Nov 03, 2024  
USC Catalogue 2020-2021 
    
USC Catalogue 2020-2021 [ARCHIVED CATALOGUE]

Global Studies (BA)


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The Department of Anthropology offers a course of study that leads to a BA degree in Global Studies. As with any degree in the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, students are required to complete all applicable general education, writing, diversity and language requirements. Specific degree requirements include 16 units of required core courses within anthropology (4 lower level, 12 upper level), 16 units of required humanities or social science electives, and 8 units of language courses (in addition to the 8 units required of all USC Dornsife students), for a total of 40 units. The Department of Anthropology offers a course of study that leads to a BA degree in Global Studies. As with any degree in the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, students are required to complete all applicable general education, writing, diversity and language requirements. Specific degree requirements include 16 units of required core courses within anthropology (4 lower level, 12 upper level), 16 units of required humanities or social science electives, and 8 units of language courses (in addition to the 8 units required of all USC Dornsife students), for a total of 40 units.

The 16 units of required courses in the humanities and/or social sciences must be taken in the Departments of Anthropology, Comparative Literature, History, International Relations, Political Science and Religion. Students must choose these units from a list of electives (see below). Some substitutions can be made with the approval of the thesis adviser. The choice of these courses allows students to tailor the degree to their individual needs, but students are expected to take their elective courses with a focus on one geographical area or set of issues. The 8 additional units of language may be taken at USC or fulfilled elsewhere in compliance with the same guidelines that apply to the USC Dornsife foreign language requirement.

In addition to specific course work, students in the global studies major should complete at least one and are recommended to complete two study abroad programs with at least one semester abroad during the ​junior year. Ideally, a student would spend one summer abroad and one semester abroad prior to the senior year.

In the senior year, global studies majors take a senior seminar in the fall semester and write a senior thesis under the supervision of a regional scholar in the spring semester. A regional scholar can be chosen from any of the six participating departments — Anthropology, Comparative Literature, History, International Relations, Political Science and Religion — and this scholar should have some expertise in the country or region where the student has spent a semester abroad. Students will receive guidance in the selection of a regional scholar to supervise their senior thesis.

International Careers

Global studies is an ideal course of study for students wishing to work for international organizations, either governmental organizations or non-governmental ones (NGOs). Along with the required core and collateral courses, the elective units allow sufficient flexibility to complete course prerequisites for regional and area studies programs, law school and business school. The global studies academic adviser can provide direction in planning course selections toward specific fields.

Required Core Course, Lower-Division (4 Units)


Required Core Courses, Upper-Division (12 Units)


Approved Elective Courses (16 Units)


Social Science Elective Courses:


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