For Fall 2025 registration advising, please contact GLBL Program Coordinator, Grace Castle
Students must take 27 credits in elective courses, of which 9 (three courses) should be from foundational and 18 (six courses) from thematic electives. Of the 27 elective credits:
- no more than 12 credits may be from the same department
- at least 9 credits must be upper-level
Please note: Because the Global Studies curriculum draws from over 24 departments and programs, it is impossible to note all the prerequisites in the course index or to guarantee that a course will be offered in a certain regularity. It is your responsibility to consult the UMBC catalog for the most up to date list of any prerequisites that may be required before taking particular upper-level courses.
When selecting thematic electives, you may choose to focus on certain themes such as: Culture, Place, and Identity; Development, Health, and the Environment; Global Governance, Human Rights, and Civil Society; or you may choose to organize your own electives from a combination of the above mentioned themes.
Global Theme Recommendations:
Health, Development and the Environment
Culture, Place and Identity
Global Governance, Human Rights, and Civil SocietyThematic electives by Global Theme Recommendation
Thematic electives by department:
AFST 312 – West African History
AFST 314 – Islam in Africa
AFST 320 – Contemporary African Politics
AFST 323 – Economic Development in Africa
AFST 368/ RLST 370 – African Religions in Africa and the Diaspora
AFST 370/ GWST 370 – Black Women: Cross-Cultural Perspectives
AFST 411 – American Foreign Policy and Africa
AFST 420/ HIST 405 – Comparative Slavery: Africa and the New World
AFST 430 – Health Care in Africa
AFST 439 – Women in Africa and the Diaspora
AFST 442/ MUSC 468 – African-Caribbean Music
AMST 352 – American Culture in Global Perspective
AMST 372 – American Food
AMST 375 – Studies in Asian American Culture
AMST 464 – Narratives of Contemporary U.S. Immigration
ANCS 301 Ancient Civilizations
ANTH 311 – Urban Anthropology
ANTH 312 – Medical Anthropology
ANTH 316 – Anthropology of Religion
ANTH 318 – Anthropology of Science and Technology
ANTH 367 – The Anthropology of Gender
ANTH 382 – Global Flows in Local Worlds: The Anthropology of Globalization
ASIA 300 – Topics in Asian Studies
DANC 301 special Studies in Dance: Caribbean Dance
ECON 380 – The Global Economy
ECON 382 – Asian Economic History
ECON 385 – Economic Development
ECON 387 – Economic Development of Latin America
ECON 439 – Environmental Economics
ECON 442 – European Economic History
ECON 481 – International Trade Theory
ECON 482 – International Finance
ENGL 318/ LING 342 Myth and Literature
ENGL 366 World Literature Written in English
GES 328 – Environmental Policy
GES 329 – Geography of Disease and Health
GES 330 – Geography of Economic Development
GES 363 – World Regions: Contemporary International Issues
GES 435 – Global Patterns of Production and Trade
GES 436 – Global Environmental Change
GES 437 – Conservation & Development in the Tropics
GES 440: Global Poverty (contingent on UGC approval)
GLBL 386 – The Politics of Development
GLBL 401 – Individual Study in Global Studies
GLBL 409 – Selected Topics in Global Studies
GLBL 410 -I’m a Cyborg But That’s OK
GLBL 483 – International Negotiation
GWST 320 – Transnational Feminist Film
GWST 333/ SOCY 333 – Human Sexuality in Cross-Cultural Perspective
GWST 342 – Gender in Modern South Asia
GWST 343 – Gender, Human Rights, and Political Violence in Latin America
GWST 344 Transnational Femininities
GWST 367/ ANTH 367- The Anthropology of Gender
GWST 370 -Black Women: Cross Cultural Perspectives
GWST 380/HIST 380 Women and Gender in Asia
GWST 433/ SOCY 433 – Gender, Work, and Family in Cross-Cultural Perspective
GWST 439 – Women in Africa and the Diaspora
HIST 303 – The Second World War
HIST 306 – The First World War
HIST 327 – Modern Latin American History
HIST 328 Colonial Latin American History
HIST 340 – Atlantic Revolutions
HIST 354/ AFST 312 West African History
HIST 360/ AFST 314/ RLST 314 Islam in Africa
HIST 362 Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean World
HIST 364 Rise of Islam
HIST/JDST 373 Hist of the Holocaust
HIST 382 – Pacific Crossings: Race, War, and Gender in Asian Migrations
HIST 405/ AFST 420 Contemporary Slavery: Africa and the new World
HIST 406: The Atlantic World: The Shared History of the Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans
HIST/JDST/RLST 463 Jews Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages
HIST 487 Europe, 1815-1914
HIST 488 – Europe, 1914 to the Present
JDST 321/ MLL 321 Jewish Writing in World Literature
JDST 373/ HIST 373 History of the Holocaust
JDST 410/ POLI 485 Dynamics of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
JDST 463 Jews Christians and Muslims in the Middle Ages
MCS 334 – Media & Globalization
MCS 390 – Transcultural Studies in Global Television
MLL 306 – Intercultural Communication: Issues Confronting Immigrant and Heritage Communities (4.00)
MLL 311 – Introduction to Korean Culture
MLL 320 – Transnational Feminist Film
MLL 321 – Jewish Writing in World Literature
MLL 342 – Myth and Literature
MLL 410 – I’m a Cyborg, but That’s OK
MLL 480 – Transcultural Studies in Global Television
PHIL 322 History of Philosophy: Modern
PHIL 334 Asian Philosophy
PHIL 357 – Philosophy and Human Rights
PHIL456 – Justice and Climate Change
POLI 337 – Comparative Justice
POLI 371 – Comparative Asian Politics
POLI 373 – Comparative Middle Eastern and North African Politics
POLI 374 – European Politics
POLI 377 – Latin American Politics
POLI 378/AFST 320 – Contemporary African Politics
POLI 381 – International Relations of the Asia-Pacific Region
POLI 384 International Organizations
POLI 384L Model United Nations
POLI 386/GLBL 386 – The Politics of Development
POLI 390 – American Foreign Policy
POLI 437 – International Human Rights Law
POLI 470 – Politics of Human Rights
POLI 471 – Globalization and Transitional Justice
POLI 482 – International Law
POLI 483/GLBL 483 – International Negotiation
POLI 486 – Middle East International Relations
POLI 487 – International Political Economy
POLI 488 – Politics and International Relations of South Asia
PBHL 280 – Global Issues in Health and Disease
PBHL 329 – Geography of Disease and Health
SOCY 333 – Human Sexuality in Cross-Cultural Perspective
SOCY 335 Terrorism and Social Violence
SOCY 433 – Gender, Work, and Family in Cross-Cultural Perspective
SOWK 374 Social Work with Immigrants and Refugees
SPAN 308 – Latinoamérica y sus Culturas I
THTR 310 History of the Theatre
ART 325 History of Film and Video: 1965 to Present
ART 327 History and Theory of Photography