Illinois Global Institute is excited to welcome LAS Global Studies. 

IGI, established in 2019, anchors the university’s work in global learning and research. With the inclusion of LAS Global Studies, it is home to 11 centers and programs that have a long history of making the University of Illinois one of the most engaging places in the United States to ask questions about our world.

 The LAS Global Studies program, established in 1999, comprises by the Global Studies major, Global Studies/European Union BA/MA, Global Studies minor, Global Market and Society, the certificate in International Development Studies, certificate in Global Health, and certificate in Global Social Sciences Research.

The mission of IGI and its centers and programs are to promote multidisciplinary approaches to global, area, and international thematic questions. The addition of LAS Global Studies within IGI  creates a multidisciplinary campus space for connecting with and exploring both international area expertise and global questions, frameworks, and applications. Students and faculty will have increased incentive to collaborate across geographical areas and even consider projects that transcend regional studies--creating truly global or transnational projects.

“Our core principle is that an interdisciplinary education, with applied skills such as language, research and writing, and experiential learning, is critical for the 21st century,” said LAS Global Studies director Ellen Moodie. “We have designed this program to ensure that our graduates are prepared to excel, whatever their calling—now and into the future.”

The LAS Global Studies Program has long worked closely with IGI centers and programs. These collaborations include coordination with the Center for Global Studies, which promotes research on global challenges, as well as sustaining a BA/MA degree with the European Union Center.

The LAS Global Studies program joins other academic programs within IGI in the Center for African Studies, Center for East Asian & Caribbean Studies, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, the Lemann Institute for Brazilian Studies, the Program in Arms Control & Domestic and International Security, the Russian, East European, and Eurasian Center, and the Women and Gender in Global Perspectives Program.

IGI looks look forward to finding new ways to help connect students, faculty, visitors, and speakers to the range of activities the centers and programs conduct out over the course of the year. Examples include offering scholarships for both on- and off-campus language study; providing opportunities to earn certificates and major/minor credit; and participating in scholarly, cultural, and artistic events.

Interested faculty and students are encouraged to write to one of the centers or programs and ask to be added to its mailing list. For more information, visit https://igi.illinois.edu/ and https://globalstudies.illinois.edu/.