Global and International Studies (BA Program) (2024)

Paul Bowles, Professor Emeritus

Fiona MacDonald, Associate Professor and Chair
Heather Smith, Professor
Agnieszka Pawlowska-Mainville, Associate Professor
Gabrielle Daoust, Assistant Professor
Luna KC, Assistant Professor
Ami Hagiwara, Senior Instructor

Website: www.unbc.ca/international-studies

Our world is rapidly globalizing, bringing exciting opportunities and daunting challenges. Global and International Studies, hereafter referred to as Global Studies, seeks to tackle this brave new world in all its complexity. We train students to be global citizens, global thinkers, and global problem-solvers, and prepare them for global careers in academia, business, government, and the non-profit sector, among others. A unique feature of our program is that we train students in foreign languages.

Global Studies is a holistic and timely field of study whose scope is the whole Earth and whose eyes are on the future, aiding a global transformation toward healthy, just, peaceful, prosperous, and sustainable societies for all. The focus of our program is on the ‘big picture,’ international to global. Using multi-disciplinary, multi-perspective, local-to-global, and critical ways of thinking, students emerge from our program with knowledge of the macro-level structures, actors, processes, ideas, issues, and events shaping our planet and its societies.

Language Study in the Global and International Studies Department
Global and International Studies is the home of global language learning at UNBC. Join us for regularly scheduled courses in French, Japanese, and Spanish, and for beginner programming in other languages. Students may also minor in Japanese language and culture.

Introductory language courses offered by the Department of Global and International Studies are not designed for heritage speakers (speakers who have learned a given language at home or during childhood) or for students who have prior knowledge of the language in question. To ensure proper placement, such students must consult with the instructor, complete a language skill evaluation, and receive the permission of the instructor before registering for a language course.

The Global and International Studies major requires 57credit hours of Global and International Studies coursework of which 21 credit hours are at the lower level, 30 credit hours at the upper level,and 6 credit hours from the Cultures and Regions requirement at either second- or third-year levels.

The minimum requirement for completion of a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Global and International Studies is 120 credit hours.

Program Requirements

Lower-Division Requirement

100 and 200 Level

Upper Division Requirement
300 and 400 Level

At the upper-division level, students must take eight INTS upper-division courses and two non-INTS upper-division courses from the list of ancillary courses below.

INTS Upper-Division Courses (24credit hours)

Twelve credit hours in 300-level INTS courses, not including any 300-level courses used to fulfil the Cultures and Regions Requirement.

Twelve credit hours in 400-level INTS courses, of which no more than 6 credit hours may be drawn from INTS 423-(3-9).

Non-INTS Upper-Division Courses (6credit hours)

Students must take two courses (6credit hours) from the list of courses below.

Note: Some of these courses have prerequisites that are not met by INTS lower-division required courses. Students must ensure that all prerequisites are fulfilled prior to registering in any course.

Joint Major in Global and International Studies and Political Science (BA)

The minimum requirement for completion of a Bachelor of Arts with a joint major in Global and International Studies and Political Science is 120 credit hours.

Lower-Division Requirement

Nine additional credit hours of upper division Global and International Studies (INTS) courses.

Six additional credit hours of 400-level Political Science (POLS) courses.

Six additional credit hours of 300- or 400-level Global and International Studies (INTS) or Political Science (POLS) courses.

Language and Regional Studies Requirement

One of the following:

Twelve credit hours of Global and International Studies (INTS) language courses. At least 6 credit hours must be in one language.

Elective and Academic Breadth
Electives at any level in any subject sufficient to ensure completion of a minimum of 120 credit hours, including any additional credits necessary to meet the Academic Breadth requirement of the University (see Academic Regulation on Academic Breadth).

Students must complete a total of 21credit hours of Global and International Studies course work, of which 6 credithours are INTS 100-3 and INTS 210-3.

Students must complete:

Three additional credit hours of lower-level Global and International Studies coursework.

Twelve additional credit hours of upper-division Global and International Studies (INTS) courses.

A maximum of two courses (6 credit hours) used to fulfill the requirements for a major (or another minor) may also be used to fulfill the requirements for the minor in Global and International Studies.