PhD Program

The PhD Program is a stand-alone degree (approximately 5-6 years), the first of its kind at a Tier-1 Research University in the United States, and the first within the University of California system.

The PhD program in Global Studies provides a unique interdisciplinary degree for students who wish to study global issues such as conflict, immigration, human rights, environmental sustainability, global cultures, diasporas, and development from an interdisciplinary perspective. PhD research in Global Studies typically involves a field studies component. It requires mastery of a second language, and the completion of a PhD thesis. The PhD is an academic program designed to train scholars and future academics of Global Studies in academic research and university-level teaching as well as scholars targeting other research-based careers that require deeper academic training. An MA in Global Studies is not a required prerequisite of the PhD program, and admission to UCSB’s MA in Global Studies is not a pathway to the PhD program.

Global Studies Advising

Graduate Program Director
Professor Javiera Barandiarán
javiera@ucsb.edu

Graduate Program Advisor
Vacant
gd-global@global.ucsb.edu

Location
SSMS 2008 

Phone: (805) 893-4668 [msg phone]
Fax: (805) 893-8003

About the PhD Program in Global Studies

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.

Our graduate students work closely with 17 core Global Studies faculty in conjunction with over 20 Affiliated Faculty members from across the campus, providing access to a wide variety of scholarship and expertise. The regional, disciplinary, and methodological background and research focus of our faculty provide a good guide to the areas of graduate study most suitable to pursue in Global Studies at UCSB. Prospective applicants should focus on full-time, tenure-stream faculty who will be in residence during your intended period of study as potential mentors and advisors.

Our programs share an academic core, and are distinguished by their relative emphases. The academic core of both programs combines multi-method research training with study in three related areas of specialization:

• Global Political Economy and Development
• Global Cultures and Ideology
• Global Governance

The online application for the upcoming academic year will be available to prospective applicants in early September. Please use the Admissions link for detailed information and useful application links.

 

Recent Awards

2024 Global Studies PhD Summer Field Research Grants:

Jahan Ahmed (Advisor: Distinguished Professor Mark Juergensmeyer)

• Project: Co-Constructing Islamic Glory: American Orientalism in Cold War Pakistan

Anam Mehta (Advisor: Professor Charmaine Chua)

• Project: Exploring the Political Economy of the Greenhouse

 

2023-24 Global Studies PhD Conference Attendance Grants:

Brett Aho (Advisor: Distinguished Professor Jan Nederveen Pieterse)

• Paper: “Delineated Data Dynamics: Emerging Economies and Ecologies” at 4S Conference, November 2023

• Paper: "Varieties of AI Capitalism: Data Governance and Institutional Advantage” at International Studies Association, April 2024

Christina Guirguis (Advisor: Professor Paul Amar)

• Panel: Spacial and Urban Development Panel at Middle East Studies Association, November 2023

Swaroopa Lahiri (Advisor: Professor Aashish Mehta)

• Abstract: “Erratic Rain, Exiting Men: Female Farm Operators and the Shifting Agricultural Landscape in Rural India” at CISA, May 2024

Vitória Sacramento Moreira (Advisor: Distinguished Professor Alison Brysk)

• Paper: “Gendering Populism: The Rise of Right-Wing Populism and Anti-Gender Politics in Brazil” at BRASA, April 2024