Please note:
To view the Spring 2025 Academic Calendar, go to www.sfu.ca/students/calendar/2025/spring.
International Studies
The certificate in international studies caters to students who are interested in internationally-engaged careers. It offers students the opportunity to study contemporary international challenges through an interdisciplinary lens, integrating perspectives from history, political science, anthropology and sociology, geography, international relations, economics, and the humanities.
Students may focus on one or more regions of the world.
Program Requirements
Required Courses
Students complete a minimum of 24 units, including
Introduces the interdisciplinary field of International Studies to all undergraduates and IS majors. Examines the major global challenges of our time, including poverty and inequality, environmental degradation, nationalism, civil war, and armed conflict. Explores the challenge of global governance and global citizenship. Breadth-Humanities/Social Sciences.
Introduction to how Empire is implicated in the making of our modern world. Covers global histories of imperialism, anti-imperial struggles, colonization and decolonization. Includes European imperialist and colonial histories and decenters the position of Europe in world history to understand connections and agency of all peoples. IS 265 or HIST 265 will be accepted in lieu of this course.
The remaining 18 units may be chosen from courses below, at least eight units must have an IS designation.
Africa
An introductory survey of African perspectives on, and experiences of, history since abolition in the 1830s. Themes include: oral history; colonization and resistance; social, political and environmental change under colonial rule; independence movements and decolonization; cultures and religions; and the search for stability and prosperity post-independence. Breadth-Humanities.
A general, introductory survey of Africa's rich pre-colonial past, its vibrant cultures and sophisticated technologies, far-reaching commercial and political networks, and dynamic (and internally differentiated) social systems. Also discusses the trans-Atlantic trade in African slaves and the arrival of Europeans on African shores. Breadth-Humanities.
Examines the diversity of environments, cultures and livelihoods in East Africa and the Horn in the context of long-term trans-regional influences, especially slave trade, cash cropping, colonization and post-colonial politics, and the expansion of the world religions into East Africa. Content may vary from offering to offering; see course outline for further information. HIST 344 may be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught. Prerequisite: 45 units, including six units of lower division history.
Survey course of major contemporary issues relevant to people's lives in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as major debates about these. Study of the historic, economic, political, social and cultural factors contributing to contemporary realities and perspectives. Relevant for students with little to significant familiarity with life in Africa. Prerequisite: 45 units.
From peasant uprisings and student protests to armed insurrections, this course explores the range of African social movements and assesses their role in shaping Africa's future. Key themes include the role of ethnicity and religion, the impact of urbanization, economic inequality, gender politics, and trends in international solidarity and engagement. Prerequisite: 45 units. Students who have taken IS 319 with this topic may not take this course for further credit.
Considers Africa in the historical development of the modern global political economy, from the transatlantic slave trade to the present. Examines contemporary issues associated with Africa in the neo-liberal world order and the politics of resistance and alternative pathways or models of development. Prerequisite: Six lower division units in political science or permission of the department.
Asia
Introduces students to the interconnected, border-crossing worlds of Asian and Asian diasporic people through discussion of scholarship, films, short stories, essays, oral histories, and visual art. Surveys key topics in the study of globalizing processes, such as migration, trade, imperialism, decolonization, globalization, and environmental change. Students with credit for ASC 101 may not take this course for further credit. Breadth-Humanities/Social Sciences.
Introduces students to a topic in Global Asian Studies not otherwise covered in depth by regularly scheduled courses. Sample topics include South Asian diasporas; Global Asia in Vancouver; refugee experiences; or Korean culture. This course may be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught. Prerequisite: 15 units. Students with credit for ASC 202 may not take this course for further credit.
An interdisciplinary course that examines how empire, migration, and globalization have transformed Asia through connecting Asian people and places with each other and the world. Explores such interactions as part of histories of nationalism, trade, communalism, revolution, war, and authoritarianism in Asia; and as incubators of cultural exchange and experimentation. Prerequisite: 15 units. Breadth-Humanities.
An interdisciplinary course that focuses on Asian migrant experiences, community formation, cultural expression, and political struggles in locations across the world, including in Canada and the United States as well as Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Oceania. Prerequisite: 15 units. Breadth-Humanities.
Focuses on the cultural production and activism of migrant, refugee, and diasporic Asians in Canada. It investigates how people of Asian origin and descent have used literature, film, music, visual art, and other media to represent their histories, experiences, and communities, as well as to advocate for themselves and others. Prerequisite: 45 units.
In this interdisciplinary course, students will investigate a topic relating to the histories, societies, cultures, knowledges, geographies, and/or ecologies of China, Chinese-speaking people, and/or people of Chinese descent in Asia and beyond. May be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught. Prerequisite: 45 units. Recommended: GA 101.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Shuyu Kong |
May 12 – Jun 20, 2025: Tue, Thu, 11:30 a.m.–2:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
In this interdisciplinary course, students will investigate a topic relating to the histories, societies, cultures, knowledges, geographies, and/or ecologies of Japan, Japanese-speaking people, and/or people of Japanese descent in Asia and beyond. May be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught. Prerequisite: 45 units.
In this interdisciplinary course, students will study topics on the geographies, histories, cultures, knowledges, relationalities, and multiple ways of belonging of people in South Asia and South Asian diasporas. May be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught. Prerequisite: 45 units. Recommended: GA 101.
Focuses on the experiences, histories, knowledges, and activism of marginalized gender and sexual subjects across Asia and its diasporas from the perspectives of feminist, queer, and trans studies. May be further organized by region or historical period. The topic will vary by instructor. Students may repeat for credit up to three times under a different topic. Prerequisite: 15 units. Students with credit for GSWS 388 under the same topic may not take this course for further credit.
Content will vary according to interests of faculty and students but will involve Global-Asia-related study within one or more of the social science or humanities disciplines. This course may be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught. Prerequisite: 45 units.
A survey of Japanese history from 1868 until 1952 which will examine, among other topics, the evolution of its colonial empire and wars with Russia, China and the United States, as well as the post-war Allied Occupation. Breadth-Humanities.
A survey of South Asian history designed to equip those students completely unfamiliar with the region, with a foundation in the political, social and cultural contours of South Asia from 1757 to 1947. Students who have previously taken HIST 243 STT may not take HIST 243 for further credit. Breadth-Humanities.
South Asian history since the eighteenth century, including the crumbling of the Mughal empire, European trade and colonialism, Indian nationalisms, the emergence of the independent states of India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and transformations in caste, gender, and sexuality. Breadth-Humanities.
A survey of the history of China from the end of the eighteenth century to the present. Breadth-Humanities.
Covers the period in Japan from the 1930s to the 1950s and will introduce students to topics such as wartime atrocities, the dropping of the atomic bombs and the prosecution of war criminals. It will also attempt to explain why so much controversy surrounds interpretations of events arising from Japan's last war, the Asia-Pacific War. Prerequisite: 45 units, including six units of lower division history. Recommended: at least one course on modern Japan.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Janice Matsumura |
May 12 – Aug 8, 2025: Tue, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
Concepts and methodology of modern Asian history. Selected themes may include revolution, inequality, mass violence, ideology, imperialism, leadership, and the Cold War. Content may vary from offering to offering; see course outline for further information. HIST 464 may be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught. Prerequisite: 45 units including nine units of lower division history.
Surveys the ethnic minorities of Southeast Asia, focusing on their relations with other ethnic groups, especially majority populations, and governments. Examines the treatment of ethnic minorities and the responses of the minorities, including ethnic-based secession movements. Reviews cross-border and broader international issues relating to minorities, such as their status as refugees and cross-border support for insurgencies. Prerequisite: 45 units.
Provides an overview of national and political issues in Southeast Asia. Surveying politics in individual countries and regional political institutions, focus is given to particular themes such as democratization and civil society, communism and other forms of authoritarianism, the role of the military, decentralization, religion and politics, the impact of China on the region, and security concerns. Prerequisite: 45 units.
Examines post-Soviet Central Asian states, with particular reference to the relationship among democratization, development, autocracy and conflict, and the role of external actors in transnational security issues in the region. Prerequisite: 45 units. Recommended: IS 200. Students with credit for IS 412 may not take this course for further credit.
Explores China's stunning rise from Mao to global markets, with attention to social issues brought on by "the Chinese Development Model". Examines the bases of state legitimacy in contemporary China, challenges to state legitimacy, as well as state responses to these challenges. Prerequisite: 45 units.
Reviews important current regional issues in Southeast Asia with particular attention to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Prerequisite: 45 units.
Considers how the global economic recession of the late 2000s has coincided with the rise of global China. Examines the origins of Chinese international development, and its effects in receiving communities in Chinese internal frontiers and along China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia, Middle East and Africa. Prerequisite: 45 units. Students with credit for IS 419 under this topic may not take this course for further credit.
Focuses on the evolution of political relation between East Asia and Canada since the mid-19th century to the contemporary period. It covers diplomatic/military and socio-economic and cultural relations, sometimes cutting across national and sub-national boundaries. Utilizes various theoretical and analytical perspectives from political science and other disciplines to assess the importance and causes of key events. Prerequisite: POL 141 and three lower division units in political science or permission of the department. Students with credit for POL 349 under the title "Politics Across the Pacific" may not take this course for further credit.
The political system of Japan, including an analysis of political culture, political institutions, political behaviour and both formal and informal political processes. Emphasis will be placed on the post-World War II political development of Japan. Prerequisite: Six lower division units in political science or permission of the department. Students with credit for POL 381W may not take this course for further credit.
An overview and analysis of international relations in East Asia. Prerequisite: Eight upper division units in political science or permission of the department. Writing.
An introduction to culture, social structure and the processes of social, economic, and political transformation in contemporary China. Topics may include recent development of Marxism, feminism and neoliberalism in China; Western debates on China's rise and images of China as threat; human rights.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Sessional |
May 12 – Aug 8, 2025: Thu, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
Europe
A survey of European history emphasizing the French Revolution, and Napoleonic Europe and first Industrial Revolution, liberalism and its opponents, agrarian conservatism, liberalism and conservatism, the Revolutions of 1848, the struggles for political unification, the second Industrial Revolution and the origins of the First World War. Breadth-Humanities.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Roxanne Panchasi |
May 12 – Jun 20, 2025: Mon, Wed, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
A survey of European history from the First World War emphasizing the origins and effects of the World Wars, the emergence of the Soviet Union and of fascism. Breadth-Humanities.
Examines the political and socio-economic evolution of 20th century Greece in tandem with the cultural transformation of the country from an agrarian based society to the urban dominated structure that characterizes Greece today. Students with credit for HS 279 may not take HIST 279 for further credit. Breadth-Humanities.
Examines the political and socio-economic evolution of 20th century Greece in tandem with the cultural transformation of the country from an agrarian based society to the urban dominated structure that characterizes Greece today. Students with credit for HIST 279 or HS 279 may not take this course for further credit. Breadth-Humanities.
An examination of the history of modern France from 1789 to the present with a focus on the social, political, and cultural divisions within the French nation resulting from the Revolutionary era, industrialization, the expansion and eventual decolonization of France's colonial empire, and the World Wars and their consequences. Prerequisite: 45 units, including six units of lower division history.
An examination of major themes in German history from the establishment of a united German Empire in 1871 to the reunification of Germany in 1990. Emphasis will be placed on issues related to the formation of German national identity and the problems associated with modernization and militarism. Attention will be given to the difficulties of Weimar democracy, the nature of the Third Reich, and contrasting developments in East and West Germany after 1949. Prerequisite: 45 units, including six units of lower division history.
An examination of major themes in Russian history up to the Revolution of 1917, including the emergence of the modern Russian state; the organization of the empire at the center and the periphery; the contest between imperial, national, and religious identities; social, economic, and cultural transformations; and the Russian Empire's involvement in world politics. Prerequisite: 45 units, including six units of lower division history. Recommended: HIST 106.
An examination of the history of the Soviet Union from its creation to its collapse, emphasizing its ideology, culture, role in global politics, and social and economic transformations. Prerequisite: 45 units, including six units of lower division history.
Investigates the construction of nation states in the Balkans and the Mediterranean with a focus on the ideas of the Nation and the Nation State. Examines specific cases such as Greece, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and the development of Israel. Prerequisite: 45 units. Students with credit for HS 359 may not take HIST 359 for further credit.
Examines key social, economic, political, and intellectual developments in Ireland from the 18th to the mid-20th centuries. It will also explore shifting understandings of the 'Irish nation' and consider how communal historical memory can be appropriated to serve different political agendas. Prerequisite: 45 units, including six units of lower division history.
An examination of major debates concerning the history of late-nineteenth and twentieth century Germany. Themes may include the nature of German modernity, interpretations of the Third Reich, or German memory after the Second World War. Content may vary from offering to offering; see course outline for further information. HIST 401 may be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught. Prerequisite: 45 units, including nine units of lower division history and one of HIST 224, 225, 332 or permission of the department.
Examines select problems in the social, cultural, and political history of modern Britain. Content may vary from offering to offering: see course outline for further information. HIST 407 may be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught. Prerequisite: 45 units including nine units of lower division history. Recommended: one or more of HIST 215, 225, 314.
An examination of a principal aspect of, or period in, the history of French society since the Revolution. For example, attention may be given to the 19th century French revolutionary tradition, or to society and culture in the Third, Fourth and Fifth Republics, or to colonialism and decolonisation. Content may vary from offering to offering; see course outline for further information. HIST 417W may be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught. Prerequisite: 45 units including nine units of lower division history. Recommended: HIST 224 or 225. Writing.
Advanced analysis of specific problems in social, intellectual, and political history of modern Russia. Content may vary from offering to offering; see course outline for further information. HIST 419W may be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught. Prerequisite: 45 units including nine units of lower division history. Recommended: HIST 224 or 225. Writing.
An examination of how the Russian Empire grew, was maintained, and came to an end, if it did end, through a study of imperial and colonial policies and practices and the responses to these by the area's diverse peoples. Content may vary from offering to offering; see course outline for further information. HIST 420 may be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught. Prerequisite: 45 units including nine units of lower division history.
Examines the cycle of violence that followed the Axis occupation of Greece and created a political schism that lasted until the 1980s. The course will focus on Greek resistance, foreign relations and relations with the British intelligence services. Prerequisite: 45 units including nine units of lower division history. Students with credit for HS 422 may not take this course for further credit.
Introduces the Russian Federation's foreign and security policies. Reviews key actors, institutions, and stages in the development of Russian foreign policy development as well as the gap between rhetoric and realities in Russian foreign policy. Prerequisite: 45 units. Recommended: IS 200 and HIST 335.
Latin America
An examination of the role of racial thinking in the history of the Americas, from the era of the Conquest to the present day. Topics may include African and Indigenous slavery, the development of scientific racism in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the persistence of racism in the present day. Prerequisite: 45 units including nine units of lower division history. Students with credit for HIST 455 may not take this course for further credit. Writing.
A survey of Latin American history from Independence (1808-24) to the present: post-Independence political collapse and reconsolidation; Latin America in the world trade system and the changing conditions of economic dependency; nationalist reform (Mexico) and socialist revolution (Cuba), liberalism, populism, and the rise of modernizing military. Treatment by topics and broad historical period rather than county by county. Students who take this course may not take HIST 209 for further credit. Breadth-Humanities/Social Sciences.
An examination of Latin America through historical, literary, and social scientific approaches. Prerequisite: 45 units. Recommended: IS 209W or HIST 209W.
The Middle East
This course examines the role of imperialism in the transformation of societies in the Middle East and North Africa over the last two centuries. Focusing mainly on the cases of Ottoman, British and French empire building, the course discusses the socio-economic, cultural and political changes brought about by the interaction of various segments of local societies with these imperial powers. Prerequisite: 45 units, including six units of lower division history. Recommended: one of HIST 151, 249.
An examination of this century's major themes in the history of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, as well as other states of the Arabian peninsula. Topics to be investigated include the origins of Arab nationalism and Islamic reformism; the origins and development of the Lebanese question; the emergence of the politics of the military in Iraq and Syria, and the special role of the Jordanian and Arabian monarchies. Prerequisite: 45 units, including six units of lower division history. Recommended: one of HIST 151, 249.
Examines the political, social, and cultural transformation in Turkey from the end of World War I to the present. Topics may include the Ottoman legacy in the Turkish Republic, issues of nation building, national identity and ethnicity, the role of the military in Turkish politics, changing concepts of gender, the role of political Islam, and Turkish diasporas. Prerequisite: 45 units including nine units of lower division history. Recommended: HIST 151 and 249.
A discussion of the modern history of nation-building in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The topics discussed include Zionism, the British Mandate in Palestine, the creation of the state of Israel, the rise of modern Palestinian nationalism, and the role of the Palestinian-Israeli dispute in regional and international affairs. Prerequisite: 45 units including nine units of lower division history and one of HIST 151, 249, 350, 354, 355 or permission of the department.
An interpretive discussion of the course of modern Egyptian history. This may range from the advent to power of Muhammed Ali Pasha until recent times, or may focus on specific periods of revolutionary change. Prerequisite: 45 units including nine units of lower division history and one of HIST 151, 249, 350, 354, 355 or permission of the department.
Introduces the political, economic, and ideological dynamics of contemporary Middle Eastern states. Examines the legacy of colonialism, state formation, central ideological trends such as Arab nationalism and political Islam, the dynamics of state-society contention, and the challenges of economic development. Prerequisite: 45 units.
Examines current debates about women, gender, and sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Explores the major social, economic, and political factors that shape the lives of women and other marginalized groups in diverse cities across the region. Prerequisite: 45 units.
Focuses upon the political Islamist movements that have swept much of the Middle East and North Africa since the mid-1970s. Examines a broad range of movements, from liberal to militant trends, drawing on the experiences of countries throughout the region. Prerequisite: 45 units. Recommended: HIST 151 or IS 315.
Global, Variable, or Cross-Regional Coverage
A geographical introduction to how humans shape our world, with attention also given to how it shapes us. Themes may include: culture, economic activities, environmental change, globalization, politics, population, resources, and urbanization. Breadth-Humanities/Social Sciences.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Sessional |
May 12 – Jun 20, 2025: Tue, Thu, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
OL01 |
Leanne Roderick |
Online |
Examines from interdisciplinary and international perspectives how development is gendered and creates differential impacts, meanings and processes for women and men around the world. Prerequisite: 15 units. Students with credit for GSWS 310 (or WS 310) Special Topic: Women and Development or GSWS 301 (or WS 301) Special Topic: Gender and Development or GSWS 309 (or WS 309) under the title Gender and Development may not take this course for further credit.
A survey of the history of the world, with a focus on global historical phenomena of the last six centuries. Breadth-Humanities/Social Sciences.
An introduction to the differences in health and health services among the nations of the globe. Vulnerable sub-populations worldwide and their special health needs. Mechanisms whereby events in one country can impact health in another. Future worldwide health risks, their economic and health consequences. SARS, avian 'flu,' West Nile virus, 'mad cow disease,' antibiotic resistant malaria or tuberculosis. Dangers to rich and poor nations from ignoring health problems in developing world. Breadth-Social Sciences.
Explores social, economic, and political change around the globe, through documentaries and feature films. Examines pressing issues that shape and reflect people’s lives in diverse countries and regions, from Asia and Latin America, to Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Breadth-Humanities/Social Sciences.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Sessional |
May 12 – Aug 8, 2025: Wed, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
Examines contemporary security and governance challenges by drawing on insights from across the social sciences. Includes such topics as: war, nuclear proliferation, genocide, human trafficking, and global health threats. Explores the role of international organizations (the UN, EU, NATO and others) in addressing security challenges and advancing global governance. Breadth-Humanities/Social Sciences.
Introduces students to the variety of systems of governance in the world today, including how power is constituted and contested in different kinds of states (e.g., authoritarian, democratic, hybrid) by various state and non-state actors (e.g., corporations, civil society, militias, social movements) through diverse technologies (e.g., the ballot box, digital surveillance, religious institutions). Breadth-Humanities/Social Sciences.
Analyzes some of the historical reasons for the great divergence in world economic development, and undertakes a cross-country, cross-regional perspective of world economic development using a historical approach to long-run economic growth. Breadth-Social Sciences.
This course surveys the diverse ways people have fashioned identities and social relations that do not easily conform to the boundaries of nation-states. Explores how, in the context of transnational movements of people and ideas, individuals and communities construct and contest new identities, aspirations, and forms of belonging. Breadth-Humanities/Social Sciences.
Provides an opportunity to examine social, cultural, and political challenges involved in working or living abroad. Students reflect on the knowledge, skills, and values gained while abroad, with attention to career-related pathways and possibilities. Topics include the complexities of cross-cultural engagement and ethical aspects of experiential learning in international settings. Graded as Pass/Fail (P/F). Prerequisite: This course will be open to any SFU student who has completed an international study, research, internship, or volunteership program.
Explores how international actors respond to humanitarian emergencies, such as famine, displacement, and genocide. Examines the political, legal, and ethical challenges of humanitarian action by focusing on contemporary cases and on key types of response, from the delivery of aid to sanctions and the use of military force. Prerequisite: 45 units. Breadth-Humanities/Social Sciences.
Examines various forms of resistance and protest, including everyday resistance and organized activism, with an emphasis on civil resistance. Investigates the conditions and outcomes of protest, focusing on a range of cases which may include Solidarity in Poland, the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, and the American Civil Rights Movement. Prerequisite: 45 units. Students who have taken POL 339 or IS 309 with this topic may not take this course for further credit.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Brenda Lyshaug |
May 12 – Jun 20, 2025: Mon, Wed, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Vancouver |
Examines ethical issues of global concern, with a focus on debates about poverty, environmental change, and armed conflict. Introduces students to relevant political and ethical theories, such as cosmopolitanism and nationalism, utilitarianism, theories of human rights, and ethics of care. Assesses various policy responses to these global challenges. Prerequisite: 45 units. Students who have taken IS 319 with this topic may not take this course for further credit.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Brenda Lyshaug |
May 12 – Jun 20, 2025: Tue, Thu, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
|
Vancouver |
Examines how Indigenous communities globally reclaim space and sovereignty, confront colonial violence, and envision pluralistic and more-than-human sovereign futures. Explores Indigenous knowledges, resistance to colonialism, and futurisms across diverse global Indigenous contexts. Prerequisite: 45 units. Students who have taken IS 319 with this topic may not take this course for further credit.
Specific details of courses to be offered will be published prior to enrollment each term. Prerequisite: 45 units.
Examines security issues and events with attention to gender. Focuses on themes related to war, political violence, post-war reconstruction, militarism, military culture, and peace activism with attention to women and marginalised communities, gender norms, and feminist and queer approaches to rethinking security and imagining peace. Prerequisite: 45 units.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Sessional |
May 12 – Aug 8, 2025: Mon, 9:30 a.m.–12:20 p.m.
|
Vancouver |
Specific details of courses to be offered will be published prior to enrollment each term. Prerequisite: 45 units.
Specific details of courses to be offered will be published prior to enrollment each term. Prerequisite: 45 units.
Examines the nature, activities, and effects of social movements across the Global South. Uses an interdisciplinary approach to explore how social movements shape and respond to political, economic, and social transformation. Considers their relationship with political parties, states, and media and assesses the conditions under which movements emerge and succeed. Prerequisite: 45 units. Students who have taken IS 329 or IS 419 with this topic, or IS 439 may not take this course for further credit.
Examines ideas and practices that affect experiences of forced migration and responses to these situations. What does it mean to live as a refugee? And what needs to change to alleviate the hardships and suffering of so many displaced people? Prerequisite: 45 units. Students who have taken IS 329 with this topic may not take this course for further credit.
Examines "International Development" within a series of historical frames, including the history of imperialism, the history of international relations, globalization, and the cultural and intellectual history of North-South relations. Prerequisite: 45 units. Students who have credit for HIST 358 may not take IS 358 for further credit.
Examines "International Development" within a series of historical frames, including the history of imperialism, the history of international relations, globalization, and the cultural and intellectual history of North-South relations. Prerequisite: 45 units, including six units of lower division history. Students who have credit for IS 358 may not take HIST 358 for further credit.
Section | Instructor | Day/Time | Location |
---|---|---|---|
D100 |
Bidisha Ray |
May 12 – Aug 8, 2025: Tue, 11:30 a.m.–2:20 p.m.
|
Burnaby |
Explores how digital technology is transforming societies, political systems, and economies around the world. Examines the origins of surveillance and data assessment and the political, economic, and ethical challenges automated technologies present by focusing on contemporary cases and their effects in communities around the world. Prerequisite: 45 units. Students with credit for IS 319 under this topic may not take this course for further credit.
Examines international efforts to respond to global environmental challenges, such as climate change, deforestation, and the degradation of the oceans. Investigates obstacles to effective action and possible ways forward. Explores the role of a range of key actors, including states, intergovernmental organizations, multinational companies, NGOs, and social movements. Prerequisite: 45 units.
Examines the causes of civil wars throughout history, as well as the different ways scholars have approached them. Explores recent trends in civil wars and potential solutions. Prerequisite: 45 units. Students with credit for IS 409 under the title "Civil Wars" may not take this course for further credit.
Explores how cities around the world have been segregated on the basis of class, race, gender, etc. Examines the causes and consequences of, and resistance to, urban segregation, focusing on diverse cities in different regions such as Africa, Latin America, North America, the Middle East, etc. Prerequisite: 45 units.
Examines how states engage with the global security architecture to address a range of contemporary security challenges. Taking a comparative perspective, we investigate key actors’ involvement with regional and international institutions such as the UN, NATO, and the EU. Issues may include disinformation, cybersecurity, outer space security, trafficking, and terrorism. Prerequisite: 45 units. Students who have taken IS 409 with this topic may not take this course for further credit.
Specific details of courses to be offered will be published prior to enrollment each term. Prerequisite: 45 units.
The quality of institutions' exercises a crucial influence on the prospects for development. Aims are to interrogate this claim through analysis of different paths of economic growth and change across the developing world. Examination of the ways in which politics influences economic growth and distribution; the relationships between political systems and patterns of development; and the politics of institutions and state formation. Prerequisite: 90 units.
Critically considers why and how international development has been, and might be, pursued. Includes study of histories of development, theories of development, as well as policies, practices, different perspectives and outcomes of development. Prerequisite: 45 units. Students who have taken IS 429 with this topic may not take this course for further credit.
Analyzes the origins and the economic consequences of globalization and the uneven process of economic development around the world in relation to poverty, by considering the measurement of poverty, its causes and dynamics, as well as public policy for poverty reduction. Prerequisite: 45 units.
In this intensive seminar, we compare political actions and social movements of indigenous peoples across several countries: analyze development of these movements over time; and discuss factors affecting the timing, reception, intensity and nature of these politics. Students write research papers on topics they develop. Prerequisite: SA 101 or 150 or 201W.
Explores how texts travel beyond their cultures of origin, influence other cultural contexts and ideas, and become works of world literature. Introduces the concepts of cross-cultural literary criticism and translation. Breadth-Humanities.
Explores the relationship between Eastern and Western narratives. The focus may include the mutual influence of Eastern and Western cultural traditions and modernities, the construction of the 'East' in the West and of the 'West' in the East, theories of Orientalism and Occidentalism, and forms of East/West syncretism. This course may be repeated once for credit when different topics are offered. Breadth-Humanities.
Investigates cross-cultural interactions between European or North American traditions and those of the "global South." May explore themes such as empire, globalization, and modernity, or examine how the artistic achievements of Africa, Oceania, Latin-America, or South Asia influence other traditions. This course may be repeated once for credit when different tonics are offered. Breadth-Humanities.
Explores the tendencies of globalization in the cultural realm, which while sparking cross-border communication, also tends to flatten identities into a coercive global norm. Focuses on writing in contexts of political oppression, digital communities, censorship, cultural displacement, terrorism and/or warfare. Prerequisite: 45 units. Breadth-Humanities.
Juxtaposes the narratives of imperial conquest and colonial resistance. May focus on one particular imperial history or compare several. May feature narratives of rebellion and independence, national and/or postcolonial identity, or imperial nostalgia. This course may be repeated for credit when different topics are offered. Prerequisite: 45 units. Breadth-Humanities.
Up to six units of foreign language study, or French, may be used towards the certificate.