Course Requirements

Requirements for the Major in Global Studies

(consists of five lower-division and eight upper-division courses)

Lower Division

Five courses at UC Berkeley (or their equivalents), to include:

• GLOBAL 10A: Introduction to Global Studies. This must be completed with a grade of C or better prior to declaring the major. A grade of C- does not satisfy this requirement. Note: This requirement may be repeated only once to achieve a grade of C or better.
• GLOBAL 10B: Critical Issues in Global Studies
• ECON 1 or 2: Introduction to Economics, Introduction to Environmental Economics and Policy
• GLOBAL 45 (POLECON 45): Survey of World History. This must be completed with a grade of B- or better on the first attempt prior to declaring the major.
• STAT 2, C8, 20, 21 or W21: Intro to Statistics, Foundations of Data Science, Intro to Probability and Statistics, Intro to Probability and Statistics for Business. An AP score of 3 on the Statistics exam will satisfy the STAT 2 requirement.

Upper Division

Eight courses at UC Berkeley (or their equivalents), to include:

• One Concentration Course, which provides an introduction to one of the three concentration fields and exposes students to the relevant theoretical, historical, and contemporary literature for that concentration. Choose GLOBAL 100D, 100P, or 100S.
• Two Disciplinary Courses, which speak to each other about a particular problem or approach in which you are interested. Choose courses from the same disciplinary area for your concentration, selected from the Disciplinary Course List (Appendices A1-A3 of the Major Handbook (PDF file)).
• One Critical Thinking/Methodology Course, which provides a foundation for how to engage and understand a variety of sources and issues within the field of global studies. We strongly suggest that students take GLOBAL 102 (IAS 102) early in one’s college career. Other approved courses can be found in Appendix C of the Major Handbook (PDF file).
• Four Geographic Focus Courses, which provide students with substantive knowledge of the cultural, political, economic, and historical trajectories of the regions being studied. 
  • Choose one from the following: 
    • Europe and Russia - GS 110E
    • Africa, North and Sub-Saharan - GS 110K
    • the Americas - GS 110L
    • Middle East and North Africa - GS 110M
    • Asia - GS 110Q
  • Choose three courses that focus on the same region and are able to converse with one another about a specific area of interest. Courses can be selected from Appendices B1-B3 of the Major Handbook (PDF file).

Foreign Language

Global Studies majors must demonstrate proficiency in a modern language other than English by the last semester of their senior year. This language must be connected, in either the past or the present, to the student’s geographic region of specialization. For example, students studying Chinese will have to focus on Asia.

Proficiency is equivalent to the ability achieved in four college-level semesters (or two years). Language courses taken in high school do not satisfy this requirement. See below for details on how to fulfill the foreign language requirement.