Global Studies (GLS)

This course introduces students to Global Studies, the systematic study of the global system and its related features, qualities, trends, institutions, processes, structures, and problems. Students discuss and critically analyze the collected elements and components - including people, institutions, principles, procedures, norms and habits - whose interactions make up the world. Select themes covered in the course include identity and culture, science and technology, international politics, human rights, trade, migration, environmental issues, and war and peace.

This course examines the interaction between various societies' political-economic structures and their cultural value systems. While studying such non-Western societies and areas as China, India, and Sub-Saharan Africa, students will acquire an understanding of major historical eras, important geographical features, philosophical and religious systems, and contemporary political and social developments.

This course introduces students to some of the issues facing European societies in the economic, social, political, and cultural spheres from the French Revolution to European integration. While studying the history and culture of the peoples of Europe, students will acquire an understanding of major historical eras, important geographical features, philosophical and religious systems, and contemporary political and social developments.

In this course, we will examine the link between feminism and social policies since World War II from the French perspective. In a nation where citizens regularly march in the streets and have made social justice a pillar of society, how does activism influence lawmaking and how do social policies influence feminism? What are the advantages and limits of the French model? How does activism differ from one country to another? What do these differences reveal about our own culture? We will focus on issues such as access to child care and education, reproductive rights, parental leave policies, and gender-based violence. We will examine these matters through scholarly works, newspaper articles, political pamphlets as well as street art and graphic novels. Course taught in English.

This class integrates economic theories with a critical cultural reading of its effects on the social fabric in Latin America. Four case studies have been chosen for this course: Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. The course explores key memory narratives and key economic concepts through the lens of Human Rights and Trauma Studies, Literature, Film Studies, Performance and Visual Arts.

This course will explore the stories, commandments, and traditions around social justice and ecological stewardship in the Hebrew Bible. We will read the primary texts (in English translation) as well as rabbinic commentaries and modern interpretations. Students will gain an understanding of the deep origins of our modern ethics of justice, human rights, and ecological healing.

This course explores French and Francophone cinema from several regions and countries including France, Belgium, North Africa, Senegal, the Caribbean, Canada, and Southeast Asia. Students are introduced to the social, historical, economic, and political issues confronting these diverse societies through the analysis and discussion of key cinematographic works and short essays and literary texts. Taught in English.

This course will provide a comparative perspective of theoretical and cultural production in the Hispanophone Caribbean and among Latino communities in the United States, by introducing students to the main discussions in the area of cultural studies. What are the different practices, artifacts, and communities encompassed by the concept of culture? How is it related to concepts such as language, civilization, and identity?

This course will offer a panoramic view of Puerto Rican literature beginning with the Grito de Lares in 1868 and ending with twenty-first-century contemporary literature. Among the general themes of the course will be anticolonial and nationalist movements, literary genealogies, cultural history, and the control of women's sexuality.

There is too often a chasm between human rights rhetoric and sustainable, justice-based change. This class will examine this chasm, but also the myriad forms and examples of human rights activism and advocacy around the world. Students will have an opportunity to work in teams to enact a human rights campaign and will also leave the course with basic leadership skills in conflict resolution that they can use in their activism and advocacy.

An overview of theories and methods for Global Studies majors. The course serves to prepare students for their Senior Thesis, providing a framework for students to develop their research project. The course provides students with a conceptual vocabulary in Global Studies and examples of Global Studies research.

The Global Studies internship is an advanced course open to majors with junior or senior standing. Placements depend on the availability of suitable positions and must amount to a minimum of 45 hours for 1 credit, 90 hours for 2 credits, and 135 hours for 3 credits. The instructor, along with the site placement supervisor, will guide and evaluate the quality of the work. Internships must relate to a student's area of focus or proficiencies within the Global Studies major and will provide the student with an opportunity to apply knowledge and skills gained through coursework. During an internship, students must maintain a comprehensive daily log or blog of personal work activities and write a final reflection paper demonstrating how the internship relates to concepts introduced by Global Studies coursework and how it raises new questions for the student about the field/work in question.

The preparation and presentation of a senior thesis in Global Studies under the direction of a mentor and reader chosen from the GLS faculty or related department and approved by the Chairperson. Students develop an independent research project based on the thesis proposal in GLS 4001 Theories and Methods in Global Studies. Students will work with their faculty mentor and thesis reader to finalize their research project. Regular meetings with the mentor and reader are required throughout the semester.