Major

Global Studies is a broad-based study of processes and problems that transcend national boundaries, preparing students to become global thinkers and problem-solvers for the twenty first century. The Global Studies major includes the study of global historical processes that have made the world more interconnected as well as contemporary issues of global politics, violence, and security issues, global migrations, travel and social movements, global literature, arts and media, the global economic system of trade and finance, and issues of global health and disease, environmental change, and sustainability.

Students will be grounded in two disciplines, as well as a geographic area of study and a foreign language.

Lower-Division Requirements (6 courses + Language)

  • GBST 001 -  Global History, Culture and Ideas
  • GBST 002 -  Global Socioeconomic and Political Processes
  • Introductory courses in two disciplines
  • Two courses in World History
  • Foreign language proficiency up to the 6th quarter level satisfied either through a placement exam or course work in that language

Upper-Division Requirements (45 units)

  • Eight courses with global content in at least two different disciplines
    (i.e. 3 ANTH, 2 POSC, 3 PHIL courses, all with a global perspective)
  • Two courses in a geographic area
    (i.e. 2 courses that focus on Latin America, Europe or Asia)
  • Capstone requirement (at least 4 units)
    Students are required to complete their major with a capstone experience.  This may be an advanced seminar in a topic of global significance, a major research paper supervised by a Global Studies faculty member or a study abroad program approved by the Chair of Global Studies.

Selection of Upper Division Courses

Using the guidelines above select

10 courses from among upper division global studies courses
and from the following list of courses.

8 courses in at least two subject areas, with global content
2 courses in the same geographic area

There are many new courses being added each year. If you think that an unlisted course is appropriate for the major, please see an advisor or contact the Director of Global Studies.

New Global Studies Courses

GBST 100- Global Cities
This course introduces students to the study of urban environments from the perspective of recent work about links among cities. We will consider how the city and urban life have emerged in various parts of the world. This will lead us to study how colonialism, urban planning, migration and trade have influenced contemporary urban environments. Influential theories of space and the city will be presented in lectures, and "tested" by students through a series of hands-on experiments. We will study the city as representation and the city as lived experience through as series of projects in Riverside and Southern California, exploring the links between specific sites (schools, churches, community centers, shipping centers) and other cities. Special attention will be paid to the role of the media, transportation and human mobility in shaping how we conceive of contemporary urban space. This will lead us to consider how interconnections among cities have been theorized in terms of financial markets, commodity exchange, migration or culture and the implications of  these different manners of conceiving the global city for how we might place the nation or think about regional or global governance.

GBST 110-Global Migrations and Movements
This course examines migration and mobility beginning with an exploration of early accounts of travel and migration. It then turns to the impact of colonial experiences on migratory trends and relates these to the development of global migration in the 19th and early twentieth centuries. Contemporary inter-regional migration will also be a topic of particular interest. It will look at how economic development and displacement of populations due to interstate and intrastate conflict has had consequences on patterns of migration. Issues of identity and subjectivity among migrants will be explored in relation to trends in literature, art and music that have been motivated by the work of migrants. Most scholars agree that migrations, economic exchanges, the movement of the mass media, and religious and cultural exchanges have to be looked at together. Throughout the course, we will explore recent theories of mobility and globalization to understand how globalization is reshaping borders, ideas of self, and the kinds of political and social entities and transnational issues that will be relevant to social research as well as political action in the future.

GBST 169- From the Maghreb to the Middle East

This course serves as an introduction to the peoples and societies of North Africa and the Middle East. Following the path of the great traveler Ibn Battutah, we begin in the Maghreb and move out to explores the parameters of the “Middle East” as they have been traced historically, and according to various scholarly traditions. We will examine how the media, politics, oil and migration are reshaping it today. Students will be introduced to scholarly discussions on kinship, religion, migration, gender, political organization, Orientalism and cultural production. Issues of general interest related to current events will also be addressed through readings from the press and novels and viewing television programs and films.

Upper Division Courses

Anthropology
102, 103, 104, 105, 107, 109, 112, 118, 122, 127, 128, 130, 132, 139, 140E-Z, 149, 158 159, 160, 161, 162, 163, 164, 170

Art History
102, 113, 115, 182, 186, 187

Asian Studies
127, 128, 163

Botany & Plant Sciences
170

Business
105, 153

Chemical Engineering
171

Comparative Ancient Civilizations
131, 141

Comparative Literature
141, 143, 163, 173 E-Z, 187

Dance
128, 130, 172 E-Z, 187

Economics
124, 143A, 143B, 143C, 146, 153, 156, 171, 175, 178, 180, 181, 182, 185, 187

Education
114

English
121 E-Z, 142 E-Z, 144 E-Z

Environmental Science
101, 143A, 143B, 143C, 174

Ethnic Studies
100, 102, 104, 105A, 105B, 109G, 109I, 117E-Z, 118, 133, 148, 157, 161, 170, 172, 175

Film & Visual Culture
103, 144 E-Z, 173 E-Z

Geology
157, 167

Global Studies
090, 191, 195A, 195B, 195C, 198 I.

History
HIST 108, 109, 137 E-Z, 181, 182, HISA161, 162, 164A, 164B, HISE145, 146

Latin American Studies
164, 168, 185, 187

Math
121

Mechanical Engineering
100A, 100B

Music
120, 124, 126, 128, 129

Philosophy
108, 110, 116, 117, 119, 152, 153, 163, 167, 168

Political Science
108, 110, 111, 116, 120, 124, 125, 126, 127, 129, 150, 152, 153, 154, 155, 157, 158, 159, 160, 162, 169, 182

Psychology
140, 165

Religious Studies
111, 116, 118, 124 E-Z, 138, 139, 150, 151, 160, 170, 174, 175

Sociology
120, 122, 123, 133, 134, 135, 137, 139, 143, 150, 151, 156, 157, 161, 181, 182, 184

Statistics
100A, 100B, 101

Theatre
176

Women’s Studies
100, 101, 103, 108, 109, 126, 140, 141, 149, 150, 155,
156, 160, 161, 164, 175

World Literature
170