When Alisha Flecky, a third-year transfer student in global
studies, came to UCLA earlier this year, she made a list of all the
majors she would be interested in pursuing and discovered that
global studies encompassed classes from all the disciplines she had
listed.
In its first year of existence, the global studies
interdepartmental program has been popular, with all global studies
courses throughout the past three quarters filled to capacity.
Global studies looks at globalization in three main areas:
culture and society, governance and conflict, and markets.
“It is the only place on campus where students can put
together a program about globalization,” said David Rigby, a
geography professor who teaches a global studies course with two
other professors. “It brings together different strands of
globalization ““ different facets, perspectives
together.”
Global studies has drawn interest from many students since it
deals with current issues that relate to students’ lives.
“It meets a demand. It offers courses on topics that are
part of a student’s personal experience,” said Nicholas
Entrikin, chairman of the global studies interdepartmental program.
“It also ties in with current events.”
There are currently eight students enrolled in the major and 77
in the minor, with many other students in the process of completing
the prerequisite courses.
But with the rewards that come with participating in a new
program come challenges for both students and faculty.
Entrikin said global studies is a rigorous and structured major
because it has courses that must be taken in sequence as well as a
six-quarter language requirement, a summer study abroad component,
and a 35-to-50-page thesis for seniors. Students in the global
studies minor are not required to compose a senior thesis.
A highlight of the major for some students is the study-abroad
requirement, for which students are expected to go to another
country to see issues discussed in class from other
perspectives.
“It’s given me an excuse to travel,” said
Braden Weinstock, a fourth-year global studies student.
Being in the first class of global studies has perks as well.
Unlike students in the well-established majors, global studies
students have an opportunity to have a major impact on the course
of the program in future years.
Victoria Zahn, a third-year global studies student, said though
the students were the “guinea pigs” for the major, the
opportunity to offer input to professors is “huge.”
“It’s nice to be on the forefront of a new
department of academic inquiry,” Flecky said.
Since the program is new, many people outside UCLA, such as
employers, may not know anything about the major.
Weinstock said that when he talked to people about majoring in
global studies, they “have absolutely no idea what that
is.”
He said that when he interviewed for an internship at the State
Department, the interviewer had not been interested in his
candidacy until he said he studied globalization.
But Flecky said what is most important is the degree from UCLA,
and employers should understand global studies once she explains
the program’s nature.
There are also challenges for the faculty members involved in
developing the new major, as courses in global studies are
sometimes taught by teams of professors. Each lecturer has to
adjust to the teaching styles of the other professors as well as
integrate material from different disciplinary viewpoints.
There are also challenges in scheduling guest lecturers for
Global Studies 1: “Introduction to Global Studies”
because every time those classes meet, a new lecturer teaches.
Francoise Lionnet, a professor of French and Francophone studies
and comparative literature who is organizing the schedule for
Global Studies 1, said putting together the syllabus for the course
was a “huge challenge.” The class was the first
official course in global studies.
Despite these difficulties, “it’s very exciting for
me because I learned a lot from other lecturers,” Lionnet
said. “I learned a lot from other disciplines.”