Chair's Message
Welcome to Fall 2022 and our return to campus! The coming year promises to be a very
exciting one. We welcome our third cohort of doctoral students – a terrific group
of junior scholars bringing together humanistic and social science insights. We also
welcome a new set of undergraduate students who bring to our community much passion
and energy in seeking a better and more just world. Finally, we welcome four new faculty
with wide-ranging expertise in issues of race, indigeneity, settlor colonialism, migration,
refugees, border conflicts, militarism, plurinational governance, and environmental
justice. 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.