Ohio Wesleyan's interdisciplinary Global Studies Institute is the collaborative hub where scholars from the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and fine arts converge to explore ideas and issues that span national boundaries, tackle challenges from many perspectives, and develop solutions for real world problems.
The Global Studies Institute is committed to the creation and dissemination of scholarship related to international issues. The institute fosters scholarship on global issues by linking all of OWU's international programs and initiatives across the University. The institute also coordinates the competitive Global Scholars Program, in which a number of high-achieving students take special classes, receive funds for global projects, complete a faculty-supervised thesis, and graduate with a global certificate.
As a Black World Studies major, you learn different perspectives on the history and culture of Africa and its diasporas in Central, North, and South America as well as the Caribbean and elsewhere. Your understanding of Black World Studies will help prepare you for careers in fields such as education, social work, journalism, law, and community service.
You’ll take a minimum of seven courses plus language courses. You must complete six semesters of language instruction in Chinese or Japanese. In addition, a semester or summer abroad is required. You must also complete a senior thesis as an independent study or an extension of a course.
The major's 13 courses include core courses, an independent study, and a variety of electives across departments. If you are interested in a career or studying environmental studies at the graduate level, then you are encouraged to take additional courses in the natural sciences, including chemistry.
As an International Business major, you combine economics and business studies with valuable courses in other departments as you prepare for a career abroad or for work in which a knowledge of other cultures and languages is especially valuable. This major includes a semester abroad in a student-selected area of study.
You’ll study a core curriculum that includes global issues, international economics, and international politics. You’re encouraged to study at least one foreign language and spend at least one semester studying or interning abroad. An integrative senior seminar will help tie everything together.
Latin American Studies is an interdisciplinary program focused especially on the region's politics, history and culture. The major provides students with the solid liberal arts skills useful in most professions, as well as specialized language and knowledge desirable for a career related to the region of Latin America. In addition, majors are well suited to pursue graduate education in the social sciences, humanities, law, and business.
There is a great need for diplomats, business leaders, social service providers, and others who understand the languages, cultures, and politics of the Middle East. OWU's foundation in the liberal arts provides an ideal environment for Middle Eastern Studies, where students study religion, art, culture, literature, history, language, politics, economics, and philosophy.
Many students see urban studies as an extension of public service. The program includes courses in geography, economics, sociology, politics, government, and humanities.
The Women’s & Gender Studies major is an interdisciplinary program that examines how historical and current constructions of gender impact society. You examine women’s issues, the role that constructions of gender play in shaping our thinking and social institutions, and the relationship between gender and other aspects of identity, including race, class, age, religion, and sexuality.
From your first year on campus, you can get off campus—with Travel-Learning Courses. Journey to a distant land and immerse yourself in another culture. Learn how classroom theory truly connects with real-world experience.
A Theory-to-Practice Grant could fund your original research, internship, or creative project anywhere in the world. Recent grants have funded projects ranging from studying the literary politics of Ireland, to exploring sustainable tropical agriculture in Ecuador, to building rapport between cultures while interning with the East Meets West Foundation in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Immerse yourself in a new culture for a full semester. Learn and work in the New York arts scene. Conduct social research in Tanzania. Or learn in one of Spain's historic universities.
Professor Arnold says, “I study and teach about the Middle Ages because connecting to the distant past can help us empathize with those whose cultures, religions, and worldviews are different than ours. Plus castles are fun.”
Professor Nathan Amador Rowley says, “From Greenland to Costa Rica, with Ohio Wesleyan in between, we investigate the effects of climate change across the world’s ecosystems.”
Professor Baskes says, “Teaching the history of Latin America is rewarding because students are awakened to its fascinating past, which is essential for those hoping to understand the region in modern times.”
Professor Fink focuses his teaching in the general areas of health behavior and health promotion, food studies, and qualitative inquiry. In 2015, he was a delegate at the "We Feed the People" expo in Milan, Italy.
Professor Chen says, “Pacific Asia is part of the world. To study Pacific Asia, therefore, is to better understand the world.”
Professor Comorau’s specialty is postcolonial British literature. She is working on a book on postcolonial reworkings of canonical novels. She has traveled with students on numerous occasions to England, Ireland, and New York.
Professor Kay is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Eisenhower Institute in Washington, D.C., specializing in international security. He specializes in international politics, international security, international organizations, and U.S. foreign and defense policy.
Professor Twesigye teaches courses in African traditional religion and Western culture.
Founded in 1988, the Ohio Wesleyan Spanish Program at the University of Salamanca allows students to spend a semester at one of Europe’s oldest universities (founded in 1218), taking classes from University of Salamanca professors and enjoying field trips and other academic, cultural, and social opportunities, while living with host families.
The Ohio Wesleyan in Tanzania Program gives you an intensive first-hand experience of another culture by exposing you to the political, economic, and social realities of life in 21st-century East Africa. You have the opportunity to do social research in a foreign work field setting. From the traveling and home-stay experience, you will learn a great deal about yourself and this fascinating country.
The Wesleyan in Washington Program is an intensive, full-time internship experience. The program matches you with internship placements that precisely reflect your interests and professional goals. Internships are available at organizations such as the Brookings Institution, Center for International Policy, Foreign Policy Research Institute, and United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.