Global Studies Graduate Certificate

The Graduate Certificate in Global Studies (GLBS) offers graduate students the opportunity to study global subjects from an interdisciplinary perspective. By learning from faculty across departments, their graduate studies in their home discipline will be enriched. This interdisciplinary curriculum lies at the intersection of social sciences and humanities, with interdisciplinary approaches to pressing global issues, including (but not limited to) political economy, regional integration, migration, human rights, climate change, public health, racial formations, global cultures, diasporas, ecological conservation, and development. Methodological approaches are also diverse ranging from quantitative to field-based and ethnographic. The GLBS program will allow students to broaden their perspectives and methodological skills across these domains and enhance their chances for academic and non- academic employment.

Campus Code

Knoxville Campus

Graduate Certificate Type

Add-On

Admissions Standards/Procedures

• Application to the Global Studies (GLBS) graduate certificate must be made through the Office of Graduate Admissions and by submitting a letter of application and copies of relevant transcripts to the GLBS program chair. The GLBS certificate is intended as additional study for graduate students who are concurrently enrolled in a master’s or doctoral program in another discipline at the University of Tennessee.
• Students are generally admitted to the program prior to completing six graduate credit hours toward the certificate and are required to be admitted by the beginning of the semester in which they will complete the required coursework for the certificate. Students will select their graduate coursework in conjunction with the Director of Global Studies, who must approve each student’s curriculum.

Academic Standards

• Students must maintain a minimum 3.00 graduate grade point average throughout the program.

Credit Hours Required

12 graduate credit hours

The Global Studies Graduate Certificate consists of a minimum of 12 graduate credit hours in interdisciplinary coursework. As Global Studies is organized into two broad sub-fields: “politics & economy” (usually courses in Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries; Political Science; and Sociology, as well as some Geography) and “society & culture” (usually courses in Anthropology, Geography, History, MFLL, and Religious Studies). While students can choose any interdisciplinary approach, they are encouraged to integrate these two broad sub-fields. Final selections should be made in consultation with the Director of Global Studies and other Global Studies faculty,

1. A maximum of six graduate credit hours can overlap between the GLBS certificate and the student’s home discipline, as approved by the GLBS program chair.
2. At least nine credit hours toward the GLBS Graduate Certificate must be taken at the 500-level or above.
3. As part of the non-course requirement, students will write a research paper for evaluation to a faculty review committee consisting of two GLBS faculty members from different departments and present this work at a colloquium, either in a department of one of the faculty committee members or organized by Global Studies. The paper will integrate scholarly research and/or methods in the classes taken toward the GLBS Certificate.

Required Courses

Twelve (12) graduate credit hours from the following list, of which six (6) graduate credit hours must be from department(s) outside a student’s degree program and preferably outside the student’s broad area of the field of Global Studies (i.e., politics & economy or society & culture).

College of Arts & Sciences
Anthropology

• ANTH 414  
• ANTH 415  
• ANTH 421  
• ANTH 422  
• ANTH 425  
• ANTH 432  
• ANTH 510  
• ANTH 511  
• ANTH 523  
• ANTH 531  

Literature and Film

• ENGL 423  
• ENGL 439  
• ENGL 443  
• ENGL 452  
• ENGL 453  
• ENGL 454  
• ENGL 456  
• ENGL 459  
• ENGL 483  
• ENGL 552  
• ENGL 560  
• ENGL 590  
• ENGL 594  
• ENGL 661  
• ENGL 671  

Geography

• GEOG 441  
• GEOG 444  
• GEOG 445  
• GEOG 446  
• GEOG 451  
• GEOG 462  
• GEOG 509  
• GEOG 521  
• GEOG 541  
• GEOG 545  
• GEOG 641  
• GEOG 649  
• GEOG 663  

History

• HIST 529  
• HIST 530  
• HIST 517  
• HIST 551  
• HIST 561  
• HIST 562  
• HIST 563  
• HIST 585  
• HIST 629  
• HIST 630  
• HIST 632  

Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures

• MFLL 582  
• PORT 430  
• PORT 501  
• SPAN 563  
• SPAN 585  
• SPAN 587  

Musicology and Music Ensemble

• MUCO 412  
• MUCO 413  
• MUCO 414  
• MUCO 587  
• MUCO 590  
• MUCO 595 
• MUEN 512  

Political Science

• POLS 572  
• POLS 580  
• POLS 574  
• POLS 673  
• POLS 687  
• POLS 688  

Sociology

• SOCI 446  
• SOCI 504  
• SOCI 541  
• SOCI 636  
• SOCI 638  
• SOCI 644  
• SOCI 694  
• SOCI 645  

Herbert College of Agriculture

• FWF 520  
• AGNR 480  
• AGNR 491  
• AREC 420  
• ALEC 585  
• PLSC 591  

Note: courses that may fulfill a GLBS requirement have been submitted by faculty in these Departments and include the above. Due to possible changes in course staffing, variable topics, and periodic creation of new classes, it is recommended that students confirm program approval of courses in advance with the GLBS chair.

Only 400-level courses listed in the Graduate Catalog may be taken for graduate credit and be applied toward the certificate.

Non-Course Requirements

To receive the certificate, students must:
1) complete the Graduate Certificate Course Verification Form (located on the Graduate School webpage under the Forms Central tab) and
2) through MyUTK, apply to graduate from the certificate program.