We are pleased to announce our new reconfiguration of Global Studies at Penn State.  Majors beginning in our new program will find enhanced interdisciplinarity and an increase in the depth of engagement with specific global issues facing the world today.

The new interdisciplinary major in Global and International Studies is intended to prepare students for lives and careers in a world that is increasingly interdependent. Taking “One World” as an organizing principle, the major emphasizes the importance of global perspectives, foreign language study, and education or working experience abroad to address the problems impact and effect the entire world.   The major combines the expertise of multiple disciplines to suggest a variety of methods for understanding the dynamic salient issues facing human-beings across the globe today.   The structure of the major also recognizes the fact that the majority of the world's people live in regions other than the European and North American spheres, and that a knowledge of non-Anglophone cultures is an important form of preparation for global citizenship.

The major develops transnational and trans-regional literacy, drawing on coursework both in the Humanities and the Social Sciences to focus on questions of globalization, ethical imagination, and engaging peoples and cultures in local terms. Students learn to situate global trends, both macro and micro in nature, in relation to other historical processes. All courses for the GLIS major clearly specify a global (rather than national or regional) perspective and clearly address a central topic in one of six designated options.

1. HUMAN RIGHTS
2. CULTURE AND IDENTITY
3. GLOBAL CONFLICT
4. WEALTH AND INEQUALITY
5. HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT
6. Create a personalized option [for students maintaining a 3.5 or above GPA]

In their final year, students in this major enroll in our capstone thesis writing course which serves as a place in which students synthesize their knowledge through research in and writing on the topic of their chosen option.

While broadly interdisciplinary, this major sees cultural and social science expertise as fundamental. Students interested in taking the Global and International Studies major as a concurrent or sequential major should see the "Concurrent Majors and Sequential Majors" in the GENERAL INFORMATION section of this bulletin.

A part of the Global Liberal Arts initiative designed to expand the reach of Liberal Arts, the Global Studies Furthering the global awareness through enriching classroom and world experiences, the major enhances the study of problems of worldwide importance at the University by bringing together the expertise of a multitude of Humanities and Social Science approaches to form a variegated learning experience for students.

A Global Studies major offers excellent preparation for careers in government, education, diplomatic service, international business, and not-for-profit initiatives as well as further graduate study in global relations or related disciplines. Graduates also are prepared for competitive graduate programs in fields as diverse as journalism, international law, international development, global education, administration, public policy, and the broader humanities and social sciences.