Develop global awareness
Illinois Global Institute News
Title
Developing global awareness and cultural competency
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
GLBL 499: Special Topics: Global Information Society
This course examines the historical and contemporary transformations associated with globalization from the perspective of information as a core element of sociotechnical and political economic processes.
GLBL 500: Global Society
Students will examine three propositions: (1) the existence of a global society; (2) the flaws of its principal, global institutions – the state, markets, and democracy; and (3) absent their reform, whether the global society is at risk.
AFST 210: Introduction to Modern African Literature
Course covers significant contemporary African writings depicting the history and cultural traditions of African peoples.
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
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.
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.
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).
EURO 418: Language & Minorities in Europe
Survey of regional and immigrant minority language use, policies, and planning across Europe. Taught in English.
EURO 490: Black Europe
Using an interdisciplinary approach, we will bring light to various aspects of Black Europe.
EURO 500 Dialogue on Europe
This seminar is a roundtable exploring a variety of topics related to Europe, transatlantic relations, the European Union, and the peripheries.
EURO 502: The EU in a Global Context
Course examines European Union history, politics, law, culture and identity
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.
LA 222: Islamic Gardens & Architecture
Course studies the formation, history, and meaning of the landscape and architecture of the Islamic world.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.