Chairperson:Torunn Haaland
The department offers one major and one minor:
Bachelor of Arts, International Studies major (required Regional and Thematic concentrations)
Minor in International Studies (required Regional or Thematic concentration)
Gonzaga University’s International Studies is an interdisciplinary program that focuses on the interconnected and interdependent processes shaping the contemporary world. The International Studies program promotes the College of Arts and Sciences’ mission to engage in holistic, active learning and to connect our students’ passions and their academic disciplines through innovative and integrative educational experiences. While students will acquire historical and cultural knowledge, they will build linguistic proficiency relevant to a geographically defined region, and develop an understanding of the larger structures and mechanisms that organize the world.
Given its multidisciplinary orientation program encourages students to examine local and global issues through a diverse set of perspectives and methodologies. Students who major or minor in International Studies learn to reflect on the socio-economic and cultural position from which they engage local and global communities. The program challenges students to assume the ethical and social responsibilities associated with global citizenship, to cultivate global perspectives and enable global engagement, and to foster an ability to analyze and engage insightfully with local and global cultures to help create a more sustainable, participatory, and equitable world.
Mission Statement:
The primary objective of the International Studies program is to develop students’ capacity to recognize the increasingly interdependent nature of today’s world and to assess the processes, systems, and structures that interconnect local and global communities. To this end, students must become knowledgeable about global systems as well as regional realities. They must also learn to examine complex issues through the application of interdisciplinary theories and methodologies and to communicate effectively the results of their independent research. Students are further expected to achieve proficiency in a language that augments their regional studies and are strongly encouraged to participate in experiential learning, especially through internships and study abroad/away programs. Ultimately, the program aims to prepare students to act and interact in social and professional settings with the intercultural awareness and social responsibility of global citizens.
The International Studies major and minor are composed of four main components: foundational courses; a Regional concentration; a Thematic concentration; and proficiency in a language spoken in the student's selected Regional concentration. Students should choose their language and concentrations with assistance from a faculty advisor to ensure a timely and appropriate degree completion.
B.A. Major in International Studies: 42-58 credits**(~depends upon starting point of required language study)
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International Studies Foundational Courses |
18 Credits |
| INST 201 Introduction to International Studies |
3 credits |
| ECON 201 Microeconomics |
3 credits |
| POLS 104 Introduction to International Relations^ |
3 credits |
| SOCI 101 Introduction to Sociology w/Global Focus* |
3 credits |
| INST 432 CIS Global Migration |
3 credits |
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Select one of the following courses: |
3 credits |
| HIST 102 The West and the World |
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| HIST 112 World History |
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*SOCI 101 Introduction to Sociology with a Global Focus will be offered regularly. Students must consult their advisor to make sure that they register for the designated section. In exceptional cases of unresolvable scheduling conflicts or if the course is not offered, other sections of SOCI 101 may be accepted for the completion of this requirement. |
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“In exceptional cases of unresolvable scheduling conflicts, this requirement may with prior approval from the INST Chair be fulfilled by POLS 103 Introduction to Comparative Politics. |
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Language Requirement for pursuing a major in International Studies:
All International Studies majors are required to take (6) credits at the 300-level or higher in a modern language other than English. Students may need to take language courses at the 100 or 200 level, depending on their previous studies of the language and where they are placed in the sequence of courses.
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Language Requirement |
6 credits |
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300-level language courses |
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NOTE: If a given language is only offered through the 202 level, students may, with prior approval from the International Studies Department Chair, complete their upper-division language courses abroad or at another approved domestic institution. If no such alternative is feasible, students may, with the Department Chair’s prior approval, take two semesters of a second language that is relevant to their course of study. Transfer students who have not previously studied a language will be required to complete courses through the 202 level.
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Required concentrations: |
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Students must select two concentrations |
18 credits |
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one Regional concentration and one Thematic concentration: |
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Regional Concentrations (select one Region) |
9 credits |
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Africa |
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Asia |
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Europe |
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Latin America |
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Middle East |
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Thematic concentrations (select one Theme) |
9 credits | |
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International Political Economy |
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Interconnections between political and economic forces; their influences of social, material resource distribution. |
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War and Peace |
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Militarized conflict context and causes and how people, states, civilizations are affected. |
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Global and Intercultural Connections |
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Examines aspects of global issues, from multiple views, comparisons, analyze intercultural connection framework. |
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Select nine (9) credits from one Regional concentration and nine (9) credits from one Thematic concentration from the following lists: |
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Regional Concentration (select from one region): |
9 credits |
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Africa (Arabic, French languages) |
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| INST 311 African History Through Film |
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| INST 340 African Nationalism |
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| INST 341 African Environmental History |
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| INST 363 Colonial Africa |
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| INST 364 Health and Healing in Africa |
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| INST 390 African Politics and Development |
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| INST 399 Region Studies Abroad |
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Asia (Chinese, Japanese, Tagalog languages) |
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| INST 325 Post-Soviet Russia and China |
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| INST 330 Religions of Asia |
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| INST 333 Buddhism |
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| INST 355 The Politics of Eurasia |
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| INST 360 Japanese Culture I |
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| INST 361 Japanese Culture II |
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| INST 373 Modern East Asian Society |
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| INST 375 Modern Japan |
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| INST 384 Foundations of East Asian Civilization |
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| INST 389 Politics of the Pacific Rim |
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| INST 396 Chinese Philosophy |
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| INST 399 Region Studies Abroad |
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| INST 497 Internship in International Studies |
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Europe(French, German, Italian, Spanish languages) |
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| INST 331 World War II |
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| INST 334 Russia and USSR since 1945 |
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| INST 337 The Stalin Era |
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| INST 339 French Cinema |
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| INST 348 20th-Century Northern Ireland |
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| INST 357 Italian Political System (Florence) |
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| INST 393 New Europe |
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| INST 395 Comparative European Politics |
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| INST 397 Nazi Germany |
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| INST 399 Region Studies Abroad |
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| INST 415 Spanish Cinema |
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| INST 416 The Italian Cinema |
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| INST 497 Internship in International Studies |
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Latin America (Spanish language) |
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| INST 315 Latin American Society |
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| INST 316 Latin Amer Pre-Hispan, 19th C. Lit | |
| INST 369 Revolutions in Modern Latin America |
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| INST 372 Colonial Latin America |
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| INST 377 Mexico |
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| INST 385 Latin American Politics |
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| INST 399 Region Studies Abroad |
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| INST 406 Narrative Fiction in Spanish America |
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| INST 414 Latin American Cinema |
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| INST 497 Internship in International Studies |
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Middle East (Arabic language) |
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| INST 367 Arab-Israeli Conflict | |
| INST 368 Islamic Civilization |
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| INST 399 Region Studies Abroad |
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| INST 497 Internship in International Studies |
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Thematic Concentration (select from one theme): |
9 credits |
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International Political Economy |
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| ECON 202 Macroeconomics |
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| INST 343 Global Economic Issues |
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| INST 344 International Organizations |
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| INST 345 International Law |
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| INST 366 Topics: International Political Economy |
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| INST 497 Internship in International Studies |
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| INST 370 Model UN |
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War and Peace |
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| INST 344 International Organizations` |
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| INST 345 International Law` |
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| INST 379 Topics: War and Peace` |
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| INST 397 Nazi Germany` |
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| INST 497 Internship in International Studies |
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Global and Intercultural Connections |
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| INST 304 Interreligious Dialogue |
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| INST 305 Religion and Violence |
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| INST 350 International Ethics |
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| INST 371 The Modern Pacific World | |
| INST 378 Topics: Global and Intercultural Connections |
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| INST 497 Internship in International Studies |
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Language Requirement for pursuing a minor in International Studies:
Students starting a language not studied previously are required to complete language courses 101 and 102. Students continuing in the study of a second language from high school are required to complete (or demonstrate proficiency at) the 201 level.
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Required Concentration: |
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Select a Regional Concentration OR a Thematic Concentration |
9 credits |
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Regional Concentration |
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Africa |
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Asia |
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Europe |
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Latin America |
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Middle East |
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Thematic concentration |
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International Political Economy |
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Interconnections between political and economic forces; their influences of social, material resource distribution. |
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War and Peace |
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Militarized conflict context and causes and how people, states, civilizations are affected. |
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Global and Intercultural Connections |
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Examines aspects of global issues, from multiple views, comparisons, analyze intercultural connection framework. |
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Select nine credits from one Regional concentration OR nine credits from one Thematic concentration: |
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See concentration course lists above, in the International Studies major. |
NOTE: Courses taken abroad or at other domestic institutions must be pre-approved by the Department Chair to count toward degree requirements. Students may double-count a maximum of three courses between International Studies and degree requirements for a second major or minor. Electives may not be used to fulfill any other degree requirement.
Lower Division
Topics determined by instructor.
Topic to be determined by faculty.
The First-Year Seminar (FYS) introduces new Gonzaga students to the University, the Core Curriculum, and Gonzaga’s Jesuit mission and heritage. While the seminars will be taught by faculty with expertise in particular disciplines, topics will be addressed in a way that illustrates approaches and methods of different academic disciplines. The seminar format of the course highlights the participatory character of university life, emphasizing that learning is an active, collegial process.
This course provides an introduction to the multi-disciplinary field of International Studies. Required for all International Studies majors and minors. Recommended for any first or second year student from any program of study with an interest in international affairs.
Selected International Studies topics of current and special interest.
Topic to be determined by faculty.
Upper Division
Special topics which are offered on occasion as full semester courses by faculty members from the various disciplines which make up the International Studies Program. Such courses focus on subjects of current or special interests which are not normally a part of the regular curriculum and focus on international differences (e.g., cultural, political, economic) and particular regions of the world. (topic must pertain to region of Major/Minor Study).
Special topics which are offered on occasion as full semester courses by faculty members from the various disciplines which make up the International Studies Program. Such courses focus on subjects of current or special interests which are not normally a part of the regular curriculum and focus on international interactions among nations and/or organizations, international law, treaties, etc.
Investigates the imperative of Christianity and other world religions to engage in respectful dialogue and mutual understanding, exposes pressing practical issues such as religious violence and divisive ideologies, and proposes a comparative theological perspective highlighting spiritual engagement, moral responsibility and reconciliation.
Equivalent:
RELI 334 - OK if taken since Fall 2020
SOSJ 365 - OK if taken since Spring 2016
SOSJ 365 - OK if taken since Spring 2016
In today's world of alarming growth in sectarianism, radicalization, and terrorism across many continents, does religion simply give rise to human division or, is it- as some say - peaceful? This course not merely studies religious violence, it responds to it and encourages Gonzaga students to think with and beyond a variety of disciplines to develop their own skills of interpretation. Offered every year.
Equivalent:
RELI 366 - OK if taken since Fall 2020
Focus on political development in the Third World. After examining the making of the Third World through imperialism and colonialism, analyzes key political institutions (the state, political parties, the military), international economic context of dependency and vulnerability. Several case studies follow a common analytical framework to trace experiences with democratic and authoritarian rule and assess the underlying causes of democratic success and failure.
Equivalent:
POLS 359 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
SOSJ 329 - OK if taken since Fall 2017
SOSJ 329 - OK if taken since Fall 2017
This course explores African history by examining the roles that Africans have played historically as creators, audiences, and subjects of films. Using both film studies and African studies concepts, the course interrogates African film as both artifacts and interpretations of the past.
Prerequisite:
HIST 102 Minimum Grade: D
Equivalent:
HIST 342 - OK if taken since Fall 2024
An overview of Latin American development. Several socio-economic factors are examined. Development issues are broadly conceptualized within economic, demographic, and cultural dimensions. These variables are viewed as overlapping forces influencing development. International Differences elective.
Equivalent:
SOCI 322 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
An introduction to the literature of the Spanish-speaking Americas. The texts students will read range from pre-Hispanic times until the end of the nineteenth century. During the semester, students will explore the various voices that arise from the Americas and how they present themselves in different genres such as: diary, chronicle, letter, essay, poetry, short story, and novel. (Taught in Spanish). Fall, alternate years.
Prerequisite:
SPAN 302 Minimum Grade: D
Equivalent:
SPAN 307 - OK if taken between Fall 2001 and Summer 2020
SPAN 323 - OK if taken since Fall 2020
SPAN 323 - OK if taken since Fall 2020
Introduction to the major trends and authors of Latin America during the contemporary period, starting at the end of the 19th Century and concluding with present-day works. (Taught in Spanish). Spring, alternate years.
Prerequisite:
SPAN 302 Minimum Grade: D
or SPAN 320 Minimum Grade: D
Equivalent:
SPAN 308 - OK if taken between Spring 2001 and Summer 2020
SPAN 324 - OK if taken since Fall 2020
SPAN 324 - OK if taken since Fall 2020
Communication is the central means for contesting and reconfiguring structural forms of power relations among social groups, and this class focuses on power dynamics and imbalances across social institutions such as law, education, medicine, economics, media, and religion. Students engage the concepts of hegemony (the production of consent for dominant power relationships) and counter-hegemony (the struggle against dominant social arrangements). As such, the course invites students to consider the interplay of communication, culture, and social institutions in maintaining, resisting, and transforming the persistent inequalities of power and disproportionate distribution of cultural and political capital. Fall.
Prerequisite:
COMM 210 Minimum Grade: C
and COMM 220 Minimum Grade: C
and (COMM 275 Minimum Grade: C
or COMM 285 Minimum Grade: C)
Equivalent:
COMM 320 - OK if taken since Fall 2018
Focus on the pre-1985 Soviet political system; how Gorbachev's six-year reform program led to the unraveling of the Soviet Union; and the difficult transition to democracy and a market economy in post-Soviet Russia. Similarly, study contrasts of Maoist China with the uneasy mixture of economic reform and political repression coexisting in China today.
Equivalent:
POLS 355 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
Compares the lives of women around the world: their public and private roles and responsibilities, positions in government, the economy, and the private sphere. Seeks to explain women's status differences in various regions and societies by looking at the influence of culture, religion, economics, and politics.
Equivalent:
POLS 363 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
WGST 342 - OK if taken since Fall 2009
WGST 342 - OK if taken since Fall 2009
This survey course introduces the following Asian religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto. We examine the teachings of these Asian traditions in the context of their diverse cultural and historical settings. We also consider how these Asian religions have adapted to fit the contemporary world and how they have influenced popular culture. Offered every semester.
Equivalent:
RELI 259 - OK if taken since Fall 2020
Everyday encounters with physical surroundings guide our orientations to the world. As we wander city streets, shopping malls, stadiums, nature preserves, sacred sites, restaurants, monuments, museums, and classroooms, we examine how we move in, and are moved by the material arenas we share. Spatial organization and built environments inform our habits of perception, determine the meaning of a particular place, accent what is worth attention and what might be overlooked, and reaffirm dominant norms and power relationships in public culture. Charts, maps, apps, and other navigational tools dictate where and how we move, and how we understand our roles within a given space. Featuring the experiential dimensions of rhetoric and communication, this course presses us to consider how material spaces and places construct everyday geographies. Spring.
Prerequisite:
COMM 210 Minimum Grade: C
and (COMM 275 Minimum Grade: C
or COMM 285 Minimum Grade: C)
Equivalent:
COMM 330 - OK if taken since Fall 2018
ENVS 328 - OK if taken since Fall 2024
ENVS 328 - OK if taken since Fall 2024
Introduction to Buddhism examines the historical and cultural contexts in which Buddhist beliefs and practices were developed in Asia and how they spread to the West. We also study how, throughout history, Buddhism has adapted to a changing world. Offered every other semester.
Equivalent:
RELI 264 - OK if taken since Fall 2020
This course may be considered an autopsy on the Soviet empire. Its themes include: "developed" socialism under Stalin's successors; the rise and decline of the Soviet economy; the Cold War; the Soviet Union's nationalities issues; the impact of Gorbachev's reforms; and the collapse of the USSR. The course will also consider the domestic and foreign policy challenges faced by Yeltsin and Putin after 1991.
Equivalent:
HIST 334 - OK if taken since Spring 2020
This course focuses on the dictatorship of Josef Stalin from the late 1920s until his death in 1953. Its main topics include: Stalin's consolidation of personal rule; the impact of crash industrialization and agricultural collectivization; Stalinist terror; the Soviet experience in World War II; the worldwide influence of the Soviet model after the war; and the legacy of Stalinism in Russia.
Equivalent:
HIST 337 - OK if taken since Spring 2020
A study of French cinema as it has evolved in the last two decades. The films viewed will be used as a means to encourage reflection on the history, ideas and values that have gone into the making of modern France. The course is offered in English and French in separate sections. For students who take the English section of the course through the INST cross-listing, there is no French pre-requisite. Spring.
Equivalent:
FREN 331 - Successful completion
This course will examine African countries' internal histories as they transitioned from colony to nation from the 1940s through the 1990s. While not ignoring the roles played by colonial masters and indigenous elites, the course's main focus is on how ordinary men and women shaped these processes.
Equivalent:
HIST 341 - OK if taken since Spring 2021
This course explores the long-term history of Africans' dynamic interactions with their environments by interrogating how African environmental realities and Africans' conceptions of the environment shaped broader political, social and economic histories. Beginning in the precolonial period, we will trace how climatic variation, political and economic changes in the colonial period, and post-independence priorities transformed Africans' relationships with their environments.
Equivalent:
ENVS 343 - OK if taken since Fall 2021
HIST 345 - OK if taken since Fall 2021
HIST 345 - OK if taken since Fall 2021
Theory and practice of the international political system and the behavior of the participating nations. Taught only at Gonzaga-in-Florence.
Equivalent:
POLS 351 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
This course is a presentation of a broad range of global economic issues and policies relevant to a number of disciplines including business, political science, and international studies. Topics include: why nations trade, international trade and economic growth, protectionism, discriminatory trade policies, the foreign exchange market, factor mobility, and comparative economic systems. Fall and Spring.
Prerequisite:
ECON 201 Minimum Grade: D
or ECON 270H Minimum Grade: D
or ECON 200 Minimum Grade: D
or ECON 207H Minimum Grade: D
Equivalent:
ECON 311 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
Examines why international organizations exist and whether they make a difference in solving global problems. Questions to be addressed include: Where does their power come from? Why are some designed differently than others? Why do countries use international organizations to achieve their goals? Are they effective? Practical knowledge about the major ones such as the U.N., European Union, World Trade Organization, and NGOs. Their successes and failures about specific global problems such as conflict, human rights and development.
Equivalent:
POLS 376 - OK if taken since Spring 2010
International law with an international relations focus. How and why international treaties and other sources of international laws are created; actors who create, interpret, and enforce them. Structures for increasing compliance and their effectiveness. Variety of major international treaties and laws: war, sea, trade, and human rights.
Equivalent:
POLS 371 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
Parliamentary or Cabinet government contrasted with the American government. Focus on disciplined parties, prime ministers, civil servants, and elected politicians, written and unwritten constitutional rules, parliamentary supremacy and rights-based politics. Usually features Canada but draws examples from Great Britain, New Zealand, India, and Australia.
Equivalent:
POLS 360 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
Examines international treaties: why they exist, origins of their power, different designs, uses made of them, effectiveness. Covers such examples as NATO, NAFTA, Kyoto Protocol. Their successes and failures about specific problems. International Interactions elective.
Equivalent:
POLS 377 - OK if taken since Fall 2011
This course explores the troubled history of Northern Ireland from the perspective of the two communities that live within it, as well as that of the British and Irish governments. It examines key events in Northern Ireland's recent history such as Bloody Sunday, internment, the murder of Lord Mountbatten, the hunger strikes, the Enniskillen and Omagh bombings, and the steps to the Peace Process The course emphasizes how peace has been achieved in the wake of the "Troubles" as it examines whether the Good Friday Agreement can offer lessons to other conflict zones around the world.
Equivalent:
CATH 334 - OK if taken since Fall 2024
HIST 322 - OK if taken since Fall 2020
HIST 322 - OK if taken since Fall 2020
The moral structure of the international community in the context of problems such as war, foreign aid, and transnational migration.
Equivalent:
PHIL 453 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
The ways we remember our collective past influence our present and shape our futures. This course examines how we rhetorically construct and struggle over social memory through public remembrances of historical events via war memorials, film and documentary, commemorative celebrations, reenactments, monuments, and museum exhibits. Students extend rhetorical and visual theoretical concepts and methods to evaluate sites of public memory and the social and cultural politics shaping the construction of memory. Fall.
Prerequisite:
COMM 210 Minimum Grade: C
and COMM 220 Minimum Grade: C
and (COMM 275 Minimum Grade: C
or COMM 285 Minimum Grade: C)
Equivalent:
COMM 350 - OK if taken since Fall 2018
We will begin by developing our understanding of democracy and then proceed to explore the political, economic and social development of several countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia over time. What explains the various fates of the countries in this region? Political culture/history? Political agency? Proximity to "the West" and diffusion of norms?
Equivalent:
POLS 369 - OK if taken since Fall 2014
This course will introduce you to the history of the United States in its global context. In order to situate the United States within its world, this course explores the interconnections between domestic beliefs, national policy, and international events.
Equivalent:
HIST 368 - OK if taken since Fall 2014
This course is designed to introduce students to fundamental Japanese culture. Some of the areas covered by this course will be human relations at work and in school, etiquette, customs, traditions and social issues. (This course will be taught in English).
Equivalent:
JPNE 350 - OK if taken since Fall 2001
This course focuses on Japanese values, attitudes and behaviors. The students will learn strategies for communication with Japanese people. (This course will be taught in English).
Equivalent:
JPNE 351 - OK if taken since Spring 2001
This course is designed thematically and aims to acquaint students with important aspects of Chinese culture. The course will help students better understand modern China, which is shaped by five thousand years of tradition and interaction with the world. Topics include: contemporary china, brief history, religion and philosophy, and art and literature. The course assumes no previous knowledge of China or the Chinese language and will be taught in English.
This course examines the colonial period through the lived realities of Africans themselves. In particular, it considers the ways in which African and colonial systems of economics, politics, gender, and community were brought into dynamic tension during the decades of colonial rule.
Equivalent:
HIST 343 - OK if taken since Fall 2021
This class interrogates how African understandings of health and practices of healing transformed from the precolonial through the post-independence periods. In particular, we will study the interrelationship between health and politics in African thought, the integration of western biomedicine into African systems of healing, and the changing disease landscape of capitalism, colonialism, and globalization.
Equivalent:
HIST 344 - OK if taken since Fall 2021
This course will examine questions pertinent to International Political Economy according to the criteria for inclusion in the "International and Political Economy" courses.
Equivalent:
POLS 373 - OK if taken between Fall 2004 and Summer 2021
Why is there an Arab-Israeli conflict? The question is much-discussed but not very often answered. Comprehensive effort to understand that question as well as the intense political debates surrounding it. Interdisciplinary, touching on the historical, political, and sociological origins and trajectory of the conflict. Spring.
Equivalent:
POLS 373 - OK if taken since Spring 2022
Introduction to the history of Islamic civilization centering on the relationship of religion to society and culture; the origins of Islam; Islamic belief and practice; Islam, politics, and society; fine arts and intellectual developments; and Islam in the modern world. Offered every semester.
Equivalent:
RELI 253 - OK if taken since Fall 2020
This course examines the origins, emergence, process, and consequences of major Latin American social and political revolutions in the twentieth century. It will investigate a variety of types of revolutions including different urban and rural movements, as well as groups that sought radical change from high politics to the grass roots level.
Equivalent:
HIST 382 - OK if taken since Fall 2007
This course is designed to enhance the student delegates’ achievement of the learning objectives listed above through participation in simulations of various committees and other bodies of the United Nations. Through brief lectures, individual research and writing projects, in-class simulations, and participation in the National Model United Nations conference, students will gain an enhanced knowledge of global issues, a deeper understanding of what motivates state action, and an understanding of which factors facilitate or hinder cooperation. Students will also gain valuable writing, speaking, negotiating, and diplomatic skills. Enrollment by instructor permission only. Spring.
Equivalent:
POLS 379 - OK if taken since Fall 2022
This course brings together the histories of Asia, the Americas, and Oceania since the 18th century by examining how human migration in and throughout the Pacific region shaped and reshaped it over time. Investigating sojourners, merchants, laborers, soldiers, imperial administrators, colonial subjects, women, and business elites allows us to understand changes in economic exchange, political influence, geographic knowledge, racial beliefs, the rise and fall of empires, and the era of globalization.
Equivalent:
HIST 371 - OK if taken since Spring 2022
A survey of colonial Latin America that examines the contact, conflict, and accommodation among Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans that shaped colonial Latin America.
Equivalent:
HIST 380 - OK if taken since Fall 2007
NTAS 341 - OK if taken since Fall 2017
NTAS 341 - OK if taken since Fall 2017
This course is a focused survey of Chinese history from the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 B.C.) up to the present. Using the standard interpretive categories of politics, economics, society, and culture, the course will explore such topics as pre-imperial China; the Qin-Han consolidations and breakdowns; pre-modern Imperial China (Jin, Sui, Tang, Song, including inter-dynasty kingdoms); the Mongol (Yuan) dynasty; early modern and modern imperial China (Ming and Qing); and the Revolutionary periods of the twentieth century, including the Guomindang era, Maoism, and Post-Mao modernizations. Students who take this course for International Studies credit will be required to do an extra writing assignment that integrates the material of this course with their International Studies focus region. It is desired but not required that students will have taken HIST 112 World History prior to taking this course.
Equivalent:
HIST 372 - OK if taken since Fall 2022
This course is a focused survey of Japanese history from the Jomon Period (c. 14,000 B.C) up to the present. Using the standard interpretive categories of politics, economics, society, and culture, the course will explore such topics as the Jomon and Yayoi classical ages; the Yamato, Nara, and Heian aristocratic ages; the Kamakura, Ashikaga, and Tokugawa warrior ages, and the modern period from the Meiji Restoration through the twentieth century. Students who take this course for International Studies credit will be required to do an extra writing assignment that integrates the material of this course with their International Studies focus region. It is desired but not required that students will have taken History 112 World History ) prior to taking this course.
Equivalent:
HIST 373 - OK if taken since Fall 2022
A survey of Mexican history from the Aztec wars to the present.
Equivalent:
HIST 383 - OK if taken since Fall 2007
This course will examine questions of Global and Intercultural nature according to the criteria for inclusion in the "Global and Intercultural Interconnection" Thematic courses.
This course will examine questions of war and peace according to the criteria for inclusion in the "War and Peace" Thematic courses.
This course examines social change and its implications for individuals and groups at the local and global level, and offers sociological perspectives on the political, economic, and cultural processes of globalization throughout the world, including Asia, Latin America, North America, Africa and the Middle East. This course explores the historical development of global capitalism with a focus on the changing relationships between markets, states, and civil societies and analyzes the forces that promote and resist these changes including migration, state violence, and social movements. Questions of power and inequality will be central to our approach, as we explore global social change through the lens of world-systems theory, neoliberalism, and neo-institutionalism. Offered every other year.
Prerequisite:
HIST 102 Minimum Grade: D
or HIST 112 Minimum Grade: D
Equivalent:
SOCI 380 - OK if taken since Spring 2022
SOSJ 345 - OK if taken since Spring 2022
SOSJ 345 - OK if taken since Spring 2022
Through a study of Italian film, novels and nonfiction, this course will examine the phenomenon of organized crime in Italian society. In English. Special arrangements may be made for majors in Italian Studies and minors in Italian.
Equivalent:
ITAL 319 - OK if taken since Spring 2011
Focus on religious and ethical responses to issues arising in relation to globalization, and specifically, the topic of human rights.
Equivalent:
RELI 383 - OK if taken since Fall 2024
SOSJ 310 - OK if taken since Fall 2024
SOSJ 310 - OK if taken since Fall 2024
This course seeks to give students an understanding of the history and culture of pre-modern China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. After exploring the historical roots of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism in China, students will examine the ways in which these foundational philosophies helped form social, cultural, and political institutions in China and its neighbors. Students will also focus attention on the historical emergence of the Chinese imperial system, and its greatest pre-modern exemplars, the Qin, Han and T'ang dynasties. Not limiting the focus to China alone, students will also explore how the concept of China as the "middle kingdom" influenced the language, religion and political developments in Japan and Korea, leading to an authentic "macro-culture" in East Asia. The course will finish with a discussion of samurai culture and an analysis of how the Mongol conquests of Central and East Asia transformed the region, taking students to the threshold of the early modern period in Asia. It is desired but not required that students take HIST 112 prior to this course.
Equivalent:
HIST 370 - OK if taken since Fall 2007
Impressive contributions and drawbacks of the caudillo or leader in Latin American history, culture, and society, in the range of contemporary forms of government-democratic, dictatorial, revolutionary. Some treatment of U.S. foreign policy.
Equivalent:
POLS 352 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
Focus on the role played by the East Asian capitalist development states (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore) in the accelerated economic growth of the Pacific Rim; a consideration of the Philippines as a representative of ASEAN; finally, a brief look at the likely impact of this Pacific Basin dynamism on the USA, Russia, and the P.R.C.
Equivalent:
POLS 364 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
This is a course on the political economy of, largely, sub-Saharan Africa. Poverty is Africa’s overriding moral, economic, and political challenge. Topics treated include: state-society relations, civil society, institutions, incentives – political and economic, concepts and experiences of development, violence and ruling practices, trade and investment, urban and rural issues, formal and informal economies, social movements and political parties, inequality and justice, accountability of power, capacity building and corruption.
Equivalent:
POLS 365 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
Italian history from 1918 to 1945, including an examination of social and economic conditions in post-world war Italy, rise of the Fascist Party, the role of Benito Mussolini, the nature of fascist government in Italy, Italian imperialism under Mussolini, and the part played by Italy as an ally with Hitler's Germany.
Equivalent:
HIST 338 - OK if taken since Fall 2007
Between 1974 and 2000 more than fifty countries in Southern Europe, Latin America, East Asia, and Eastern Europe shifted from authoritarian to democratic systems of government. This course examines the causes and nature of these democratic transitions and investigates several case studies of democratic transitions in different areas of the world; in order to understand the factors responsible for the democratic trend and to ascertain which key variables best explain completed democratic transitions and democratic consolidation. Spring, alternate years.
Equivalent:
POLS 368 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
SOSJ 346 - OK if taken since Fall 2015
SOSJ 346 - OK if taken since Fall 2015
Studies the "new Europe" that has emerged since 1989 as integration through the European Union deepens and widens. Explores contemporary issues that European integration and globalization have fostered in the new Europe such as the resurgence of nationalism and extreme right-wing parties, the increased salience of local and regional identities, the need to build a supra-national European identity, increasing cultural diversity and the need to better manage immigration and migration, and Europe's place in the global economy and foreign affairs as it challenges American hegemony and seeks to continue to be a major player in world affairs.
Equivalent:
POLS 367 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
A general introduction to the history of the former colonies of Spain and Portugal in the western hemisphere. Topics include the rise of caudillos, rural developments, the emergence of liberal economic development, populism, banana republics, dictatorships, dirty wars, Marxist revolution, and contemporary predicaments.
Equivalent:
HIST 381 - OK if taken since Fall 2007
Survey of the parties, institutions, political processes, issues and policies of the major western European industrialized nations. Special focus on England, France, and Germany, but coverage extends to the other European democracies as well.
Equivalent:
FILM 344 - OK if taken since Fall 2023
POLS 354 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
POLS 354 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
A survey of the history of Chinese philosophy focusing on the Confucian tradition and taking other traditions such as Taoism and Buddhism into account.
Equivalent:
PHIL 434 - OK if taken since Fall 1996
This course examines German politics and society during the Weimar and Nazi periods. Its main emphasis is the relationship between the German people, Adolf Hitler, and the Nazi Party, and the impact that Nazism had on German society and institutions. The course further emphasizes the Nazi regime's foreign policy objectives as well as its racial goals, each of which found their fullest expression during World War II and the Holocaust. As these extremes aspect of the Third Reich pose the central problems of modern European history, students who complete this course will become familiar with the documents and historiography that inform the history of the Nazi era.
Equivalent:
HIST 329 - OK if taken since Fall 2007
Region study courses in politics, history, and economics taken abroad.
Critical analysis of vital global issues from the different perspectives of realists, idealists, and system-transformers. Exploration of competing worldviews and value systems, weighing of evidence from differing ideological, cultural, and gender perspectives. Introduces major analytical perspectives and organizing concepts fashioned by scholars to make these issues comprehensible.
Prerequisite:
INST 201 Minimum Grade: D
or INST 301 Minimum Grade: D
or POLS 350 Minimum Grade: D
Equivalent:
POLS 366 - OK if taken since Fall 2017
POLS 376 - OK if taken since Summer 2020
POLS 376 - OK if taken since Summer 2020
The novel and short story in Spanish America during the twentieth century.
Prerequisite:
SPAN 302 Minimum Grade: D
Equivalent:
SPAN 406 - OK if taken since Fall 2001
This course will focus on a series of representative Latin American films in order to explore issues of national formation and cultural identity. Emphasis will be given to the social, political, and economic factors which affect the production and reception of these films.
Prerequisite:
SPAN 302 Minimum Grade: D
Equivalent:
FILM 340 - OK if taken since Fall 2023
SPAN 416 - OK if taken since Spring 2010
SPAN 416 - OK if taken since Spring 2010
This course will provide an introduction to Spanish cinema through the study of film theory and representative films from different periods. Particular attention will be given to the historical, social, and cultural framework in the production and reception of those movies, as well as theories of authorship, gender, and national/cultural identity.
Prerequisite:
SPAN 302 Minimum Grade: D
Equivalent:
FILM 341 - OK if taken since Fall 2023
SPAN 415 - OK if taken since Fall 2001
SPAN 415 - OK if taken since Fall 2001
This course aims at presenting aspects of Italian society through film. In English. Special arrangements may be made for majors in Italian Studies and minors in Italian.
Equivalent:
ITAL 315 - OK if taken since Spring 2007
The study of communication and culture in a global world cannot and must not be apolitical, ahistorical, or blind to the messy entanglements of power and privilege. Therefore, this course will focus on the intersections between critical race theory, feminist theory, and critical intercultural communication in order to interrogate and examine the ways in which our social identities and locations affect the contexts of our lives including our opportunities, relationships, and overall understanding of the world. Specifically, this course will engage the work of Black Feminist scholars and ongoing scholarly conversations on intersectionality to analyze intercultural encounters and engagement. Fall.
Prerequisite:
COMM 320 Minimum Grade: C
or COMM 340 Minimum Grade: C
or COMM 370 Minimum Grade: C
Equivalent:
COMM 430 - OK if taken since Fall 2018
SOSJ 466 - OK if taken since Fall 2018
SOSJ 466 - OK if taken since Fall 2018
The Core Integration Seminar (CIS) engages the Year Four Question: “Imagining the possible: What is our role in the world?” by offering students a culminating seminar experience in which students integrate the principles of Jesuit education, prior components of the Core, and their disciplinary expertise. Each section of the course will focus on a problem or issue raised by the contemporary world that encourages integration, collaboration, and problem solving. The topic for each section of the course will be proposed and developed by each faculty member in a way that clearly connects to the Jesuit Mission, to multiple disciplinary perspectives, and to our students’ future role in the world.
Public expression and discourse can affirm, complicate, challenge, and even radically revolutionize our shared values and ideals over time. Arguments and symbolic actions in communal spaces prompt individuals and groups to re-think, re-develop, and re-establish potential modes of identity, participation, and interaction within a society. Students in this course will closely examine specific social movements (including, potentially, civil rights, gender rights, indigenous rights, and environmental movements) to better understand the plurality of voices and modes of public expression in dialogue and competition that contribute to, resist, and ultimately shape societal change. Students will then build upon historical knowledge and perspective to engage in an immersive study of an ongoing contemporary social controversy, ultimately creating an informed rhetorical intervention of their own, participating in the social issues and changes of the current day. Fall.
Prerequisite:
COMM 320 Minimum Grade: C
or COMM 340 Minimum Grade: C
or COMM 350 Minimum Grade: C
Equivalent:
COMM 440 - OK if taken since Fall 2018
Selected International Studies topics of current and special interest.
Credit by arrangement for directed reading and reports on selected topics.
Topic to be determined by instructor.
Internship with organization with an international dimension, e.g., political or economic policy organizations, think tank or advocacy organizations; public or foreign policy organizations; human services, non-profit, or charitable organizations.
In addition to their major and minor areas of study, all undergraduate students follow a common program designed to complete their education in those areas that the University considers essential for a Catholic, Jesuit, liberal, and humanistic education. The University Core Curriculum consists of forty-five credits of course work, with additional designation requirements that can be met through core, major, or elective courses.
The University Core Curriculum is a four-year program, organized around one overarching question, which is progressively addressed through yearly themes and questions. Hence, core courses are best taken within the year for which they are designated. First year core courses encourage intellectual engagement and provide a broad foundation of fundamental skills. Second and third year courses examine central issues and questions in philosophy and religious studies. The fourth year course, the Core Integration Seminar, offers a culminating core experience. Taken at any time throughout the four years, broadening courses intersect with the core themes and extend students’ appreciation for the humanities, arts, and social and behavioral sciences. Finally, the designation requirements (writing enriched, global studies, and social justice) reflect important values and reinforce students’ knowledge and competencies.
Overarching Core Question: As students of a Catholic, Jesuit, and Humanistic University, how do we educate ourselves to become women and men for a more just and humane global community?
Year 1 Theme and Question: Understanding and Creating: How do we pursue knowledge and cultivate understanding?
- The First-Year Seminar (DEPT 193, 3 credits): The First-Year Seminar (FYS), taken in the fall or spring of the first year, is designed to promote an intellectual shift in students as they transition to college academic life. Each small seminar is organized around an engaging topic, which students explore from multiple perspectives. The FYS is offered by many departments across the University (click here [PDF] for list of FYS courses).
- Writing (ENGL 101, 3 credits) and Reasoning (PHIL 101, 3 credits): The Writing and Reasoning courses are designed to help students develop the foundational skills of critical reading, thinking, analysis, and writing. They may be taken as linked sections. Writing (ENGL 101) carries one of the three required writing-enriched designations (see below).
- Communication & Speech (COMM 100, 3 credits): This course introduces students to interpersonal and small group communication and requires the application of critical thinking, reasoning, and research skills necessary to organize, write, and present several speeches.
- Scientific Inquiry (BIOL 104/104L, CHEM 104/104L, or PHYS 104/104L, 3 credits): This course explores the scientific process in the natural world through evidence-based logic and includes significant laboratory experience. Students pursuing majors that require science courses will satisfy this requirement through their major.
- Mathematics (above Math 100, 3 credits): Mathematics courses promote thinking according to the modes of the discipline—abstractly, symbolically, logically, and computationally. One course in mathematics, above Math 100, including any math course required for a major or minor, will fulfill this requirement. MATH 100 (College Algebra) and courses without the MATH prefix do not fulfill this requirement.
Year 2 Theme and Question: Being and Becoming: Who are we and what does it mean to be human?
- Philosophy of Human Nature (PHIL 201, 3 credits): This course provides students with a philosophical study of key figures, theories, and intellectual traditions that contribute to understanding the human condition; the meaning and dignity of human life; and the human relationship to ultimate reality.
- Christianity and Catholic Traditions (RELI, 3 credits). Religious Studies core courses approved for this requirement explore diverse topics including Christian scriptures, history, theology, and practices as well as major contributions from the Catholic intellectual and theological traditions (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses) .
Year 3 Theme and Question: Caring and Doing: What principles characterize a well lived life?
- Ethics (PHIL 301 or RELI, 3 credits): The Ethics courses are designed to help students develop their moral imagination by exploring and explaining the reasons humans should care about the needs and interests of others. This requirement is satisfied by an approved ethics course in either Philosophy (PHIL 301) or Religious Studies (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
- World/Comparative Religion (RELI, 3 credits): Religious Studies courses approved for this core requirement draw attention to the diversity that exists within and among traditions and encourage students to bring critical, analytical thinking to bear on the traditions and questions considered. These courses carries one of the required two global-studies designations (see below) (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
Year 4 Theme and Question: Imagining the Possible: What is our role in the world?”
- Core Integration Seminar (DEPT 432, 3 credits). The Core Integration Seminar (CIS) offers students a culminating core experience in which they integrate the principles of Jesuit education, prior components of the core, and their disciplinary expertise. Some CIS courses may also count toward a student’s major or minor. The CIS is offered by several departments across the University (click here [PDF] for list of CIS courses).
The Broadening Courses
- Fine Arts & Design (VART, MUSC, THEA, 3 credits): Arts courses explore multiple ways the human experience can be expressed through creativity, including across different cultures and societies. One approved course in fine arts, music, theatre, or dance will fulfill this requirement (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
- History (HIST, 3 credits): History courses are intended to develop students’ awareness of the historical context of both the individual and the collective human experience. One course in History (HIST 101, HIST 102, HIST 112, HIST 201, HIST 202) will fulfill this requirement.
- Literature (3 credits): Literature courses foster reflection on how literature engages with a range of human experience. One approved course in Literature (offered by English, Classics, or Modern Languages) will fulfill this requirement (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
- Social & Behavioral Sciences (3 credits): Courses in the social and behavioral sciences engage students in studying human behavior, social systems, and social issues. One approved course offered by Criminal Justice, Economics, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, or Women and Gender Studies will fulfill this requirement (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
The Designations
Designations are embedded within already existing core, major, minor, and elective courses. Students are encouraged to meet designation requirements within elective courses as their schedule allows; however, with careful planning students should be able to complete most of the designation requirements within other core, major, or minor courses.
- Writing Enriched (WE; 3 courses meeting this designation): Courses carrying the WE designation are designed to promote the humanistic and Jesuit pedagogical ideal of clear, effective communication. In addition to the required core course, Writing (ENGL 101), which carries one of the WE designations, students must take two other WE-designated courses (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
- Global-Studies (GS; 2 courses meeting this designation): Courses carrying the GS designation are designed to challenge students to perceive and understand human diversity by exploring diversity within a context of constantly changing global systems. In addition to the required core course, World/Comparative Religion (RELI 300-level), which carries one of the GS designations, students must take one other GS-designated course (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
- Social-Justice (SJ; 1 course meeting this designation): Courses carrying the SJ designation are designed to introduce students to one or more social justice concerns. Students must take one course that meets the SJ designation (click here [PDF] for a list of approved courses).
Major-specific adaptations to the University Core Curriculum
All Gonzaga students, regardless of their major, will complete the University Core Curriculum requirements. However some Gonzaga students will satisfy certain core requirements through major-specific programs or courses. Any major-specific adaptations to the core are described with the requirements for the majors to which they apply.