Students pursuing a Ph.D. in certain departments may petition to add an emphasis in Global Studies. The departments for which the emphasis is available include anthropology, English, history, political science, religious studies, and sociology.  To be eligible for admission to the Ph.D. emphasis, students must be admitted to the Ph.D. program in one of the departments choosing to offer this emphasis with their existing Ph.D. program and petition successfully to add the optional emphasis.

The student’s dissertation committee must have one member from a participating department other than the student's own department. The student may also elect a global emphasis for his or her department field/area/specialization exam, if such an emphasis is offered within the department.  The Chair of the Coordinating Committee will determine when the student has successfully completed all of the requirements for the emphasis.

The student’s dissertation must focus on a global studies topic – i.e., it must in some way be concerned with transnational social processes or forces.  Petitions for adding the emphasis can be made at any time in a student’s graduate career, but typically will be made after at least one successful year of study in the home department. Work completed prior to admission in the emphasis that meets emphasis requirements (as determined by the Coordinating Committee) can be counted towards completion.

To satisfy the PhD emphasis in global studies, students are required to take four one-quarter graduate level courses. One course is an introductory gateway seminar offered by the Global and International Studies Program.  Three additional courses must be chosen from among qualifying global theory and global issues courses offered by participating departments. At least one of these three courses must be on global theory, and at least one must be on global issues. Normally, at least one of these three courses will be taken from the student’s home department, and at least two must be taken from another participating department; students may petition the Coordinating Committee if they have compelling reasons to take two of the three courses in their home department.

Qualifying global theory courses include Anthropology 227; English 236; History 200W; Political Science 270; Religious Studies 224 and 241; and Sociology 265C and 265SG. Qualifying global issues courses include Anthropology 213, 214, 216, and 225; English 234 and 235; History 232A-B; Political Science 225, 226, 275, 594PE; and Sociology 218CP, 218T, 231, 265, 265GS, and 265W.  (In a few instances the content of these courses may vary with the instructor; in those cases, the Chair of the Coordinating Committee will determine whether the course is sufficiently transnational in orientation to qualify for the Ph.D. emphasis.)

For additional information, please contact the graduate advisor in one of the participating departments or Global Studies.