182 The Jews of North Africa
  • JIMES 3233 Religion & Nationalism in the Middle East & South Asia
  • JIMES 3500 Israeli Culture and Society
  • JIMES 3540 Anthropological and Sociological Study of Muslim Societies
  • JIMES 3623 Topics in Islam: Islam and Human Rights Topics in Islam: Islam and the West
  • JIMES 3623 Topics in Islam: Islam in the Indian Ocean
  • JIMES 3623 Topics in Islam: Religious Authority in Modern Islam 
  • JIMES 3730 Topics in Near Eastern Cultures: Arabs in Israel: Politics, Society & Citizenship
  • JIMES 3730 Topics in Near Eastern Cultures: Democracies and Dictatorships in the Middle East
  • JIMES 3730 Topics in Near Eastern Cultures: Freedom in the Middle East
  • JIMES 3730 Topics in Near Eastern Cultures: Migrations in the Judeo-Islamic World: Displacement, Tolerance & Community Building
  • JIMES 3770 History of Slavery in the Middle East
  • JIMES 3820 Imagining the East: The History & Politics of Middle East Studies
  • JIMES 3902 Topics in Jewish, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies: Education in Divided Societies – the Israeli Case
  • JIMES 3902 Topics in Jewish, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies: Social Policy in Israel
  • JIMES 4005 Diaspora in Jewish and Islamic Experience
  • JIMES 4043 Race and Ethnicity in the Middle East and North Africa
  • JIMES 4450 Topics in Islam: Readings in Islamic Political Thought and Practice
  • JIMES 4461 History of Political Thought in the Middle East
Korean
  • KOREA 4550 Topics in Korean Literature and Culture: An Uneasy Coexistence: North and South Korea in the Modern World
Latin American Studies
  • LATAM 3020 Survey of Brazilian Cultures: Race, Nation and Society
  • LATAM 3030 Survey of Mexican Cultures
  • LATAM 3040 Survey of Southern Cone Cultures: Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay
  • LATAM 3056 Survey of Yucatecan Cultures
  • LATAM 3160 Cultures of Health in Latin America
  • LATAM 3200 Humans and Others in Latin America: Natures, Cultures, Environments
  • LATAM 3256 Medical Traditions in Yucatan and Health Systems in Mexico
  • LATAM 3410 Film and Revolution in Latin America
  • LATAM 3420 Contemporary Latin American Cinema: Market Economy, Social Injustice, New Technologies
  • LATAM 4120 Gender and Modernity in Latin America
  • LATAM 4190 Media Cultures in Latin America
  • LATAM 4200 Modernity, Culture and the State in Mexico
  • LATAM 4210 The Binational Condition. The Mexico-US Relationship in Mexican History and Culture.
  • LATAM 4280 Constructing the (Racial) Other: From the Colonial Caste System to U.S. Latinos
  • LATAM 4290 Citizenship in the HOT Seat. Migration and Borders in Latin America
  • LATAM 4651 Cities, Race and Development in Latin America
Management (Business School)
  • MGT 3080 Introduction to Global Business
  • MGT 4102 Sustainable Development and Conservation Through Entrepreneurial Collaboration: Madagascar
Philosophy
  • PHIL 3200 Social and Political Philosophy
  • PHIL 3220 Issues in Applied Ethics:The Philosophy of Food
  • PHIL 4321 Advanced Social and Political Philosophy
Political Science
Psychological and Brain Sciences
  • PSYCH 3095 Prejudice, Stereotyping, & Discrimination
Religion and Politics
Social Administration (Social Work)
Sociology
Spanish
  • Debating Cultures (SPAN 32xx – consult advisor)
  • SPAN 3550 Spanish for the Social Sciences
  • Researching Cultures (SPAN 36xx – consult advisor)
Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
*

Students may submit a request to add a course by following the instructions for the Petition Process.

Additional Requirements and Information

Study Abroad

  • We strongly encourage students to study abroad. For those who do not study abroad and receive credit toward the Global Studies General Requirements, an additional 3-unit course at the 3000 or 4000 level is required.
  • Before studying abroad as a Global Studies major, students must consult with the Global Studies Study Abroad Advisor (Dr. Elizabeth Reynolds) about their plan of study and choice of program.
  • We strongly prefer students to select a study abroad location and regional specialization consistent with their chosen language of study (e.g., if a student wishes to study in Latin America, they must satisfy their language requirement with either Portuguese or Spanish).
  • Students may receive a maximum of 6 credits from a single semester, 12 credits from a year, or 3 credits from a summer term of study abroad.
  • Study abroad credit only counts at the 3000 level and must be approved by the Global Studies Study Abroad Advisor prior to departure.
  • Students may apply no more than 12 total credits to the Global Studies major from study abroad, the School of Continuing & Professional Studies, summer school at other U.S. universities, or any combination thereof.
  • To receive credit for a summer course completed at another institution, a student should fill out the Approval for Non-WashU Course Credit form with Arts & Sciences to take the course for "general credit" and then petition to have the course count as an elective toward their Global Studies major.
  • Students may not receive credit for January Intensive Term (J-Term) study abroad programs; these programs are too short in duration.
  • Visit the Study Abroad section of the Global Studies website for more details.

Latin Honors

  • Students must graduate with an overall grade point average of 3.65 or higher to qualify for Latin Honors.
  • Students must submit an intent form and be accepted for candidacy.
  • Students should enroll in GLOBAL 4985 Preparation for Global Studies Honors Thesis during the fall of senior year and in GLOBAL 4986 Global Studies Senior Honors Thesis during the spring of senior year (under the corresponding section number of the faculty member overseeing the student's thesis).

Language Requirement

All Global Studies majors must satisfy a language requirement that entails both the successful completion of four semesters of a modern language for a letter grade and placement into the third year of that language.

Available modern languages include Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swahili.

Please see the FAQs on the Global Studies website for more information.

Visit the Global Studies page
for additional information about this program.

Secular and Religious: A Global History (HISTORY 3921/2)

Contact Info

Contact:Toni Loomis
Phone:314-935-5073
Email:aloomis@wustl.edu
Website:https://globalstudies.wustl.edu