About the Institute for Global Studies
The Institute for Global Studies (IGS) in the College of Liberal Arts connects students, scholars, and communities dedicated to social justice, understanding, and transforming our globalized world. IGS offers an interdisciplinary undergraduate major and minor intended to foster innovative problem solving by providing students with a variety of methods and analytic tools. Students are encouraged to develop new perspectives that combine diverse ways of knowing the world.
With support from the U.S. Department of Education, the Institute for Global Studies offers Foreign Language & Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships in African and International Studies, and hosts educational initiatives and programs sponsored by the University’s National Resource Centers in African Studies and International Studies.
IGS strives to:
- Create an environment for students and scholars at the University of Minnesota to investigate the sets of interrelated processes forming today’s increasingly interdependent world.
- Provide a vibrant curriculum for students, bring together scholars from diverse disciplines, and work with the community to create partnerships examining global issues.
- Prepare students for global citizenship by offering an innovative and relevant curriculum.
- Put great minds to work on issues of global significance by supporting interdisciplinary research centers, research collaboratives, speakers’ series, and colloquia.
- Make connections across cultural, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries by providing professional development for educators and nurturing community partnerships.
Programs supported by the Institute for Global Studies include:
- Asian American Studies Program
- Center for Austrian Studies
- Center for German and European Studies
- Global Studies Program
- Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
- Immigration History Research Center
- Human Rights Program
- Center for Premodern Studies
- Center for Race, Indigeneity, Disability, Gender and Sexuality Studies
- Religious Studies Program
About the College of Liberal Arts
Home to the arts, social sciences, and humanities disciplines and programs, the College of Liberal Arts is the largest college in the University of Minnesota comprises 31 academic departments, and over 20 interdisciplinary research centers and administrative/support units. CLA has over 1,300 faculty and staff spanning research, teaching, advising, outreach, and administrative functions. CLA units reside in over twenty buildings on the East Bank and West Bank of the Twin Cities campus. CLA enrolls nearly 13,000 undergraduate students, over 40% of the undergraduate enrollment on the Twin Cities campus, 1,400 graduate students, and has an annual all-funds budget of $290 million.
CLA is a destination for curious, compassionate individuals who are committed to making our increasingly interdependent and diverse global community work for everyone. That foundational commitment begins in our CLA Constitution. CLA is committed to increasing enrollment of underrepresented and under-resourced students, diversifying our faculty across all disciplines, recruiting, and retaining a diverse staff, and promoting the expression and exploration of diverse perspectives and viewpoints—so that we all gain the background knowledge and analytical skills we need to understand and respect differences.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in CLA
Working in CLA