Learning Outcomes

1. Describe the global processes that have shaped historical and contemporary societies around the world. This includes describing the reasons that thinking globally matters to the past, present, and future.
2. Engage in interdisciplinary scholarship by drawing upon two or more disciplinary traditions (i.e., Anthropology, English, Geography, History, Languages/Literature, Political Science, and Religious Studies etc.).
3. Evaluate the interactions between global and local processes in a selected world region.
4. Synthesize key global issues, knowledge, skills, and experiences in one of four Professional Pathways: Global Development and Sustainability; Global Health; Global Peace, Conflict, and Human Rights; and Global Cultural Studies.

Admissions

Entrance Requirements

New freshmen who meet University admissions standards are eligible for admission to degree programs offered by the college. A student who wishes to enter the College of Arts and Sciences from another college on the Columbia campus must be in good standing and have a cumulative GPA of 2.00 or higher. A student who wishes to enter the College of Arts and Sciences from another USC campus must fulfill one of the following requirements:

1. Be in good standing, meet the admission requirements for a baccalaureate degree on the Columbia campus, and have a cumulative GPA of 2.00 or higher.
2. Be in good standing and have completed 30 semester hours with a GPA of 2.00 or higher on a USC campus.

Some programs in the College of Arts and Sciences have special admission requirements established by the department or committee that supervises the specific degree program, for example, Cardiovascular Technology, Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Economics, Environmental Science, the Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies, and the Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies. These requirements are listed in the sections of this bulletin that describe department and special degree programs.

Degree Requirements (120 hours)

Program of Study

Program Summary

Requirements	Credit Hours
1. Carolina Core	32-44
2. College Requirements	15-18
3. Program Requirements	34-49
4. Major Requirements	24

Founding Documents Requirement

All undergraduate students must take a 3-credit course or its equivalent with a passing grade in the subject areas of History, Political Science, or African American Studies that covers the founding documents including the United State Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation and one or more documents that are foundational to the African American Freedom struggle, and a minimum of five essays from the Federalist papers.  This course may count as a requirement in any part of the program of study including the Carolina Core, the major, minor or cognate, or as a general elective.  Courses that meet this requirement are listed here.

1. Carolina Core Requirements (32-44 hours)

CMW – Effective, Engaged, and Persuasive Communication: Written (6 hours)

must be passed with a grade of C or higher​

• any CC-CMW courses

ARP – Analytical Reasoning and Problem Solving (6-8 hours) 

• any CC-ARP courses

SCI – Scientific Literacy (8 hours)

• Two 4-credit hour CC-SCI courses 

GFL – Global Citizenship and Multicultural Understanding: Foreign Language  (0-6 hours)

• Demonstration of proficiency in one foreign language equivalent to the minimal passing grade on the exit examination in the 122 course is required. Students can demonstrate this proficiency by successfully completing Phase II of the Proficiency Test or by successfully completing the 122 course, including the exit exam administered as part of that course.

CC-GFL courses

• ​It is strongly recommended that students continuing the study of a foreign language begin college-level study of that language in their first semester and continue in that language until their particular foreign language requirement is completed.

GHS – ​Global Citizenship and Multicultural Understanding: Historical Thinking (3 hours) 

• any CC-GHS course

GSS – Global Citizenship and Multicultural Understanding: Social Sciences (3 hours) 

Select one course from the following:

• ANTH 102*
• GEOG 121*
• GEOG 210*
• LING 101*
• POLI 101*
• RELG 101*

AIU – Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding (3 hours)

• any CC-AIU course

CMS – Effective, Engaged, and Persuasive Communication: Spoken Component¹ (0-3 hours)

• any overlay or stand-alone CC-CMS course

INF – Information Literacy¹ (0-3 hours)

• any overlay or stand-alone CC-INF course

VSR – Values, Ethics, and Social Responsibility¹ (0-3 hours)

• any overlay or stand-alone CC-VSR course

¹

Carolina Core Stand Alone or Overlay Eligible Requirements — Overlay-approved courses offer students the option of meeting two Carolina Core components in a single course. A maximum of two overlays is allowed. The total Carolina Core credit hours must add up to a minimum of 31 hours. Some programs may have a higher number of minimum Carolina Core hours due to specified requirements.

2. College Requirements (15-18 hours)

Foreign Language (0-3 hours) 

• only if needed to meet 122-level proficiency

History (3 hours) 

The College of Arts and Sciences requires one additional GHS course beyond the Carolina Core GHS requirement. 

• If the Carolina Core GHS requirement is fulfilled by a U.S. history course, the College of Arts and Sciences history requirement must be fulfilled by a non-U.S. history course.
• If the Carolina Core GHS requirement is fulfilled by a non-U.S. history course, the College of Arts and Sciences history requirement must be fulfilled by a U.S. history course. 

Please select the College of Arts and Sciences history requirement from the approved list of U.S. and non-U.S. history courses.

Social Science and Fine Arts or Humanities (12 hours)

• Social Science (3 hours)
  • Select one of the following Social Science courses:
    • ANTH 102*
    • GEOG 121*
    • GEOG 210*
    • LING 101*
    • POLI 101*
    • RELG 101*
• Fine Arts/Humanities (9 Hours)
  • A Bachelor of Arts from the College of Arts and Sciences requires three 3-hour Fine Arts/Humanities Courses

NOTE: Students may not use courses in foreign language toward the Fine Arts or Humanities requirement, as those courses will count toward the Supporting Courses Foreign Language requirement.

3. Program Requirements (34-49 hours)

Supporting Courses (0-15 hours)

Foreign Language (0-15 hours)

The Global Studies program requires students to complete foreign language(s) beyond the 122-level required by the College of Arts and Sciences.  Students may meet this requirement in two ways:

• One language completed through 6 hours at the 300 level, or
• Two languages distributed as follows:
  • Carolina Core GFL language continued through 6 hours at the 200 level, and a
  • Second language completed through the 122 level, which may require from 6 to 9 hours, depending on whether the language begins with 109 or 121.

Note: The number of hours that students must take to fulfill this requirement will depend upon their proficiency in the language, e.g. students who test into 300-level of a language would not need to take the 200-level prerequisites and would only need 6 hours to meet this requirement.  Additionally, should students choose to add a foreign language minor or foreign language as a second major and successfully complete course requirements, then this will satisfy the foreign language requirement for the Global Studies major.  This requirement may be satisfied through foreign language placement tests.

Minor (18 hours) Optional

The minor is intended to develop a coherent basic preparation in a second area of study. It differs from the cognate inasmuch as the courses must follow a structured sequence.

Courses applied toward general education requirements cannot be counted toward the minor. No course may satisfy both major and minor requirements. All minor courses must be passed with a grade of C or higher. At least half of the courses in the minor must be completed in residence at the University.

A list of minor programs of study can be found at Programs A-Z.

Electives (1-49 hours)

120 (or 128) degree applicable credits are required to complete any degree at USC. After the cognate, minor or second major is complete, any additional credits needed to reach 120 (or 128) total credits can be fulfilled by electives. No courses of a remedial, developmental, skill-acquiring, or vocational nature may apply as credit toward degrees in the College of Arts and Sciences. The College of Arts and Sciences allows the use of the Pass-Fail option on elective courses. Further clarification on inapplicable courses can be obtained from the College of Arts and Sciences.

4. Major Requirements (24 hours)

Selection of major courses must include at least one Carolina Core Integrative course:

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
AFAM 366	Medicine, Disease, and Slavery	3
ANTH 355	Language, Culture, and Society	3
ANTH 366	Medicine, Disease, and Slavery	3
ANTH 371	Ethnography of Communication	3
ANTH 381	Gender and Globalization	3
ENGL 382	The Enlightenment	3
ENGL 434	Environmental Literature	3
ENGL 437	Women Writers	3
ENGL 438D	African Literature	3
HIST 305	Greece and Rome in Film and Popular Culture	3
LASP 301	Interdisciplinary Study of Latin America	3
POLI 315	International Relations	3
POLI 316	Comparative Politics	3
RUSS 319	Nineteenth-Century Russian Literature in Translation	3
RUSS 320	Twentieth-Century Russian Literature in Translation	3
WGST 381	Gender and Globalization	3

Note: These courses require additional prerequisites not included in the program.

The Global Studies major consists of three separate components:

1. Professional Pathway (9 hours)
2. World Region (9 hours)
3. Global Thinking (6 hours)

Of the 24 hours in the major, at least 18 hours must be completed at the 300 level or above.

Professional Pathway (9 hours)

Students must complete one Professional Pathway from the following lists. The 9 hours must come from courses listed within a single pathway.

1. Global Development and Sustainability
2. Global Health
3. Global Peace, Conflict, and Human Rights
4. Global Culture

Special topics courses with appropriate content may be applied to the Professional Pathways with approval of the advisor.

Professional Pathway (9 hours)

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
Select three courses selected from one of the following theme groups:		9
Global Development and Sustainability:
AFAM 348	Environmental Racism and Justice
ANTH 208	Anthropology of Globalization and Development
ANTH 280	Humans Going Nuclear: Atomic Bombs, Cold War, and the Fallout
ANTH 328	Ancient Civilizations
ECON 224	Introduction to Economics
ENGL 434	Environmental Literature
ENVR 295	Green Technology in Germany
ENVR 322	Environmental Ethics
ENVR 331	Integrating Sustainability
ENVR 348	Environmental Racism and Justice
ENVR 352	Energy, Society and Sustainability
GEOG 311	Landscape and Cultural Geography
GEOG 321	Sustainable Cities
GEOG 330	The Geography of Disasters
GEOG 343	Environment and Society
GEOG 346	Climate and Society
GERM 295	Green Technology in Germany
GERM 230	The Idea of Nature in Germany
HIST 360	Into the Wild: Global Conservation since 1800
HIST 369	History of Capitalism 1: Ancient and Medieval World
HIST 370	History of Capitalism 2: From the Industrial Revolution to the Global Economy
HIST 377	Business in Historical Perspective
HIST 378	Urban Experience in Modern Europe
HIST 394	History of the Automobile
HIST 398	Sustainability in World History from Early Times to the Anthropocene
PHIL 322	Environmental Ethics
PHIL 323	Ethics of Science and Technology
PHIL 324	Business Ethics
POLI 380	Comparative Politics of Developing Countries
POLI 381	Comparative Politics of Industrialized Countries
POLI 433	Economic Aspects of International Politics
POLI 477	Green Politics
POLI 478	Environmental Policy
Global Health:
ANTH 292	Disease, Health, and Social Inequities
ANTH 360	Anthropology of Sex
ANTH 366	Medicine, Disease, and Slavery
ANTH 388	Cultures, Pregnancy, and Birth
ANTH 392	Global Women's Health
ARTH 333	Art, Anatomy, and Medicine, 1700-Present
CLAS 230	Medical and Scientific Terminology
CLAS 361	Between Magic and Method: Ancient Medicine
ENGL 341	Literature and Medicine
ENVR 321	Environmental Pollution and Health
HIST 382	History of Medicine: Antiquity to the Scientific Revolution
HIST 395	Plagues and Societies in World History
PHIL 313	Between Magic and Method: Ancient Medicine
PHIL 321	Medical Ethics
RELG 473	Religions, Medicines, and Healing
SOCY 360	Sociology of Medicine and Health
WGST 388	Cultures, Pregnancy, and Birth
WGST 392	Global Women's Health
Global Peace, Conflict, and Human Rights:
AFAM 218	Convergence and Divergence in African American and Jewish Relations: Historical and Contemporary
AFAM 335	The American Civil Rights Movement
AFAM 350	Antiracist Education
AFAM 355	Race and Ethnic Relations
AFAM 463	Jim Crow: Histories & Revivals
AFAM 476	Black Activism
AFAM 487	Black Women Writers
ANTH 353	Anthropology of Law and Conflict
ARMY 406	American Military Experience
EDFI 350	Antiracist Education
EDFI 361	Comparative and International Education
ENGL 340	Literature and Law
ENGL 373	Literature and Film of the Holocaust
ENGL 382	The Enlightenment
ENGL 393	Postcolonialism
HIST 335	The History of Modern Russia and the Soviet Union
GEOG 380	Global Geography of Human Rights
HIST 376	War and European Society, 1914-1945
HIST 380	History of the Holocaust
HIST 396	Evolution of Warfare I
HIST 397	Evolution of Warfare II
HIST 468	American Military Experience
HIST 455	The American Civil Rights Movement
HIST 463	Jim Crow: Histories & Revivals
HIST 468	American Military Experience
ITAL 412	Post-World War II Italian Cinema
JSTU 373	Literature and Film of the Holocaust
LING 240	Language Conflict and Language Rights
PHIL 330	Social and Political Philosophy
PHIL 331	Crime and Justice
PHIL 334	Feminist Philosophy
PHIL 335	Disobedience, Dissent, and Revolution
POLI 240	Language Conflict and Language Rights
POLI 300	Social and Political Philosophy
POLI 304	Contemporary Political Theory
POLI 305	Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality
POLI 307	Feminist Theory
POLI 315	International Relations
POLI 330	International Organization
POLI 352	Gender and Politics
POLI 383	Genocide: A Comparative Perspective
POLI 416	Revolution and Political Violence
POLI 417	Theories of War in International Relations
POLI 420	International Law
POLI 476	Black Activism
RELG 336	Social Justice & Religion
RELG 410	Origins of Western Morality
SOCY 304	Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality
SOCY 355	Race and Ethnic Relations
SOWK 305	Gender, Race and Social Justice
SOWK 360	Refuge and Refugees
WGST 304	Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality
WGST 306	Gender, Race and Social Justice
WGST 307	Feminist Theory
WGST 309	LGBTQ+ Studies
WGST 334	Feminist Philosophy
WGST 352	Gender and Politics
Global Culture:
AFAM 202	Introduction to African-American Studies
AFAM 207	Introduction to African American Religions
ANTH 203	Comparing Cultures Through Film
ANTH 206	Anthropology of Magic and Religion
ANTH 214	Drinking in Culture: Anthropology of Alcohol
ANTH 271	Language and Popular Culture
ANTH 355	Language, Culture, and Society
ANTH 371	Ethnography of Communication
ARTH 335	History of 20th Century Art
ARTH 337	History of Modern Architecture
CHIN 335	Women in China
CLAS 220	Introduction to Classical Mythology
CLAS 240	Sport and Combat in the Ancient World
CLAS 305	Greece and Rome in Film and Popular Culture
CPLT 301	Great Books of the Western World I
CPLT 302	Great Books of the Western World II
CPLT 303	Great Books of the Eastern World
ENGL 384	Realism
ENGL 386	Postmodernism
ENGL 390	Great Books of the Western World I
ENGL 391	Great Books of the Western World II
ENGL 392	Great Books of the Eastern World
ENGL 437	Women Writers
ENGL 441	Global Contemporary Literature
HIST 215	History of the Devil
HIST 305	Greece and Rome in Film and Popular Culture
HIST 327	The Crusades
HIST 385	The Expansion of Christianity
LING 241	Language and Popular Culture
LING 340	Language, Culture, and Society
RELG 333	Sex, Gender, and Religion
RELG 205	Morality, Ethics, and Religion
RELG 206	History of the Devil
RELG 260	Anthropology of Magic and Religion
RELG 270	Religion and the Arts
RELG 335	Christian Ethics
RELG 377	Religion and Literature
WGST 437	Women Writers
RELG 472	Religion and Science: Human Questions
RELG 475	Visions of Apocalypse
Total Credit Hours		9

World Region (9 hours)

The Global Studies major requires students take three courses (9 hours) from one of the following area studies groups: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Russia and Eurasia. 

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
Select three courses from one of the following area studies groups:		9
Africa
AFAM 343	Religions of the African Diaspora
ENGL 438D	African Literature
HIST 350	Saving Africa: Development and Humanitarianism in Historical Perspective
HIST 351	Africa to 1800
HIST 352	Africa since 1800
HIST 365	East Africa and the Indian Ocean World
POLI 446	International Relations of Africa
POLI 487	Politics and Governments of Africa
RELG 343	Religions of the African Diaspora
GEOG 228	Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa
Asia
ANTH 242	Chinese Popular Culture
ARTH 107	History of Asian Art
ARTH 390	Topics in Art History
CHIN 335	Women in China
CHIN 340	Introduction to Premodern Chinese Literature
CHIN 341	Modern Chinese Literature
CHIN 365	Screening China
HIST 354	Modern East Asia
HIST 355	Late Imperial China
HIST 356	China Since 1949
HIST 367	1947 Partition of India and Pakistan
JAPA 240	Introduction to Japanese Culture
JAPA 350	Japanese Culture and Society through Film
JAPA 351	Japanese Culture and Society through Theatre
JAPA 353	Japanese Culture and Society through Animation
POLI 443	International Relations of East Asia and the Pacific
POLI 448	Politics and Government of China
RELG 220	Introduction to Buddhism
RELG 351	Yoga: The Art of Spiritual Transformation
WGST 335	Women in China
Europe
EURO 300	Introduction to European Studies
Select two additional courses from the following:
ARTH 327	History of 18th-Century European Art
ARTH 330	History of 19th-Century European Art
CLAS 340	Greek Art and Archaeology
ENGL 381	The Renaissance
ENGL 383	Romanticism
ENGL 413	Modern English Literature
ENGL 438B	Scottish Literature
ENGL 438C	Irish Literature
GEOG 225	Geography of Europe
GERM 270	Knights and Ladies
GERM 280	German Culture and Civilization
GERM 290	Viking Mythology
HIST 310	Age of the Reformation
HIST 312	French Revolution and Napoleon
HIST 313	The Enlightenment
HIST 318	Europe from World War II to the Present
HIST 320	The History of Great Britain I
HIST 321	The History of Great Britain II
HIST 333	France Since 1815
HIST 338	Modern Germany
HIST 379	Women in Modern Europe
PHIL 302	Greek and Roman Philosophy after Aristotle
PHIL 303	History of Medieval Philosophy
PHIL 304	Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Philosophy
PHIL 305	Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century Philosophy
POLI 481	Politics and Governments of Europe
Latin America and the Caribbean
LASP 301	Interdisciplinary Study of Latin America
Select 6 hours from the following:
ANTH 234	Caribbean Cultures
ANTH 301	Latin American Cultures
GEOG 223	Geography of Latin America
HIST 420	Colonial Latin America
HIST 421	Modern Latin America
HIST 423	History of Mexico
HIST 425	Caribbean Race and Slavery, 1500-1900
LASP 399	Independent Study
LASP 496	Senior Seminar
POLI 437	International Relations of Latin America
POLI 488	Politics and Governments of Latin America
Middle East
ANTH 237	Cultures of Islam
GEOG 226	Geography of the Middle East
HIST 347	The Middle East in Modern Times
HIST 383	Jewish History I: Late Antiquity to 1500
HIST 384	Jewish History II: 1500 to the Present
HIST 386	Islamic Institutions and Traditions
HIST 388	Kabbalah: Science, Religion and Nature in Western History
HIST 389	Science, Magic and Religion
POLI 449	International Relations of the Middle East
RELG 230	Introduction to Judaism
RELG 240	Introduction to Christianity
RELG 250	Introduction to Islam
RELG 301	Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)
RELG 302	New Testament
RELG 311	Gospel Literature and the Formation of Christianity
RELG 315	Early Christianity
RELG 321	Old Testament Prophets
RELG 358	The Qur'an and Hadith
RELG 359	Islamic Theology and Philosophical Thought
RELG 367	Sufism
RELG 381	Jewish History I: Late Antiquity to 1500
RELG 382	Jewish History II: 1500 to the Present
RELG 388	Kabbalah: Science, Religion and Nature in Western History
Russia and Eurasia
HIST 334	The History of Russia from the Earliest Times to the Mid-19th Century
HIST 335	The History of Modern Russia and the Soviet Union
HIST 337	Stalinism
POLI 440	Russian Foreign Policy
POLI 480	Politics and Government of Russia
RUSS 280	Introduction to Russian Civilization
RUSS 319	Nineteenth-Century Russian Literature in Translation
RUSS 340	Russian Shorts: Stories and Essays
RUSS 350	Russian Folklore and Fairy Tales
Total Credit Hours		9

Global Thinking (6 hours)

All Global Studies majors must take at least one of the GLST designated courses listed below or a course cross-listed with a GLST course (such as FAMS 308). For the remaining three hours, students may choose from the same list or choose three credit hours from the list of comparative courses.

Course List

Course	Title	Credits
Select one from the following:		3
FAMS 308	Global Media Industries
GLST 220	Introduction to Global Studies Through Literature
GLST 300	Introduction to International Development
GLST 308	Global Media Industries
GLST 391	Topics in Global Studies
Select one additional course from the following:		3
ANTH 381	Gender and Globalization
CPLT 270	World Literature
EDFI 361	Comparative and International Education
ENGL 270	World Literature
FAMS 308	Global Media Industries
GEOG 311	Landscape and Cultural Geography
GEOG 312	Geography and Global Geopolitics
GLST 220	Introduction to Global Studies Through Literature
GLST 300	Introduction to International Development
GLST 308	Global Media Industries
GLST 391	Topics in Global Studies
POLI 316	Comparative Politics
POLI 430	Ideology and World Politics
WGST 381	Gender and Globalization
Total Credit Hours		6

Note: Students are strongly encouraged to spend a period of time overseas, preferably in a country where they can develop their language skills. Participating in a study abroad program or an overseas work experience are two ways to gain an international experience. A period of a semester or full year is most beneficial. Approved study abroad courses may apply to some Global Studies major requirements, with permission of the advisor and the College.

Major Map

A major map is a layout of required courses in a given program of study, including critical courses and suggested course sequences to ensure a clear path to graduation.

Major maps are only a suggested or recommended sequence of courses required in a program of study. Please contact your academic advisor for assistance in the application of specific coursework to a program of study and course selection and planning for upcoming semesters.

Global Studies, B.A.