2025-2026 Undergraduate & Graduate Catalog
Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science in Global Studies and Social Impact
Global studies and social impact is an interdisciplinary major with a focus on understanding, through multiple perspectives, global issues and how they affect people in all areas of the world.
Requirements for a Major in Global Studies
There are 39 credits required for the major, plus 12 credits for B.A. degree or plus nine credits for B.S. degree.
Core Courses
Twelve credits are required, including:
- GSI 201 - (Dis)Order and (In)Justice: An Introduction to Global Studies (3 credits)
- GSI 202 - History of Global Change and Social Transformation (3 credits)
- GSI 300 - Doing Global Studies: Critical Thinking in a Globalized World (3 credits)
- GSI 495 - Global Studies and Social Impact (3 credits)
Area Studies Electives
Nine credits are required.
Students take three courses from at least two different areas (AAA, EAS, LAS, MES). In the case of Meijer Honors College four semester sequences, students may count up to six credit hours towards a particular area.
African and African American Studies (AAA)
- AAA 300 - U.S. - Africa Relations (3 credits)
- AAA 319 - African Politics (3 credits)
- AAA 337 - Contemporary Black Literature (3 credits)
- GPY 351 - Geography of Africa (3 credits)
- HNR 1st year sequences with AAA content (up to 6 credits)
- HST 335 - Africa Before 1870 (3 credits)
- HST 336 - Africa After 1870 (3 credits)
East Asian Studies (EAS)
- EAS 210 - Reading East Asia (3 credits)
- EAS 351 - Asian American Experiences (3 credits)
- GPY 354 - Geography and Globalization of Asia (3 credits)
- HNR 1st year sequences with AAA content (up to 6 credits)
- HST 240 - A History of East Asia to 1800 (3 credits)
- HST 333 - Modern China (3 credits)
- HST 342 - History of Buddhism and East Asian Religions (3 credits)
- PHI 400 - Wisdom of the East: Advanced Topics in Asian Philosophy (3 credits)
- PLS 283 - Chinese Politics and U.S.-China Relations (3 credits)
Latin American Studies (LAS)
- FVP 376 - Latin American Cinema (3 credits)
- GPY 352 - Geography of Latin America (3 credits)
- HNR 1st year sequences with AAA content (up to 6 credits)
- HST 330 - Colonial Latin America (3 credits)
- HST 331 - Modern Latin America (3 credits)
- HST 334 - The Making of the Caribbean (3 credits)
- HST 372/LAS 372 - From Slavery to Freedom (3 credits)
- LAS 374/HST 374 - Revolution in the Americas (3 credits)
- PLS 284 - Latin American Politics (3 credits)
Middle East Studies (MES)
- ANT 350 - Archaeology of the Middle East/Southwest Asia (3 credits)
- HNR 1st year sequences with AAA content (up to 6 credits)
- HNR 219/HNR 220 - The Middle East Beyond the Headlines 4 (3 credits)
- HST 337 - The Age of Islamic Empire (3 credits)
- HST 338 - Modern Middle East (3 credits)
- HST 339 - Modern Iran (3 credits)
- MES 350 - Islam: Scripture and Ritual (3 credits)
- MES 370 - Contemporary Issues in the Middle East: The Model Arab League (3 credits)
- PLS 320 - Comparative Politics of the Middle East (3 credits)
Clusters
Eighteen cluster credits are required.
Students choose two courses from each of the three clusters. No more than two courses from each discipline. GSI 490 may only be taken once for credit. An asterisk (*) designates experiential learning.
Places, Movements, Encounters Cluster
Courses in this cluster help students to think about how place and culture connect, and about how people and ideas move and shift in a global world. Students will learn how the fast changing, globalized world is constantly presenting new challenges and new kinds of encounters and opportunities.
- AAA 302 - African Diaspora (3 credits)
- COM 378 - Intercultural Communication (3 credits)
- *GSI 490 - Global Studies Internship (1 to 3 credits)
- GSI 215/PLS 215 - Global Migration (3 credits)
- HTM 368 - Geotourism (3 credits)
- LAS 373 - Latinos/as in West Michigan (3 credits)
- INT 319/HRT 319/HST 319 - Human Traffic and Trafficking (3 credits)
- SOC 355 - Sociology of Work and Employment (3 credits)
Expressions and Identities Cluster
Courses in this cluster address issues of individual and social identity in a global context. Students will learn to think theoretically and apply this knowledge to understandings of gender, race, ethnicity, class, spirituality and sexuality, and the construction of hybrid identities.
- ANT 340 - Culture and Environment (3 credits)
- COM 372 - Global Communications (3 credits)
- EAS 351 - Asian American Experiences (3 credits)
- FVP 375 - World Cinema (3 credits)
- *GSI 490 - Global Studies Internship (1 to 3 credits)
- REL 335 - Sacred Words, Global Understanding (3 credits)
- REL 300 - Religions in the World Today: Theories, Methods, and Issues (3 credits)
- WGS 352/AAA 352 - Black Women's Culture and Communities (3 credits)
- WRT 354 - Writing in the Global Context: Culture, Technology, and Language Practices (3 credits)
Systems and Actions Cluster
Courses in this cluster focus on large-scale and global policies and structures within which people and ideas circulate. Students will learn to think about human agency within such structures, as well as how to critically evaluate how these structures enable and challenge social justice locally and globally.
- AHS 330 - Health Care: A Global Perspective (3 credits)
- BIO 319 - Global Agricultural Sustainability (3 credits)
- ECO 365 - Comparative Economic Systems (3 credits)
- GPY 412/ENS 412 - Global Climate and Environmental Change (3 credits)
- GSI 290 - Changemakers! Introduction to Social Impact (3 credits)
- *GSI 490 - Global Studies Internship (1 to 3 credits)
- *INT 342 - Food Matters (3 credits)
- INT 400 - Global Visionary Leadership (3 credits) OR INT 402 - Feminist Visionary Thinkers (3 credits)
- PLS 313 - International Organization (3 credits)
- PLS 316 - Human Rights in International Politics (3 credits)
- SOC 377 - Globalization: Structures and Movements (3 credits)
- WGS 301 - Global Feminisms (3 credits)
B.A. or B.S. Degree
This major offers both B.A. and B.S. degree options.
B.A. Degree Requirements
Students who opt for the B.A. degree must gain fourth semester proficiency in a world language.
B.S. Degree Requirements
To complete the B.S. degree, students must take:
- STA 215 - Introductory Applied Statistics (3 credits)
- HST 290 - The Historian's Craft: What Historians Know and How They Know It (3 credits)
One of the following additional courses in methodology or statistics:
- AHS 301 - Introduction to Health Care Research (3 credits)
- COM 375 - Quantitative Communication Research Methods (3 credits)
- INT 301 - Interdisciplinary Research Methods (3 credits)
- PLS 300 - Political Analysis (3 credits)
- STA 216 - Intermediate Applied Statistics (3 credits)
- STA 301 - Questionnaire Design and Execution (3 credits)
- STA 314 - Statistical Quality Methods (3 credits)
- STA 318 - Statistical Computing (3 credits)
- STA 340 - Statistics in the Media (3 credits)
- STA 341 - Demographic Methods (3 credits)
- WGS 395 - Women and Gender Studies Research Methods (3 credits)
Experiential Learning or Study Abroad
Students are required to complete either an experiential learning course or study abroad. An experiential learning course takes the place of one cluster course. Study abroad course takes the place of one area studies course.