GLSTBA - Global Studies

Bachelor of Arts

College of Social & Behavioral Sciences

Undergraduate

The Global Health & Development emphasis will no longer accept new applicants beginning Fall 2026.

Enrich your understanding of our increasingly complex world with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Global Studies. Through an interdisciplinary lens, the major examines the historical and contemporary cultural, economic, social, and political forces that shape global and regional integration and, at times, disintegration. Students gain foundational knowledge of global issues as well as the practical skills necessary to communicate across cultures, solve complex problems, and assume leadership roles in a variety of professional settings. In addition to a core curriculum emphasizing global processes and outcomes, students pursue an emphasis in one of the following areas: Global Cultures; Global Human Rights and Social Movements; Global Political Economy and Institutions; Global Latin America; Middle Eastern and North African Studies; Gender, Difference, and Power; and Jewish and Israel Studies: Cultures and Communities. Students who choose the General option can develop a unique emphasis area that addresses a global theme of personal and/or professional interest. To enhance classroom learning, the Global Studies BA offers a variety of co-curricular and alternative educational experiences, including language study, study abroad, and internships with an international component.

- Communicate in a foreign language commensurate with a sixth-semester proficiency.
- Identify and articulate how globalizing forces impact a major region of the world.
- Articulate and critically evaluate the causes and consequences of globalizing forces.
- Demonstrate familiarity with multi-disciplinary approaches to Global Studies.
- Demonstrate success in expressing oneself effectively in written and verbal communication.

Emphasis-Specific Learning Outcomes:

- Analyze how local, regional, and/or national cultures have been impacted by globalizing forces (Global Cultures Emphasis).
- Identify and assess how the health of humans and human communities have been impacted by globalizing forces (Global Health).
- Students will explain how globalizing political-economic and institutional forces shape order/disorder and cooperation/conflict around the world (Global Political Economy and Institutions)
- Explain and evaluate the causes, consequences, and repair of human rights violations as well as analyze social movements that advance human rights (Global Human Rights and Social Movements Emphasis).
- Explain the major historical periods, and the cultural, political, and ethnolinguistic diversity of the contemporary Middle East and North Africa (Middle Eastern and North African Studies Emphasis).
- Analyze how major themes (e.g. race, ethnicity, gender, development, democracy, coloniality, health, environment, human rights, the arts) are constructed historically and situated in contemporary global Latin America (Global Latin America Emphasis).
- Analyze the coproduction of gender, difference, and power (Gender, Difference, and Power Emphasis).
- Interpret key themes in Jewish civilization and Israel Studies to support cultural literacy (Jewish and Israel Studies Emphasis).
- Explain global forces through analysis of a theme within the field of Global Studies (General Emphasis).