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Undergraduate

Bachelor's Degree Programs
Global and International Studies

Major in Global and International Studies

The world is becoming an ever smaller place in which to live, and the interdependence of our political, cultural and economic systems is growing by the day. Locally, the state of Indiana participates actively in the global economy. In 2008, Indiana was the 15th largest exporting state with exports that year of $26.5 billion dollars. To help students understand the international system, and to prepare them for a career in an increasingly globalized world, the School of Liberal Arts offers an interdisciplinary major and minor in International Studies. Students will learn another language, specialize in a given region of the world, study abroad for the major, focus on cultural, historical, political, and economic aspects of the international system, and develop a broad awareness of the major global forces at work in the 21st century world. They will be better equipped to understand and pursue a career or graduate study in an interdependent world.

Perhaps the most innovative feature of the major is the way that students can tailor their combination of area and thematic concentrations to meet their individual academic interests and career goals. A student interested in pursuing a career in development as part of the burgeoning nongovernmental sector could combine a thematic concentration on development or global civil society with an area concentration on Africa or Latin America and the Caribbean and study French or Spanish as their foreign language. Another student interested in working for a transnational corporation could combine a thematic concentration on international business and economics with an area concentration on Europe and study German as their foreign language. A student interested in a career in the Foreign Service could combine a thematic concentration on international relations with an area concentration on the Middle East and study Arabic as their foreign language. In short, students can tailor their area and thematic course work in a variety of ways to meet their individual interests and goals.

Students completing the Global and International Studies B.A. program will achieve the following:

  • Develop intermediate- to advanced-level competency in foreign language (other than English)
  • Experience global learning through participation in study abroad program
  • Learn the history, culture and political systems of one global region outside of North America
  • Identify and understand connections between local and global connections, challenges and trends
  • Understand the complexity of socio-cultural diversity around the world and in local communities
  • Recognize how scholars in the social sciences and humanities investigate topics in global studies from distinct disciplinary perspectives
  • Demonstrate inter-disciplinary knowledge of global issues, policies, and trends
  • Develop and apply research methods utilizing multi-disciplinary sources to the critical analysis of a major topic in global studies
  • Present investigative research findings through both oral communication and academic writing

The Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Global and International Studies (INTL) requires satisfactory completion of the following:

  • A minimum of 120 credit hours is required for a (B.A/B.S.) degree from the IU School of Liberal Arts.
  • A minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 (C) is required for graduation.
  • A minimum of 30 credit hours must be completed after formal admission to IU Indianapolis.
  • A minimum of 21 credit hours of major coursework must be completed in residence in the IU School of Liberal Arts at IU Indianapolis. Course work completed on an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program counts as residential credit.
  • A minimum grade of C (2.0) is required in each major course.
  • Once a course has been applied toward one requirement, it cannot be used to satisfy a second requirement, except where explicitly stated otherwise. In addition, except in cases of variable title courses, internships, and other special courses, no course will be counted more than once toward graduation.
  • Major courses must be taken from at least four different departments or schools.
  • No more than 6 credit hours of INTL-I 415: Individual Readings in International Studies (independent study credit) may be taken.

IU Indianapolis General Education Core

A list of accepted courses in the IU Indianapolis General Education Core can be found here.

Core Communication (6 credits)

  • ENG-W 131: Reading, Writing, and Inquiry I (3 credits) or ENG-W 140: Reading, Writing, and Inquiry: Honors (3 credits) completed with a grade of C (2.0) or higher

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) sections of ENG-G 131 have been designated for students whose first language is not English.

  • COMM-R 110: Fundamentals of Speech Communication (3 credits)

Analytical Reasoning (6 credits)

  • College math from List A (3 credits)
  • List A or List B (3 credits)

Cultural Understanding (3 credits)

  • A world language course is recommended

Life and Physical Sciences (6 credits)

  • A laboratory science component is required

Arts/Humanities and Social Sciences (9 credits)

  • Arts & Humanities (3 credits)
  • Social Science (3 credits)
  • Additional Arts & Humanities or Social Science (3 credits)

Transfer students entering IU Indianapolis from another public university in Indiana who have completed the transferable general education core at their home campus will not need to complete the IU Indianapolis General Education Core.

Liberal Arts Baccalaureate Competencies

First-Year Experience (1-3 credits)

  • SLA-S 100: First Year Success Seminar
  • Other: First Year Seminar from another school at IU Indianapolis

Transfer students with 18 or more credit hours are not required to take this course.

Writing Proficiency (3 credits), completed with a grade of C (2.0) or higher, chosen from the following:

  • ENG-W 230: Writing in the Sciences
  • ENG-W 231: Professional Writing Skills
  • ENG-W 270: Argumentative Writing

Transfer students may satisfy the writing proficiency by completing course work equivalent to ENG-W 231, ENG-W 230, ENG-W 270, or GEWR-UN 200 with a grade of C (2.0) or higher at another campus or institution.

Transfer students with 80 or more transfer credits may petition for exemption from the Writing Proficiency requirement.  Petition available in the Miriam Z. Langsam Office of Student Affairs, Cavanaugh Hall room 401.

Analytical Proficiency (3 credits), chosen from the following: 

  • ECON-E 270: Introduction to Statistical Theory in Economics and Business
  • PHIL-P 262: Practical Logic
  • PHIL-P 208: Causality and Evidence
  • PHIL-P 265: Introduction to Symbolic Logic
  • POLS-Y 205: Analyzing Politics  
  • SOC-R 359: Introduction to Sociological Stats

Analytical Proficiency is in addition to the Analytical Reasoning area in the IU Indianapolis General Education Core. Analytical Proficiency courses may be shared with major requirements if applicable.

Life and Physical Sciences Laboratory

One laboratory science course is required, but may be part of the coursework taken in the IU Indianapolis General Education Core.

Arts and Humanities (3 credits) Courses in one’s first major field of study cannot be used to fulfill this requirement

100 or 200 level course chosen from the following disciplines

  • Africana Studies (AFRO)
  • American Studies (AMST)
  • American Sign Language (ASL) excluding World Languages courses
  • Classics (CLAS) excluding World Languages courses
  • Communication Studies (COMM-R, excluding COMM-R 110, and COMM-T only)
  • East Asian Languages and Cultures (EALC) excluding World Language courses
  • English-Creative Writing or Writing and Literacy (ENG-W), excluding courses in the Writing Proficiency area.
  • English Literature (ENG-L)
  • Film Studies (FILM)
  • Folklore (FOLK) excluding FOLK-F 101
  • German (GER) excluding World Language courses
  • History (HIST) excluding HIST-H 105, HIST-H 106, HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, HIST-H 114
  • Latino Studies (LATS)
  • Medical Humanities and Health Studies (MHHS)
  • Museum Studies (MSTD)
  • Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS)
  • Philosophy (PHIL)
  • Religious Studies (REL)
  • Spanish (SPAN) excluding World Language courses
  • Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) excluding WGSS-W 105
  • World Languages and Cultures (WLAC)

Social Sciences (3 credits) - Courses in one’s first major field of study cannot be used to fulfill this requirement

100 or 200 level course chosen from the following disciplines

  • Africana Studies (AFRO)
  • Anthropology (ANTH)
  • Communication Studies (COMM-C and COMM-M only)
  • Economics (ECON)
  • English-Linguistics (ENG-Z)
  • Folklore (FOLK)
  • Geography (GEOG)
  • History (HIST) only HIST-H 105, HIST-H 106, HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, HIST-H 114
  • Journalism and Public Relations (JOUR)
  • Latino Studies (LATS)
  • Medical Humanities and Health Studies (MHHS) excluding MHHS-M 201
  • Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS)
  • Political Science (POLS)
  • Psychology (PSY)
  • Sociology (SOC)
  • Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS)

World Language and Perspectives (0-14 credits) This requirement may be satisfied in one of the following ways:

  1. Completion of second-year proficiency in a single world language.
    1. Second-year proficiency is demonstrated by:
      1. passing the full second-year sequence of courses in a single language or
      2. completing a third or fourth-year course1
  2. Completion of third-semester proficiency in a single world language and one course in History selected from HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, or HIST-H 114.
  3. Completion of first-year proficiency in a single world language; one history course selected from HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, or HIST-H 114; and one course selected from the Global History and Perspectives list:
    1. ANTH-A 104: Intro to Cultural Anthropology
    2. CLAS-C 213: Sport and Competition in the Ancient World
    3. EALC-E 232: China Past and Present: Culture in Continuing Evolution
    4. ENG-L 245: (The Empire Writes Back) Intro to Caribbean Literature
    5. GEOG-G 130: World Geography
    6. HIST-H 108: Perspectives on the World to 1800
    7. HIST-H 109: Perspectives on the World since 1800
    8. HIST-H 113: History of Western Civilization I 
    9. HIST-H 114: History of Western Civilization II
    10. LATS-L 228: An Interdisciplinary Look at U.S. Latino/a Identities
    11. POLS-Y 217: Introduction to Comparative Politics 
    12. POLS-Y 219: Introduction to International Relations
    13. REL-R 212: Comparative Religions
  4. Non-English native speaker with approved waiver.

Courses in World Language and Perspectives may also satisfy General Education Core Cultural Understanding. 

        1 Students interested in receiving credit for lower-division language courses, see the section ‘‘Special Credit for Foreign Language Study.’’

Advanced Courses

Students are required to have 42 credit hours in 300-400 level coursework including courses in their major. Of the 42 advanced credits, 9 credit hours must be 300-400 level coursework outside the first Liberal Arts major field of study and from the School of Liberal Arts. Students seeking dual degrees are exempt from completing 9 credits hours in 300-400 level coursework outside their major and from the School of Liberal Arts.

Major Requirements (33 credits)

  • INTL-I 100: Introduction to International Studies, interdisciplinary required introductory course (3 credits)

"Windows on the World” requirement (3 credits)

Choose from one of the following five courses:

  • ANTH-A 104: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (or A 304)
  • GEOG-G 130: Introduction to World Geography
  • HIST-H 109: Perspectives on the World Since 1800
  • POLS-Y 219: Introduction to International Relations
  • REL-R 133: Introduction to Religion

Foreign language requirement

Complete one approved 300-level course in World Language and Culture (WLAC) with at least one class taken at IU Indianapolis. Note: American Sign Language and Latin are not approved languages for this requirement.

Area concentration requirement (9 credits) in one of the following geographical regions:

  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Latin America and the Caribbean
  • The Middle East

The area concentration must include courses from at least two different departments or schools and at least two courses at the 300 or higher level. See separate list for class choices.

Thematic concentration requirement (9 credits), chosen from one of the following:

  • Comparative Systems
  • Development
  • Global Civil Society
  • Global and Cross-Cultural Interactions
  • Global Environment
  • International Business and Economics
  • International Relations

The thematic concentration must include courses from at least two different departments or schools and at least two courses at the 300 or higher level. See separate list for class choices.

International Experience requirement (3 credits):

  • 3 credits of academic work earned abroad or relating to an international experience or research project conducted outside of the United States of America

Capstone:

  • INTL-I 400: International Studies Capstone Seminar (3 credits) fulfills

A list of area and thematic concentration courses may be found online here. 

Open electives
Candidates for a degree in the IU School of Liberal Arts must complete the IU Indianapolis General Education Core requirements, the baccalaureate competencies, and the requirements of their major department. Usually, students will still need to complete additional hours in order to reach the graduation requirement of 120 credit hours. These remaining credit hours are known as open electives.

Dual Degree Advantage

The Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies are waived for IU Indianapolis undergraduate students whose first major is outside the School of Liberal Arts and whose second major is a Bachelor of Arts degree from the IU School of Liberal Arts at IU Indianapolis. Students are only required to complete the courses in their major of choice in Liberal Arts. The IU Indianapolis General Education Core or the Indiana transferable general education core must be successfully completed. Students must complete the degree outside Liberal Arts in order to have the Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies waived for degree completion. The Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies are only waived for students who actively pursue and complete another degree program outside of Liberal Arts. Both degrees must be completed at the same time.