Global Studies FAQs

Typically, although other faculty sharing common interests may agree to act as your advisor. Please consult them first.

There are as many paths to completing a Global Studies degree as there are individual students, so we encourage you to work closely with your major and four-year advisors to make sure that you pass all the milestones, both required and elective, prior to graduation.

To earn a Global Studies major, you must take 36 units of coursework; at least 24 units must be at the 300 level or above (6 units must be at the 400 level), 9 units must be focused on a world area, and coursework should come from at least three different academic disciplines (see world area and discipline requirements below).

You must also fulfill the language requirement.

All courses counting for your Global Studies major must be taken for a letter grade, and you must earn a C+ or higher for the courses to count for the major. This includes your language courses.

For students matriculating at Washington University beginning in Fall 2023, Global Futures (L97 GS 3020) is a required course. For those of you who have already declared your Global Studies major, the course is strongly encouraged but not required.

In addition, each of the six concentrations has specific requirements.

No, all courses counting for the Global Studies major must be taken for a letter grade, including courses for the language requirement.

You must earn a C+ or higher in all courses counting for your Global Studies major, including courses for the language requirement.

No, we only offer a major in Global Studies.

However, there are two affiliated minors - Applied Linguistics and Russian. While they aren't part of the Global Studies program, these minors do share faculty and staff with the Global Studies major.

No. It is an Arts & Sciences policy that students do not receive credit for online courses offered by the School of Continuing & Professional Studies.

Yes, for students matriculating at Washington University beginning in Fall 2023, Global Futures (L97 GS 3020) is a required course for all concentrations. For those of you who have already declared the major, the course is strongly encouraged but not required.
For declared majors in the Development and International Affairs concentrations, Global Futures counts as one of your core courses. For those in the other concentrations, the course counts as an elective for you.

For those of you pursuing the Global Asias concentration, L97 GS 4976 Global Asias is a required course.

No, it's not required but it is recommended.

On the WU course listings webpages, if you click "details" under a course title, below the course description you'll see a few indications including "course type." Home means it belongs to the department or program under which the course is listed. Ident means it belongs to a different department or program; click on "same as" to see where the course is home-based. Remember, just because a course has an L97 Global Studies number does not mean it counts for all concentrations (see next FAQ).

No. Be sure to check the corresponding concentration list for courses which count for your concentration.

There may be courses that are very appropriate to the Global Studies major and your concentration which were overlooked in the cross-listing process. It is very important that you consult your major advisor before enrolling in such courses, since you must have approval to count the course toward your major and concentration. If you believe a course is relevant to your Global Studies concentration, but the course doesn't appear on the course list for the concentration, then you may petition to add the course (see next FAQ).

Petitions are only for 300 and 400 level ELECTIVE courses.

You must be a declared Global Studies major before you may submit a petition.

You should consult with your Global Studies major advisor prior to petitioning for the course, then follow the instructions on this FORM.

Petitions are only for 300 and 400 level ELECTIVE courses.

You must be a declared Global Studies major before you may submit a petition.

No. You must have at least 24 units of advanced coursework (for DEV, GA, GCS, and IA) or 30 units of advanced coursework (for Eurasian Studies and European Studies) distinct to your Global Studies major.

Lower level courses (those at the 100 and 200 level) may double count toward your Global Studies major and another major or minor. Examples include Intro to Cultural Anthro, Intro to Microeconomics, Korean Civ, Present Moral Problems, and Intro to WGSS.

Language courses taken to fulfill your Global Studies language requirement may count toward another major or minor since these courses are not counting toward your 36 units of coursework for your major.

No.

Yes, but only if they are not counting toward any of your required four semesters of language coursework. Please be aware that most literature and culture courses do not count for the DEV and IA concentrations - be sure to check your concentration list!

No more than 12 total units earned outside of the day school of Washington University may ever be applied to your Global Studies degree. This includes credits from study abroad (never more than 6 units from a single semester, 3 from a summer, or 12 from a year), University College, or summer school from other US universities, or a combination (400-level units must be earned on campus or in Washington University courses taught abroad).
Exceptions may be made for those of you who transfer to Washington University from another university.

Yes, a course taken through Washington University’s Summer School may count, and may be at any level. As with regular semester Washington University day courses, these courses must be taken for a letter grade. No additional paperwork is necessary to count these courses toward your Global Studies major.
A summer school course taken at another US university may count (maximum 3 units), but you must petition to have it count toward your Global Studies major. As with any other course taken for the Global Studies major, it must be taken for a letter grade. To receive credit for a summer course completed at another institution, you should fill out the Approval for Non-Wash U Course Credit form with Arts & Sciences to take the course for 'general credit' and then petition to have the course count as an elective toward your Global Studies major.

Yes, but a CAPS (School of Continuing &Professional Studies, formerly known as University College) course (not a Washington University summer school course) is considered to be “outside the day school” and therefore needs your advisor’s approval to count toward your Global Studies major.

Please note the following policy: Students in the College of Arts & Sciences do not receive credit for online courses offered by the School of Continuing & Professional Studies.

GCP core courses may count toward your Global Studies major, for a maximum of 6 units at the lower level. Specifically:
L61 116 Geographies of Globalization and Development is an introductory course for the Development, Global Cultural Studies, and International Affairs concentrations.
L61 117 Global Population on the Move is an introductory course for the Development, Global Cultural Studies, and International Affairs concentrations.
L61 1133 Legacies of the Silk Road is an introductory course for the Development, Eurasian Studies, Global Cultural Studies, and International Affairs concentrations.

Global Studies majors must both complete 4 semesters of coursework in a modern language for a letter grade and place into the third year of that language.

No.

No. Like all majors, Global Studies requires our students take all classes required for the major for a letter grade, including language courses.

Current available modern languages include Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swahili. 

Faculty offer the initial level of certain languages both in a traditional single semester ("Introductory") and in a two-semester sequence ("Basic"). Global Studies majors who chose to begin one of these languages with the "Basic" sequence must still achieve placement into third year, and so will take five semesters of the language rather than four.

You are encouraged to study more than one language at Washington University, but you must satisfy your Global Studies language requirement by completing 4 semesters in a modern language for a letter grade and placing into the third year of that language. You should consult the course listings for details about the language sequences (on the "A&S IQ" tab, click on "Courses," and then toggle "Area Requirement" to "LS Language & Cultural Diversity-Language" and click "Search" to see a list of available language courses.).

Maybe, but we cannot promise the University will provide the necessary number of semesters (or summer equivalents) you will need. You may have to take courses at another accredited institution, and you would need to plan this carefully with your major adviser.

 

You may receive credit for the courses as part of the four-semester Global Studies language requirement only if a placement exam is taken upon arrival at Washington University in the given language, AND that department/program determines that you may progress to the next highest level of language instruction.

You may receive credit for the course as part of the four-semester Global Studies language requirement only if (1) the credit is transferred back as Washington University credit; and (2) you take a placement exam in the given language upon your return to Washington University; and (3) that department/program determines that you may progress to the next highest level of language instruction.

Yes. However, if you study on a non-Washington University study abroad program, you will have to either a) continue with the language at Washington University when you return; OR b) take a placement exam to show proficiency in the third year of that language.

Of the 36 units required for the Global Studies major, at least 9 units must come from courses specifically focused on a world area. Generally speaking, the following are considered world areas: Africa, East Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and South Asia. Some concentrations also consider Eurasia and North America as world areas.

For the DEV, GCS and IA concentrations, you must take two courses focused on one world area, and one course focused on another world area. This provides you with depth and breadth across the globe.

For the Eurasian Studies, European Studies and Global Asias concentrations, the world area requirement is a bit different. For specifics, please click on each concentration.

No, world area focused courses may be at any level - 100, 200, 300 or 400.

No, the world area requirement must be fulfilled by the classes counting for your 36 units of Global Studies coursework.

Courses with a clear focus on a specific country or world area such as Global Italy, Chinese Civilization, or Latin America Politics are considered to be world area focused (Europe, East Asia and Latin America, respectively). Courses such as International Economics or Global Gender Issues have no obvious world area focus so they don't count toward the requirement. When in doubt, please consult with your major advisor.

Of the 36 units required for the Global Studies major, at least 9 units of your upper level coursework must come from, or be home-based, in a minimum of three different academic disciplines.

Examples of academic disciplines in Arts & Sciences, some of which are Humanities and others Social Sciences, are Anthropology, Art History, Economics, History, Political Science and Sociology. On the concentration lists, these will be designated by the dark bullet points. Other disciplines that offer courses which count for the Global Studies concentrations include African and African American Studies, Comparative Literature, Environmental Studies, Film and Media Studies, Psychology, Religious Studies, and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.

For Global Studies majors pursuing the Development and International Affairs concentrations, one of the twelve required courses is a research methods course. This may be at any level (100-400). The concentration list includes a list of courses to choose from.

The research methods requirement is intended to introduce Global Studies majors to some of the systematic logic and tools that researchers use in the creation of knowledge, a key objective of academia. We hope our majors engage in research while pursuing their Global Studies coursework.

While study abroad is not a requirement for the Global Studies major, we strongly encourage it. If you're unable or unwilling to study abroad for a semester, summer, or year for Global Studies credit, you must take an additional 3 credit course at the 300 or 400 level to complete your Global Studies major.

Yes, so long as the courses are relevant to your Global Studies concentration. Courses taken abroad may, where appropriate, fulfill world area and disciplinary requirements as well as advanced elective units. You may count up to 6 units toward your major requirements from a semester abroad, up to 3 units from a summer abroad, and up to 12 units from a year abroad. Please consult the Study Abroad Advisor for Global Studies, Dr. Nicole Svobodny as early as possible about study abroad plans.

Yes. However, if you study on a non-Washington University study abroad program, you will have to either a) continue with the language at Washington University when you return; OR b) take a placement exam to show proficiency in the third year of that language.

Those of you pursuing the Eurasian Studies, European Studies, and Global Asias concentrations must study abroad in a country relevant to your concentration area. Otherwise, you won't meet the study abroad requirement and will need to complete an additional 300 or 400 level course on campus.

For all other concentrations, please consult the Study Abroad Advisor for Global Studies, Dr. Nicole Svobodny.

No. The exception to this is if you're studying abroad on a Washington University approved language program; this can, in some cases, fulfill credits toward your language requirement and represent your study abroad experience. Please consult the Study Abroad Advisor for Global Studies, Dr. Nicole Svobodny, about the language exception.

Yes, and it must be at the 300 or 400 level. It may be a Research Methods course, a core course, or an elective course.

No. January Term programs are too short to count for Global Studies credit.

Yes. Please consult Grants and Scholarships on the Overseas Programs page for study abroad programs and postgraduate research opportunities. For a longer list of potential funding sources, see the Global.wustl website.

Yes! Please visit the Undergraduate Research pages of our website.

While Global Studies encourages undergraduate research, we don't currently offer funding for individual research. Please check with the Office of Undergraduate Research in the College of Arts & Sciences for opportunities, as well as the Global.wustl website for a list of potential funding sources.

Yes, you may pursue individual interests outside the classroom format by enrolling under the direction of one or more faculty members in either L97 GS 300 OR L97 GS 400 (Independent Study) OR L97 GS 4007 (Research Methods Proseminar). With your major advisor's approval, you may apply a maximum of three independent study or directed research credits toward the Global Studies major.

Although internships are encouraged, Global Studies does not offer academic credit for them toward the major. Instead, you should check with the College of Arts & Sciences about receiving credit toward your overall graduation credits.