Degree Information
Approved Thematic Concentrations
Art and culture are powerful lenses through which we understand what it means to be human. This concentration invites students to explore how creative expression — musical, cinematic, literary, visual, and beyond — functions differently across societies and cultural environments. Students examine art as a form of communication, identity, and resistance, and consider how cultural expression travels, transforms, and connects communities across time and geography, including through diasporic migration and cross-cultural exchange.
Environment and Sustainability (ENSU)
Environmental challenges do not respect borders. This concentration examines the environment as a fundamentally global issue, asking students to grapple with the causes and consequences of climate change, population growth, and resource depletion — and the deep inequities that shape how these challenges are experienced across the Global North and South. Students explore what sustainable futures might look like within the social, political, and economic systems that define 21st-century global relations.
Global Markets and Governance (GMGV)
Who governs the world — and how? This concentration examines the international institutions and intergovernmental bodies that shape global, regional, and transregional governance. Students may focus on political and diplomatic organizations such as the United Nations, the African Union, ASEAN, or the European Union, or turn their attention to institutions that regulate global trade and finance, such as the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, or the World Economic Forum. The concentration also engages with emerging trends in global integration, including the rise of digital economies and cryptocurrencies.
Conflict, Peace, and Diplomacy (CPDY)
From the roots of armed conflict to the fragile architecture of peace, this concentration offers students a broad and critical exploration of war, diplomacy, and conflict resolution. Students examine the changing nature of both violence and peacebuilding — including the role of the United Nations' peacekeeping mandate and the growing involvement of regional organizations in conflict prevention and peace maintenance. The concentration encourages students to think carefully about the many forms violence takes and the diplomatic, institutional, and grassroots efforts that work to address it.
Rituals, Identities, and Belief (RBIF)
What do religious ceremonies, trade negotiations, and daily routines have in common? This concentration takes an interdisciplinary approach to ritual and belief, encouraging students to expand their understanding of what "ritual" means and how these practices — across religious, cultural, and everyday life — shape human identity and community. By exploring belief systems and symbolic behaviors across societies, students gain new insight into how meaning is made and how cultures define themselves and each other.
Approved Area Studies Concentration
Please make sure you make an appointment with Ronda Brulotte and/or Jocelyn Ware to make sure you are taking the correct courses!
