Global Studies

Overview

The Global Studies programme from University of Gothenburg addresses globalisation through a broad range of topics such as ethnicity, cultural diversity, migration, world views, political economy, security, conflict and sustainable development. Disciplines and perspectives that make up the programme are: Global Development Studies, Conflict Resolution, Global Gender Studies, Human Ecology, International Relations, Regional Studies (African, Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern Studies), and Social Anthropology. All courses in the programme take a gender and sustainable development perspective into account​. 

The overall aim of the Master's Programme in Global Studies is to provide students with advanced knowledge within the interdisciplinary field of Global Studies. 

The programme will prepare students for both post-graduate research and professional employment within a range of international and national organisations. Skills taught will be useful in areas such as development cooperation, humanitarian assistance, cultural diversity and integration programmes, and environmental planning and analysis. Special emphasis is placed on independent work methods, critical assessment and the ability to solve problems.

The programme requires full-time studies of two academic years (120 higher education credits) and is taught in English. The first semester consists of two modules that together provide a foundation of theoretical and empirical knowledge of salient issues within Global Studies. 

The first provides an overview of theories and concepts of globalization across the social sciences and other applicable fields of knowledge. 

The second focuses on a selection of themes that spring from the first module and that are related to contemporary and historical processes of globalization. 

The second semester consists of two elective courses that provide students with in-depth knowledge on relevant themes and subfields of Global Studies. In this semester, insights from the first semester are deepened and developed through engagement with current research issues and knowledge production within the field. In the third semester a course on research design and methodology equips the students with knowledge and skills that are valuable when applying and developing their theoretical knowledge within a work environment, during the internship, or, alternatively, in relation to specific skills, during a proficiency course. 

The internship course, taking place in the second half of this semester, provides the student with the possibility to work actively with global and social issues in a global and interdisciplinary perspective within international and national organisations. In the final semester the student makes use of the knowledge and skills acquired throughout the previous modules by writing a thesis in the field of Global Studies.

After graduation

Graduates of the programme receive the degree Master of Science in Global Studies.

You will be prepared for further research or professional employment within public organizations, NGOs and INGOs, or the private sector, in areas such as development cooperation, humanitarian assistance, cultural diversity and integration programmes, and environmental planning and analysis. Our graduates enjoy diverse employment opportunities, including the following: 

• Research Assistant, Department of Global Political Studies, Malmö University

• Communications Officer and Coordinator: Human Rights Project, FreeZone, Lund

• Nordic Environmental Sustainability Specialist, Nestlé Nespresso SA, Copenhagen

• Programme Assistant, UNESCO, Bangkok

• Project Officer, World Meteorological Organisation, Geneva