Global Studies is an interdisciplinary field dedicated to understanding globalization as a multidimensional, multi-level and historical process. Global Studies bridges social science and humanistic approaches to analyze the social, cultural, political, environmental, and economic consequences of global flows, institutions, and processes. Global Studies scholarship is motivated by engagement with contemporary transnational social problems across multiple theoretical perspectives and methodologies.
Established in 1999, UCSB’s pioneering Global & International Studies Program was among the first interdisciplinary undergraduate majors to focus on globalization. The GISP Program has now expanded to become the Department of Global Studies with a Masters Program, a PhD, and a PhD Emphasis for students in other departments. Global Studies alumni now work in philanthropy, international aid and sustainability, policy, academia, teaching, and more. Learn more about our department here: