An informed engagement with the world is an indispensable part of the liberal education that is the goal of the Williams experience. The Global Studies Program enables students to achieve this goal through a cross-disciplinary and comparative curriculum. The program offers multiple tracks, on a region of the world or theme, around which students construct their global studies concentration of five courses.
After taking Global Studies 101, students are asked to select a track that will structure their global studies curriculum. There are two types of track. The first focuses on a particular region of the world or a contact zone where multiple communities encounter one another. The second type is organized thematically and permits students to explore a cultural, political, economic or technological issue globally and comparatively. To fulfill the requirements of a track, students must complete three approved courses from at least two disciplines, take a comparative course (i.e. a course that might not cover material directly dealing with the track, but would enrich a student’s engagement through comparative inquiry), and address their track in a senior exercise (typically a 20-25 page research paper integrated into the work of one of their senior-year courses).
Global Studies Concentrators will:
- Gain an understanding of a region of the world (usually other than the US) or an issue that involves various regions of the world.
- Access knowledge of a wide variety of global issues and concerns beyond their particular specialty through participation in regular colloquia and events at the College.
- Be encouraged to directly encounter other cultures through study abroad.
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