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Developing global awareness and cultural competency

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Established in 2019, Illinois Global Institute is home to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s area and global studies centers and thematic programs. These 11 centers and programs develop global awareness and cultural competency through a combination of faculty research and professional development, curricular internationalization, student-life activities, international experiences, and outreach and public engagement.  

Upcoming Events

Highlighted Courses

AFST 210

AFST 210: Introduction to Modern African Literature

Course covers significant contemporary African writings depicting the history and cultural traditions of African peoples.

https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2025/spring/AFST/210

WLOF 404

WLOF 404: Intermediate Wolof II

Course emphasizes ability to engage in reasonably fluent discourse in Wolof, comprehensive knowledge of formal grammar, and ability to read ordinary texts in standard and Dakar Wolof.

https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2025/spring/WLOF/404

LAST 210

LAST 210: Life in the Andes

Course provides an overview of contemporary Andean culture, as practiced by the people in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. This culture is the result of the resilience of the pre-Hispanic Andean heritage, and the continuous adaptation Andean people have practiced, first, to control their environment and, then, to survive and overcome colonial and postcolonial forms of subordination. No prior knowledge of Spanish, Quechua, or the Andes is required.

https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2025/spring/LAST/210

LAST 170

LAST 170: Que Pasa in Latin America? Cultures, Histories and Politics South of the Rio Grande

Interdisciplinary introduction to the ways of life of Latin American peoples, their origins and current expressions; discusses social, economic issues, and domestic and international policies related to them in the context of other societies in developing countries.

https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2025/spring/LAST/170

SOC 563

SOC 563: Global Social Movements

Why do people rebel when they do? Why some succeed and others fail? And how do such collective actions change people’s lives and their societies? The course navigates through the "everyday resistance," "social movements," and "social revolutions," human endeavors that have fundamentally transformed our modern societies. Going beyond the Eurocentric perspectives, the course takes a global outlook both conceptually and geographically to engage critically and productively with the sociology of resistance.

https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2025/spring/SOC/563

AFST 222

AFST 222: Introduction to Modern Africa

The course will utilize an interdisciplinary framework to examine the great civilizations of pre-colonial African societies; the trans-Atlantic slave trade; the impact of colonialism, nationalism, Pan-Africanism, and nationalist and independence movements; social movements and democratization; gender and development; the role of the African Diaspora in Africa's development; and globalization

https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2025/spring/AFST/222

CWL 481

CWL 481: Topics in Arabic Literature & Culture (Al-Andalus: Literatures and Legacies of Muslim Iberia)

This course will introduce students to the vibrant history and far-reaching legacies of al-Andalus (or Muslim Iberia).

https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2025/spring/CWL/481

LA 222 (ARCH 222; ARTH 219)

LA 222: Islamic Gardens & Architecture

Course studies the formation, history, and meaning of the landscape and architecture of the Islamic world.

https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2025/spring/LA/222

REL 120 (HIST 168; JS 120)

REL 120: A History of Judaism

Course examines the social, political, economic, and intellectual history of the Jews from Abraham to the present-day, with particular attention to Jewish thought and society.

https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2025/spring/REL/120

REL 344 (JS 344; MDVL 344)

REL 344: Jewish Intellectual History: Encounters with Islam and Christianity

Study of the distinctive religious ideas, movements, and figures of pre-Modern Judaism [500 CE-1700 CE] with an emphasis on how Judaism’s encounter with medieval Islam and Christianity influenced these new Jewish expressions. Topics include theology, philosophy, Biblical interpretation, mysticism, Jewish-Christian polemics, and law.

https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2025/spring/REL/344

REL 520 (SAME 520)

REL 520: Hindu Pilgrimage, Power & Place

This course seeks to explore the ancient and multicultural concept and practice of pilgrimage as it is experienced in the Hindu world today.

https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2025/spring/REL/520

GLBL 501

GLBL 501: Perspectives on Global Studies

Course provides graduate students in a variety of fields with an understanding of key global concepts and methods, and introduces them to different perspectives on globalization and transnational social relations.

https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2025/spring/GLBL/501

UKR 498

UKR 498: Problems in Ukrainian Lit

Critical survey of major works in Ukrainian literature from the beginnings to the modern period in light of their historical and cultural background; lectures and readings in English.

https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2025/spring/UKR/498

ARCH 403

ARCH 403: Counter-narratives of Architecture: Thinking Architectural History from/with the Americas and the Caribbean

This course challenges the dominant narratives of modern architecture, which often overlook the impact of colonialism, imperialism, and neocolonialism—factors central to discussions in fields like art and literature.

https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2025/spring/ARCH/403

ARCH 490

ARCH 490: Gender, Space & Critical Spatial Practice

This seminar-workshop introduces students to diverse manifestations of feminist liberation movements from the Americas and the Caribbean, focusing on decolonial feminism, mutual aid, and community as forms of rebellion.

https://courses.illinois.edu/schedule/2025/spring/ARCH/490