Global Studies was established as an interdisciplinary undergraduate major in the College of Letters and Science at UCSB in 1998. The major is one of the first in the nation to offer a program of international studies with contemporary globalizing trends as a central organizing theme, and is distinctive in its emphasis on the transnational processes and interactions that are bringing the world together across traditional national boundaries.
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The Middle East Studies Major is an interdisciplinary major leading to the Bachelor of Arts degree in which students explore the myriad peoples, societies, languages, and cultures of the Near East and the Islamic worlds. The program brings together two overlapping but quite distinct areas of study: first, the Near East in the Ancient, Islamic, and modern periods; second, the religious and cultural traditions of Islam, both within its original Near Eastern homeland, and in other regions of the world where Islamic traditions have come to play a major role -- South and Southeast Asia, Africa, and, (more recently) Europe and North America.
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The Global Peace and Security (GPS) Program was established at UCSB in 1982 as part of a system-wide effort to develop peace and security studies. Its programs have been supported in part by the UC systemwide Institute of Global Conflict and Cooperation (IGCC). With IGCC funds allocated yearly, it provides speakers, administrative, program and classroom support. Matching funds from the College of Letters and Science have allowed the GPS to offer courses on global conflict and cooperation.
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The Women, Culture & Development minor has wide geographic coverage of countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, focuses analysis on how gender affects, and is affected by development, and, forces discussion of the ways in which the lived experiences (cultures) of peoples in the Third World affect the origins and outcomes of development.
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