Curriculum in Global Studies

Introduction

Global studies is an interdisciplinary curriculum that brings together diverse perspectives and frameworks to analyze the complex relationships between local, national, and global structures. 

The Curriculum in Global Studies provides students with the necessary knowledge and skills to develop effective and innovative responses to some of today's most critical global challenges — such as racial and gender injustice, economic inequality, increasing war and conflict, migration and displacement, and environmental crisis by training them in a variety of methodologies drawn from multiple academic disciplines and supporting them with internationally renowned faculty across more than ten departments at UNC.

Stay up to date on all things UNC Global Studies by following us on Instagram: @uncglobalstudies

Advising

All majors have a primary academic advisor in the Academic Advising Program. Students are strongly encouraged to meet regularly with their advisor and review their Tar Heel Tracker each semester. The curriculum’s director of undergraduate studies also works with current and prospective majors by appointment (see “Contacts” tab) to discuss major requirements, how study abroad credits transfer into the major, and other issues of relevance to global studies. Further information on courses, the honors program, internships, and more are available on the curriculum’s website.

Graduate School and Career Opportunities

The Curriculum in Global Studies combines a global perspective with regional and linguistic expertise as well as diverse academic methodological training to prepare students for jobs in a variety of fields and/or graduate education. The curriculum’s interdisciplinary training offers the flexibility and adaptability that are crucial for continued success in shifting job markets and global circumstances. Our alumni have pursued successful careers across the public and private sectors, obtaining positions in governmental and non-governmental organizations and fields such as education, foreign service and diplomacy, law, healthcare, global business, international development, and consulting. 

Our major is also excellent preparation for graduate school in one of the social sciences; in professions such as law, business, or journalism; or in international affairs and area studies. Career resources can be found through University Career Services and on the curriculum’s website.

Professors

Renée Alexander Craft (Communication), Chad Bryant (History), Mark Driscoll (Asian Studies), Banu Gökariksel (Geography), Liesbet Hooghe (Political Science), Arne Kalleberg (Sociology), Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja (African, African American, and Diaspora Studies), Elizabeth Olson (Geography), John Pickles (Geography), Graeme Robertson (Political Science), Meenu Tewari (City and Regional Planning), Milada A. Vachudova (Political Science).

Associate Professors

Inger Brodey (English and Comparative Literature), Nina Martin (Geography), Townsend Middleton (Anthropology), Michael Morgan (History), Christopher Nelson (Anthropology), Eunice Sahle (African, African American, and Diaspora Studies), Brigitte Seim (Public Policy), Mark Sorensen (Anthropology), Angela Stuesse (Anthropology), Michael Tsin (History).

Assistant Professor

Lucy Martin (Political Science).

Adjunct Assistant Professors

Hannah Gill (Institute for the Study of the Americas), Niklaus Steiner (Political Science).

Teaching Professors

Erica Johnson (Global Studies), Michal Osterweil (Global Studies), Jonathan Weiler (Global Studies).

Teaching Assistant Professor

Carmen Huerta-Bapat (Global Studies).

GLBL–Global Studies

Undergraduate-level Courses

IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 87H.  First Year Seminar: The Migratory Experience.  3 Credits.  

The seminar will critically analyze the migrant experience in both North America and Europe. Migration is a calculated decision that individuals, families, and groups make in an effort to improve their living conditions. We will adopt an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the motivation of migrants, the nature of the migrant journey to their destination states, and their integration into their new societies.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 88.  First-Year Seminar: Beg, Borrow, and Steal: The Political Economy of Aid, FDI, and Corruption.  3 Credits.  

This seminar examines how politics and economics condition different countries' path towards and experience with foreign aid, foreign investment, and corruption. In doing so, the course will examine the effect of political conditions on economic outcomes and the effect of economic conditions on political outcomes.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Making Connections Gen Ed: SS, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 89.  First-Year Seminar: Special Topics.  3 Credits.  

Special topics course. Content will vary each semester. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-SEMINAR.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
GLBL 181.  Teaching Great Decisions I.  1 Credits.  

Permission of the department. This course gives credit to the Great Decisions coordinating committee for organizing the eight lectures in GLBL 381.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 3 total credits. 3 total completions.  
Grading Status: Pass/Fail.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 193.  Global Studies Internship.  1 Credits.  

Internship in a sponsoring organization whose work or mission is meaningfully connected to a global studies topic.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: HI-INTERN.
Making Connections Gen Ed: EE- Academic Internship.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 3 total credits. 3 total completions.  
Grading Status: Pass/Fail.  
GLBL 196.  Independent Study.  1-12 Credits.  

Permission of the instructor. Reading and research on special topics in global studies.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 12 total credits. 4 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 210.  Global Issues and Globalization.  3 Credits.  

Survey of international social, political, and cultural patterns in selected societies of Africa, Asia, America, and Europe, stressing comparative analysis of conflicts and change in different historical contexts. LAC recitation sections offered in French, German, and Spanish.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 221.  The Migratory Experience.  3 Credits.  

The course will critically analyze the migrant experience in both North America and Europe. Migration is a calculated decision that individuals, families, and groups make in an effort to improve their living conditions. We will adopt an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the motivation of migrants, the nature of the migrant journey to their destination states, and their integration into their new societies.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FY-LAUNCH (only designated sections), FC-GLOBAL.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
GLBL 281.  Phillips Ambassadors Program.  3 Credits.  

This academic course is mandatory for Phillips Ambassadors. Course open only to Phillips Ambassadors.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
GLBL 282.  Global Gap Year Seminar.  3 Credits.  

This course is mandatory for Global Gap Year Fellows and is only open to Global Gap Year Fellows.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: EE- Service Learning.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
GLBL 290.  Current Topics in Global Studies.  0.5-21 Credits.  

An interdisciplinary approach to the study of the background, current status, and future prospects for one of a series of global issues such as the nuclear age, the environment, technological transition.

Rules & Requirements  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 300.  Apology, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation - The Case of Northern Ireland.  3 Credits.  

The course, which will take place in Belfast, Northern Ireland, aims to answer the following question: What does it take for an individual and a group to heal? And what does reconciliation mean and look like? The platform of Northern Ireland's conflict (aka ''The Trouble'') will be used to understand the challenges and successes of healing on an individual and group level. The course will provide a nuanced understanding of apology and forgiveness.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL, HI-ABROAD.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: PWAD 300.  
GLBL 381.  Great Decisions.  1 Credits.  

Eight evening guest lectures, with a discussion session after each, on eight issues in current foreign policy. May be repeated for credit. Students may not receive credit for both GLBL 381 and POLI 381.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 3 total credits. 3 total completions.  
Grading Status: Pass/Fail.  
GLBL 382.  Latin American Migrant Perspectives: Ethnography and Action.  3 Credits.  

This class combines fieldwork, oral history, and service learning in a course that examines concepts of globalization, migration, and transnationalism, and their intersections with anthropological theory and practice.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: EE- Field Work.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 383.  Global Whiteness.  3 Credits.  

This course looks at race as a theory and practice as it has been constructed in academic disciplines, popular culture, and social struggle.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: HS, GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
GLBL 390.  Current Topics in Global Studies.  3 Credits.  

Topics vary from semester to semester.

Rules & Requirements  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit; may be repeated in the same term for different topics; 12 total credits. 4 total completions.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
GLBL 394.  Teaching Great Decisions II.  2 Credits.  

This course links the Great Decisions lecture series with readings and analyses of international relations. Its purpose is to provide the students on the Great Decisions coordinating committee with a practical and intellectual engagement with United States foreign policy and global issues.

Rules & Requirements  
Requisites: Pre- or corequisite, GLBL 381.  
Repeat Rules: May be repeated for credit. 6 total credits. 3 total completions.  
Grading Status: Pass/Fail.  

Advanced Undergraduate and Graduate-level Courses

IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 401.  Right Wing Populism in Global Perspective.  3 Credits.  

This course will examine right wing populism globally. We will consider why right wing populism has gained traction in such diverse places as India, Brazil, Germany, France, Hungary, Britain, and the United States. We will ask what role such factors as religion, ethnicity, economics, and gender play in its rise. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: GL.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 413.  Socialist and Decolonial Ecologies.  3 Credits.  

This course will focus on the relation of capitalism and anthropogenic climate change and feature Marxist and Indigenous critiques of capitalism's responsibility for climate change. We will feature an interdisciplinary lens - philosophy, feminist geography, cultural anthropology, socialist economics - that will analyze how the anthropocentric subject of the Enlightenment separated itself from its natural environment.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN.  
Requisites: Prerequisite, GLBL 210.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
GLBL 415.  Dealing with Difference: Criminal Justice, Race, and Social Movements in Globalization.  3 Credits.  

Recommended preparation, GLBL 210. This course is dedicated to understanding how sameness and difference are used and contested globally, in particular through the criminal justice system and its intersection with race and capitalism. The course pays particular attention to popular social movement responses, and what they say to theories of difference, globalization, and social change.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: GL, US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 450.  Social Change in Times of Crisis: Knowledge, Action, and Ontology.  3 Credits.  

Examines dominant, alternative, and emergent narratives of change and the future from around the world. Takes as a premise that we live in a period of multidimensional crises characterized by uncertainty and conflict about how to pursue sustainable economic, ecological, political, social, and cultural projects. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-KNOWING or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: GL, US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 481.  NGO Politics.  3 Credits.  

This course will investigate how nongovernmental organizations emerge, how they structure their organizations, how they function, and how they influence public policy. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
GLBL 482.  Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Institutions.  3 Credits.  

This course is an introduction to the history and contemporary politics of the post-Soviet region and explores topics of religious, ethnic, and identity politics; international influences; and civil society and social movements. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 483.  Comparative Health Systems.  3 Credits.  

This course provides students with an understanding of the origins and comparative performance of a range of international healthcare systems. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
GLBL 484.  History and Politics of Central Asia.  3 Credits.  

This course is an introduction of the history, politics, and societies of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The class explores the foundations and conditions of change in the modern history of these societies and investigates how these issues influence contemporary politics.

Rules & Requirements  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 485.  Comparative Development.  3 Credits.  

This course is an APPLES service-learning course whose goal is to integrate real-world experience working with development-oriented organizations, theoretical discussions about the origins and evolution of development thinking, and exposure to the challenges facing practitioners of development, in some of its many substantive and geographical contexts.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: HI-SERVICE.
Making Connections Gen Ed: EE- Service Learning.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 486.  Sports and Globalization.  3 Credits.  

This course explores some of the relationships between sports and globalization and will delve into sports as an important social and cultural practice within larger social, cultural, and political forces shaping studies of globalization. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL.
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 487.  Social Movements: Rethinking Globalization.  3 Credits.  

This course explores the history, objectives, and manifestations of global social movements. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-GLOBAL or FC-POWER.
Making Connections Gen Ed: GL, US.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 489.  Paradigms of Development and Social Change.  3 Credits.  

By deliberately juxtaposing questions of global development with an investigation of approaches in community organizing locally--both through course material and service-learning assignments--the course encourages students to develop a more critical understanding of the relationship between development projects and emancipatory frameworks. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: FC-POWER, HI-SERVICE.
Making Connections Gen Ed: BN, EE- Service Learning.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
GLBL 490.  Current Topics.  3 Credits.  

Current topics in international and area studies. Topics vary by semester.

Rules & Requirements  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
GLBL 491H.  Major Controversies in Human Rights.  3 Credits.  

A forum for exploring conceptual and practical problems related to the emergence of a global human rights regime after World War II. The course analyzes relevant arguments, and students will consider whether it is possible to construct a coherent, workable, universally accepted system for articulating and enforcing human rights norms.

Rules & Requirements  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
GLBL 492.  Global Food Films.  3 Credits.  

Thinking about one of our most basic human needs illuminates aspects of our own everyday lives, such as our relationship to nature, other cultures, and to history, as well as our general assumptions about humanity. Students will study films that explore cross-cultural differences in the social and philosophical understandings of what it is to be human. Honors version available.

Rules & Requirements  
Making Connections Gen Ed: VP.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
GLBL 574.  Political Economy of Poverty and Inequality.  3 Credits.  

Introduces students to the political economy of poverty alleviation programs. Uses comparative cases to explore what types of projects, tasks, and environments lead to effective and equitable outcomes, and why.

Rules & Requirements  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
Same as: PLAN 574.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 691H.  Honors in Global Studies.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the instructor. Preparation for writing the honors thesis.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: EE- Mentored Research.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  
IDEAs in Action General Education logoGLBL 692H.  Honors in Global Studies.  3 Credits.  

Permission of the instructor. Completion of the honors thesis and an oral examination of the thesis.

Rules & Requirements  
IDEAs in Action General Education logo IDEAs in Action Gen Ed: RESEARCH.
Making Connections Gen Ed: EE- Mentored Research.  
Grading Status: Letter grade.  

Curriculum in Global Studies

Visit Program Website

FedEx Global Education Center, Suite 2200, CB# 3263

Chair

Banu Gökarıksel

banug@email.unc.edu

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Jonathan Weiler

jweiler@email.unc.edu

Director of Graduate Studies

Erica Johnson

ericaj@email.unc.edu

Diversity Liaison & Internship Coordinator

Michal Osterweil

osterwei@email.unc.edu

Student Services Manager

Kayla McManus-Viana

kmviana@ad.unc.edu

Business Officer

Vacant