Bachelor of Arts, Minor in Global Studies

Regulations effective Sep. 1, 2024.

The Global Studies Minor at Athabasca University is designed to provide the tools to understand the processes of globalization with a historical and sociological angle (as opposed to history or sociology with a global angle). Its holistic perspective breaks through the confines of scholarly specialization, and raises human global self-awareness as it affects every day popular life, action, psyche, imagination and consciousness on a mass, global scale. The transdisciplinary approach is invaluable for both the beginning student as well as the professional who seek to comprehend the past and present views of the globalizing phenomena, which is critical to understand the fundamental aspects of our society and its development.

Minor (30 credits, of which at least 15 must be at the senior (300/400) level)

Required core courses

(3 credits)

GLST 205 – Building Blocks of Global Studies: Overview of Approaches, Concepts, and Issues (3)

Elective courses

(Select a minimum of 12 credits from this list)

ANTH 275 – Faces of Culture: An Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (3)
CMNS 308 – Understanding Statistical Evidence (3)
CLST 325 – Understanding Cultural Studies (3)
ECON 248 – Macroeconomics (3)
ENGL 341 – World Literature (6)
GEOG 201 – Introductory Human Geography (3)
GLST/ENVS 243 – Environmental Change in a Global Context (3)
GLST/GEOG 200 – World Regional Geography (3)
GLST/POEC 230 – Globalization and World Politics (3)
GLST/INTR/POEC 395 – Political Economy of Development: People, Processes, and Policies (3)
PHIL 252 – Critical Thinking (3)
SOSC 366 – Research Methods in the Social Sciences (3)
WGST 201 – An Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies (3)

Focus areas

(Select 15 credits in one of the following focus areas):

Global Studies at AU has the following five focus areas:

  • Global Economy and Development
  • Global Governance and Conflict
  • Global Cultures and Societies
  • Global Media and Communication
  • Global Literatures and Languages

Focus area electives

1: Global Economy and Development

ECON 366 – Economic Development (3)
ECON 401 – The Changing Global Economy (3)
ECON 475 – International Trade (3)
ECON 476 – International Finance (3)
ECON/LBST 330 – Workers and the Economy (3)
ENVS 461 – The History and Politics of Ecology (3)
GEOG 201 – Introductory Human Geography (3)
GEOL 313 – Our Physical Resources (3)
GOVN 450 – Public Budgeting and Financial Management in a Globalized World (3)
GLST/INTR/POEC 395 – Political Economy of Development: People, Processes, and Policies (3)
MKTG 414 – International Marketing and Exporting (3)
POEC 302 – Theories and Approaches to Political Economy (3)
POEC 393 – Canada and the Global Political Economy (3)
SOCI 450 – Environmental Sociology (3)

2: Global Governance and Conflict

CMNS 385/SOCI 378 – Rebel with a Cause: Social Movements in History and Popular Culture (3)
ENVS 200 – Introduction to Environmental Studies (3)
ENVS 435 – Transformative Change in Building Sustainable Communities (3)
GLST/GOVN/POLI 403 – Public Policy in a Global Era (3)
GLST/GOVN/POLI 440 – Global Governance and Law (3)
GLST/HIST 367 – The Second World War (3)
GLST/INTR/POEC 483 – Political Economy of Globalization (3)
GOVN/POLI 301 – Governance, the Public Sector and Corporate Power (3)
INST 348 – Aboriginal Justice in Canada (3)
INST 377 – Topics in Aboriginal Government (3)
INST 420 – Indigenous Resistance (3)
INST 426 – Aboriginal Government and Law (3)
INST 430 – Indigenous Governance (3)
INST 480 – Comparative Indigenous Models of Government: International Models (3)
LBST 332 – Women and Unions (3)
PHIL 371 – Ethics, Science, Technology and the Environment (3)
PHIL 375 – Philosophy of the Environment (3)
POLI/INTR 330 – International and Global Politics (3)
POLI 342 – Introduction to Comparative Politics (3)
SOCI 300 – How Humans Organize: From Primary Groups to the World Wide Web (3)
SOCI 381 – The Rich and the Rest: The Sociology of Wealth, Power, and Inequality (3)
SOCI 435 – Theories of Social Change (3)

3: Global Cultures and Societies

ANTH 277 – The Archaeology of Us: First Humans to First Civilizations (3)
ANTH 320 – Ancient Cities and Civilizations (3)
ANTH 384 – The Family in the World Perspective (3)
ANTH 394 – Urban Anthropology (3)
ANTH 407 – Examining Cultures—Advanced Readings in Regional Ethnology (3)
ANTH 434 – The History of Anthropological Thought (3)
ANTH 491 – Ethnobiology: Traditional Biological Knowledge in Contemporary Global Context (3)
CLAS/HIST/HUMN 309 – Ancient Greece (3)
GLST 308 – Americas: An Introduction to Latin America and the Caribbean (3)
GLST/HIST 209 – A History of the World in the Twentieth Century I (3)
GLST/HIST 210 – A History of the World in the Twentieth Century II (3)
GLST/HIST/WGST 460 – Famous Feminists and Their Times: Global History of Feminism (3)
HIST 216 – Europe: 1618 – 1939: From the Thirty Years' War to the Age of Dictators (3)
HIST 327 – Imperial Russia (3)
HIST 330 – Social History of Canada: European Contact to Early Industrialization (3)
HIST 331 – Social History of Canada: Early Industrialization to Contemporary Canada (3)
HIST/HUMN 201 – Western Thought and Culture I: Before the Reformation (3)
HIST/HUMN 202 – The West from the Enlightenment to the 21st Century (3)
HIST/INST 368 – Indigenous Peoples in Canada to 1830 (3)
HIST/INST 369 – Indigenous Peoples in Canada Since 1830 (3)
HIST/INST 370 – The Métis (3)
INST 203 – Indigenous Studies I (3)
INST 205 – Indigenous Studies II (3)
INST 357 – Contemporary Aboriginal Issues in Canada (3)
INST 358 – Aboriginal Women in Canada (3)
PHIL 231 – Introduction to Philosophy: West and East (3)
RELS 204 – Introduction to World Religions (6)
SOCI 331 – Exposed! Sociology of Environment and Aging (3)
SOCI 337 – Modern Sociological Theory in the 20th Century: the Age of Grand Theory (3)
SOCI 380 – Canadian Ethnic Relations (3)
WGST 333 – Goddess Mythology, Spirituality and Eco-feminism (3)
WGST 422 – Violence Against Women: A Global Perspective (3)

4: Global Media and Communication

CMNS 201 – Introduction to Mass Media (3)
CMNS 302 – Communication in History (3)
CMNS 358 – Popular Culture and the Media (3)
CMNS 402 – Global Communication (3)
CMNS 423 – The Television Age (3)
CMNS 202/POLI 291 – Media and Power in Canadian Society (3)
HIST 404 – Historical Foundations of Modern Science (3)
MKTG 420 – Advertising and Promotion (3)
POLI 480 – Politics of Our Networked World in the Digital Era (3)

5: Global Literature and Languages

ANTH 354 – Language and Culture (3)
ANTH 401 – Ethnography, the Writing of Culture (3)
CMNS 425 – Film and Genre (3)
ENGL 306 – The Literature of Work (3)
ENGL 307 – Women in Literature (3)
ENGL 308 – Indigenous Literature in Canada (3)
ENGL 351 – Comparative Canadian Literature I (3)
ENGL 433 – Post-Colonial Literatures (6)
FREN 358 – Initiation à la littérature d'expression française I (3)
FREN 374 – Introduction à la littérature canadienne-française (6)
Information effective Sep. 1, 2024 to Aug. 31, 2025.

Updated July 11, 2024 by Office of the Registrar (calendar@athabascau.ca)