Chair's Message
Welcome to Fall 2021 and our return to campus! The coming year promises to be a very
exciting one. We welcome our second cohort of doctoral students – a terrific group
of junior scholars bringing together humanistic and social science insights. And we
also welcome six new faculty with wide-ranging expertise in issues of race and indigeneity.
These outstanding global scholars will be critical in broadening inclusive scholarship
and decolonizing knowledge production within the academy. They also underscore the
leadership role our department is taking in the field of Global Studies as we build
out our interdisciplinary curriculum that engages with the pressing issues of the
21st century. I am thrilled to be back on campus and embrace the opportunities the
year ahead presents.
Eve Darian-Smith
Department Chair
What is Global Studies?
Global Studies is a fast-growing field of inquiry dedicated to understanding pressing
global issues such as rising authoritarianism, climate change, human rights, ethnic
conflict, inequality, immigration, global health, global governance, and more. Scholars
of global studies explore and develop theoretical and empirical models with the aim
of analyzing and critiquing process of globalization in social, cultural, economic,
political, legal and historical contexts. While the nation-state undoubtedly remains
a crucial terrain of political, economic and cultural contestation, global studies
seeks to move beyond methodological nationalism, deploying a multi-scalar lens to
examine social relations across a local-global continuum. Because the "global turn"
emerged out of a transdisciplinary conversation exceeding the focus of any single
discipline or methodology, we engage a holistic approach and pluralist analytical
framework. As scholars and teachers, we interrogate taken-for-granted concepts and
relations of power while foregrounding the deep historical legacies of colonialism
and imperialism.
Goals of the Department
1) Linking teaching and scholarly work with inclusive social transformation.
2) Promoting dialogue between different geo-historical societies with diverse systems
of knowledge and understanding.
3) Building collective futures no longer imagined from one single and overarching
western perspective.
4) Training students to be social engaged, sophisticated, innovative and globally
aware citizens of the world, competitive in the job market and well prepared for graduate
and professional training.
Undergraduate Major in International Studies
International Studies majors acquire twenty-first-century analytical skills and knowledge
that enable them to understand and contribute to shaping the rapidly evolving global
community. The degree in international studies equips students for professional careers
in a variety of fields such as international affairs and public policy, international
business and finance, international organizations, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs), and academic research and teaching. The department has a track record of placing
its majors in a wide range of exciting careers and graduate programs.
In addition to their coursework, students in the Department of Global and International Studies at UCI are encouraged to engage globally in a variety of ways: involvement in student organizations, residency in the International Peace and Conflict Studies (IPACS) House, study abroad, UCDC, and internships (local and international).
Graduate Degree in Global Studies
Our new PhD program leads the emerging field of Global Studies with its cutting-edge
curriculum, faculty, and embracing of scholarship from across the social sciences
and humanities. Our transdisciplinary curriculum engages multiple theoretical perspectives
and critical methodologies. We emphasize the importance of engaging global south scholarship
and non-western epistemologies that broaden the base of knowledge production and bring
new perspectives to bear on the pressing global issues impacting us all. With close
mentorship from our outstanding faculty, graduate students are prepared to develop
sophisticated interdisciplinary research on global issues that are relevant in today's
world. Our goal is to produce excellent scholars that are professional, productive,
innovative, insightful, and ready to compete in today's job market.