COURSE OFFERINGS

The courses listed below are subject to change. For the most current listing, please consult the University Registrar's Schedule of Classes.

Requirements for Ph.D. program

 

 


 

Fall 2025

 

Description
Ongoing historical processes that increase global integration, the social, economic, and political interdependence of different regions, cultures, and peoples. Topics include ancient empires, colonialism, nationalism, industrialization, modern imperialism and warfare, decolonization, global social movements, conflict, inequality, and global governance.
 
Same as SOC SCI 4A.

Description
Offers a general overview of the rise of global interdependence in political, economic, demographic, and cultural terms. Considers what drove people from relative isolation into intensified intercourse with one another, and investigates the consequences of this shift.
 
Same as ANTHRO 41A.

Description
An overview of the major political ideologies shaping the current world order and global conflict. Topics include liberalism, democracy, nationalism, capitalism, communism, socialism, fascism, neoliberalism, clash of civilizations, sectarian violence, populist nationalism, and de-globalization.
 
Same as POLI SCI 44B, SOC SCI 12.

Description
The global economy as an integrated system. The rise of world trade, capitalism, national economies, market cycles, competing economic ideologies, development, globalization, transnational labor, multinational corporations, and the role of UN, World Bank, WTO, and the IMF in global governance.
 
Same as SOC SCI 15.

Description
Historical development of civil, political rights and the rise of human rights in international law. Explores role, and limitations, of the UN, ICJ, and ICC in global governance. Reconceptualizing democracy and political representation in a postnational 21st century.
 
Same as POL SCI 45A, SOC SCI 16.

Description
Examines problems such as global climate change, growing human populations, fisheries depletion, ocean acidification, biodiversity loss, deforestation, and food security. Introduces political, social, and economic factors contributing to environmental issues and their disproportional impacts on the world’s poor and minorities.
 
Same as SOC SCI 17.

Description
Introduction to political ecology and critical analysis of the global scale and globalization. Topics include current and historical climate change, fossil fuels, international trade and investment, soil erosion and pollution, deforestation, waste, ocean ecology, water crisis, wars, revolutions, and refugees.

Description
Introduction to conducting business in the international arena, decision making in the organization, and globalization of markets and production. Topics covered range from tax and finance to ethics, marketing, and more. Continuing corporate regulatory scandals discussed.
 
Same as SOC SCI 115D.

Description
Situates the interdisciplinary fields of Native American and Indigenous Studies within a transnational context, focusing on the global dimensions of indigeneity informing local histories, politics, and experiences. Examines settler colonialism, sovereignty, and the enduring legacies of colonialism as global phenomena.

Description
An examination of various forms of social, economic, and political inequality within and between nations. Different approaches to understanding inequality and the intersections of poverty, race, ethnicity, class, gender, nationality, health, and violence.

Description
Presents a comparative analysis of the causes, development, and consequences of selected revolutionary movements, focusing on outbreaks in Mexico, Bolivia, Cuba, Chile, Nicaragua, and Grenada. Explores topics of state formation, economic nationalism, social justice, ethnicity, and role of international affairs.
 
Same as CHC/LAT 151B, HISTORY 166D, SOC SCI 173N.

Description
How did the US-Mexico border become a contentious centerpiece of American politics? This course leads students in a deep engagement with the history and present of the US-Mexico Border by examining its establishment, its enforcement, and the unfolding politics around it.

Description
This course introduces students to the origins and construction of race with particular attention to how race has helped to shape Latin America from colonial times to the present. This will be a broad analysis of the place that racial and ethnic ideologies have played in national political structures, economic formations, and social movements.
 
Same as HIST 169.

Description
Some scholars claim that there is a fundamental difference in the cultural ethos of Muslims and the Western world and that the two clash as seemingly incompatible civilizations. Others suggest that such stereotypical contrasts between Muslims and Westerners wrongly view both sides as monolithic and overlook important ways in which Islam and the West overlap. The course explores this scholarly debate.
 
Same as SOC SCI 189.

Description
Assists students to prepare a thesis prospectus for the Honors Program in International Studies. Students choose a topic, learn writing and research methods, write a prospectus and orally present and defend it, and conduct a literature review.
 
Restriction: International Studies Majors have first consideration for enrollment. Social Science Honors students only.

Description
A faculty-student forum featuring lectures from a variety of institutions with discussion issues related to Global and International Studies.
 
Same as SOCECOL 183A, SOC SCI 183A.

Description
Designed for seniors who are pursuing the minor in Conflict Resolution and/or International Studies major. Provides a forum in which students will refine skills and theory in the study of cooperation and conflict, from local to global arenas.
 
Same as SOC SCI 183CW.

Description
Examines how militarism and militarization operate and the global expansion of military power.

Description
This course will examine the foundations of international human rights theory and law, and the role of the international and national mechanisms for the protection of human rights, judicial or otherwise. This will be a broad review and analysis of the development of international human rights law, including the basic international documents that constitute human rights practice: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.

 


 

Winter 2026

 

Description
Ongoing historical processes that increase global integration, the social, economic, and political interdependence of different regions, cultures, and peoples. Topics include ancient empires, colonialism, nationalism, industrialization, modern imperialism and warfare, decolonization, global social movements, conflict, inequality, and global governance.
 
Same as SOC SCI 4A.

Description
Offers a general overview of the rise of global interdependence in political, economic, demographic, and cultural terms. Considers what drove people from relative isolation into intensified intercourse with one another, and investigates the consequences of this shift.
 
Same as ANTHRO 41A.

Description
An overview of the major political ideologies shaping the current world order and global conflict. Topics include liberalism, democracy, nationalism, capitalism, communism, socialism, fascism, neoliberalism, clash of civilizations, sectarian violence, populist nationalism, and de-globalization.
 
Same as POL SCI 44B, SOC SCI 12.

Description
The global economy as an integrated system. The rise of world trade, capitalism, national economies, market cycles, competing economic ideologies, development, globalization, transnational labor, multinational corporations, and the role of UN, World Bank, WTO, and the IMF in global governance.
 
Same as SOC SCI 15.

Description
Historical development of civil, political rights and the rise of human rights in international law. Explores role, and limitations, of the UN, ICJ, and ICC in global governance. Reconceptualizing democracy and political representation in a postnational 21st century.
 
Same as POL SCI 45A, SOC SCI 16.

Description
Examines problems such as global climate change, growing human populations, fisheries depletion, ocean acidification, biodiversity loss, deforestation, and food security. Introduces political, social, and economic factors contributing to environmental issues and their disproportional impacts on the world’s poor and minorities.
 
Same as SOC SCI 17.

Description
The evolution of global social movements over past 250 years. Age of Revolutions in America, France, and Haiti; nationalism and labor; 1960s global decolonization; 21st century Latin American indigenous movements; Occupy Wall Street, Arab Spring, and social media's #metoo, #BlackLivesMatter.

Description
Cities as a window into contemporary challenges of the globalized world. Global cities such as Los Angeles, London, and Beijing compared with cities with slums in the global south such as Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg, and Mumbai.

Description
Examines the reason behind global refugee crises, and what it means to be a displaced migrant or stateless person in history and in contemporary society. Links case studies about refugees around the world.

Description
Examines how the modern world is divided between East and West in the age of globalization. Through the postcolonial framework of Orientalism, it considers a pluralistic idea of Asia and the current notion of the new world order as one.

Description
Examination of the origin, changing structure, application of international law, and the role of legal norms in regulating the behavior of states and maintaining international order.
 
Same as POL SCI 172A.

Description
Situates the interdisciplinary fields of Native American and Indigenous Studies within a transnational context, focusing on the global dimensions of indigeneity informing local histories, politics, and experiences. Examines settler colonialism, sovereignty, and the enduring legacies of colonialism as global phenomena.

Description
The concept of race has been used to draw a global color line dividing rich from poor, developed from developing, first from third worlds. Racism is used to justify slavery, colonialism, imperialism, eugenics, genocide, and extreme inequalities produced by globalization.

Description
Explores the historical relationship between racism and capitalism. Social movements such as Black Lives Matter highlight the contemporary political economy of racial capitalism, and the relationship between domestic policing and international militarization as twin sides of global racial hegemony.

Description
Examines the cultures and political conflicts of the more than 130 indigenous ethnic groups in the European and Asian territories of the former U.S.S.R. Emphasis is on the theoretical issues of ethnicity, nationalism, and conflict management.
 
Same as POL SCI 154F, ANTHRO 164P.

Description
This course introduces students to the story of Mexico’s formation and evolution from colonial times to the present. It will emphasize the role that history has played in national political structures, economic formations, and social movements over the centuries. Topics will include the indigenous roots of Mexico, the impact of conquest and colonization, the struggle of nation-building, revolution, reconstruction, and development.

Description
A faculty-student forum featuring lectures from a variety of institutions with discussion issues related to Global and International Studies.
 
Same as SOCECOL 183A, SOC SCI 183A.

Description
Designed for seniors who are pursuing the minor in Conflict Resolution and/or International Studies major. Provides a forum in which students will refine skills and theory in the study of cooperation and conflict, from local to global arenas.
 
Same as SOC SCI 183CW.

Description
Introduces Environmental Justice (EJ) framework as an alternative to mainstream approaches to socio-ecological issues, with special emphasis on communities confronting environmental racism. Examines EJ movements challenging pollution, climate change, disasters, deforestation, and unsafe working environments within a global context.

Description
This class explores the politics of childhood across global contexts. Children are portrayed as innocent victims needing help from governments and humanitarian organizations. How are children’s needs addressed and formulated? In turn, how do children navigate humanitarianism, schooling, and labor?

Description
This course addresses the origins and modes of cyberwar. It focuses on state-sponsored and transnational cyberwarfare as well as on industrial espionage with three specific aims. First, the course identifies the technical aspects of cyber conflicts and the concrete examples of cyberattacks from around the world. Second, it discusses military strategies and intelligence operations in response to cyberattacks. Third, it reviews cyberwarfare-related ethics and laws. The course also addresses the development of artificial intelligence and the broader issue of information wars as an unintended consequence of the development of various social media platforms such as Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.

 


 

Spring 2026

 

Description
Ongoing historical processes that increase global integration, the social, economic, and political interdependence of different regions, cultures, and peoples. Topics include ancient empires, colonialism, nationalism, industrialization, modern imperialism and warfare, decolonization, global social movements, conflict, inequality, and global governance.
 
Same as SOC SCI 4A.

Description
Offers a general overview of the rise of global interdependence in political, economic, demographic, and cultural terms. Considers what drove people from relative isolation into intensified intercourse with one another, and investigates the consequences of this shift.
 
Same as ANTHRO 41A.

Description
An overview of the major political ideologies shaping the current world order and global conflict. Topics include liberalism, democracy, nationalism, capitalism, communism, socialism, fascism, neoliberalism, clash of civilizations, sectarian violence, populist nationalism, and de-globalization.
 
Same as POL SCI 44B, SOC SCI 12.

Description
Historical development of civil, political rights and the rise of human rights in international law. Explores role, and limitations, of the UN, ICJ, and ICC in global governance. Reconceptualizing democracy and political representation in a postnational 21st century.
 
Same as POL SCI 45A, SOC SCI 16.

Description
Examines problems such as global climate change, growing human populations, fisheries depletion, ocean acidification, biodiversity loss, deforestation, and food security. Introduces political, social, and economic factors contributing to environmental issues and their disproportional impacts on the world’s poor and minorities.
 
Same as SOC SCI 17.

Description
The evolution of global social movements over past 250 years. Age of Revolutions in America, France, and Haiti; nationalism and labor; 1960s global decolonization; 21st century Latin American indigenous movements; Occupy Wall Street, Arab Spring, and social media's #metoo, #BlackLivesMatter.

Description
Examines the reason behind global refugee crises, and what it means to be a displaced migrant or stateless person in history and in contemporary society. Links case studies about refugees around the world.

Description
Explores critical global health and planetary health studies, linking past trends to current research of health inequalities. Case studies include maternal-fetal mortality, environmental contamination, disaster preparedness, pharmaceutical development and access, and humanitarian aid interventions.

Description
Develops critical insights into gender and sexuality as products of the world around us and as lived experiences across the globe. Topics include agency and resistance, intersectionality, feminisms, colonialism, heteronormativity, gender violence, masculinities, media and popular culture, globalization and migration.

Description
Introduction to conducting business in the international arena, decision making in the organization, and globalization of markets and production. Topics covered range from tax and finance to ethics, marketing, and more. Continuing corporate regulatory scandals discussed.
 
Same as SOC SCI 115D.

Description
Situates the interdisciplinary fields of Native American and Indigenous Studies within a transnational context, focusing on the global dimensions of Indigeneity informing local histories, politics, and experiences. Examines settler colonialism, sovereignty, and the enduring legacies of colonialism as global phenomena.

Description
Explores political, economic, social, and cultural ties that bind Latin America to the United States. Focuses on U.S. intervention and Latin American response from early nineteenth century to present day. Case studies include Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, Chile, and Central America.
 
Same as POL SCI 142J, HISTORY 166, CHC/LAT 150.

Description
Explores the causes, development, and legacy of the 1959 Revolution. Themes include economic dependency, democracy, race, gender, culture, and the always volatile relations between Cuba and the United States.
 
Same as POL SCI 153G, HISTORY 166C, CHC/LAT 157.

Description
Course description - TBA

Description
Course description - TBA

Description
The Middle East is reportedly warming at twice the global average. As the frequency of extreme weather conditions (e.g., intensified heatwaves, droughts, and floods) in the region goes up, so does a threat to its already fragile water, food, and energy supplies. Climate variability is generally not a direct cause of intra- and inter-state conflicts, but it often exacerbates the pre-existing sources of social, economic, and political instability, thus increasing the chances of tensions within and between countries.
 
Same as SOC SCI 189.

Description
A faculty-student forum featuring lectures from a variety of institutions with discussion issues related to Global and International Studies.
 
Same as SOCECOL 183A, SOC SCI 183A.

Description
Designed for seniors who are pursuing the minor in Conflict Resolution and/or International Studies major. Provides a forum in which students will refine skills and theory in the study of cooperation and conflict, from local to global arenas.
 
Same as SOC SCI 183CW.

Description
Engages with the theory and substance of global international borders, a relatively new, hotly contentious, and still unfolding global ordering system. Studies examples from the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Antarctica.

Description
Course Description - TBA

Description
Course Description - TBA

Description
This course aims to introduce students to the relationship between transnational organized crime and international security. The emphasis will be on the role of international organizations and national institutions in charge of security including the judiciary, military, and police in combating organized crime.

Description
Course Description - TBA