Global and Area Studies Department

Hamline’s Global studies program trains majors and minors to become not only global thinkers but also global citizens, attuned to the multifaceted interconnections that shape our world. Global Studies majors are able to examine the ways people are linked across the globe through technology, international and local organizations, transnational trade, cultural practices, and shared histories. Through a wide array of interdisciplinary courses to choose from, Global Studies is flexible in that it allows students to tailor the program to match their interests. While studying various global issues such as climate change, human rights, international relations, or economic development, students also learn to use a multidisciplinary lens to analyze how a global phenomenon is manifested on a local level and its effects on their own backyard. As such, students are expected to specialize in one geographic area and language of their choice. Majors conduct self-designed off-campus research projects culminating in substantive capstone papers for presentation on campus and at national conferences. Other co-curricular opportunities for students include working with department faculty on collaborative research, internships, participating in Hamline’s Model United Nations program, and studying abroad. Post-graduation, our students have found fulfilling careers with government departments, non-profit and international organizations, UN agencies, corporations, law firms, academic institutions, and other employers who value their liberal arts skills and global expertise.

Faculty

Leila DeVriese, professor. MA 1996, University of Toronto; PhD 2002, Concordia University, Montreal; Post-Doctorate, 2004, McGill University. Transnational social movements, activism, globalization, human rights and women’s rights, international political economy, Middle East. She also teaches in the social justice and Middle East studies programs.

Kathryn Geurts, professor, chair. BA 1984 Sarah Lawrence College; MA 1991, PhD 1998, University of Pennsylvania. Cultural/medical/psychological/sensorial anthropology; African studies and disability studies; health and human rights; theory of ethnography; feminist theory. She also teaches in the public health sciences and social justice programs.

Global and Area Studies Department

Faculty

Programs