International Studies

Since 1969, the International Studies Program has been Trinity’s primary destination for the interdisciplinary study of world regions and global interrelations. Today twelve faculty members hold whole or partial appointments in International Studies and over thirty others provide courses and advising that are essential to the program. This wide participation allows students to make connections among many of the departments and programs on campus. Interested in the Middle East? Take courses in History, Language and Culture Studies, Political Science, Religion, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Interested in the movement of peoples and ideas? Take courses originating in our program, such as Black Internationalism, Global Migration, and Gandhi, King, & Nonviolence. Interested in language acquisition and study abroad? We require it.

We graduate on average thirty students a year, a third to a half of whom are double majors. The language skills, in-depth engagement with one or more world regions, and critical approach to global interrelations that we require of our majors make it possible for them to go on to top Masters and PhD programs both in the U.S. and beyond, as well as a wide variety of careers, such as diplomacy, international law and business, and global health. Trinity’s International Studies Program is both flexible and rigorous, opening doors and blurring borders in our interconnected world.

The International Studies (INTS) Program houses six interdisciplinary majors: five “area studies” majors, which focus on a single world region, broadly and flexibly defined (African Studies; Asian Studies; Caribbean and Latin American Studies; Middle East Studies; and Russian and Eurasian Studies ), and the Global Studies major, which approaches global interrelations from a comparative, disciplinary, or thematic perspective.

African Studies

The African Studies major introduces students to the second-largest continent on the planet, which comprises over 50 independent nations and houses just short of a billion people.

Asian Studies

The Asian Studies major offers an interdisciplinary framework for the examination of the societies and cultures of Asia. Students must choose to focus on China, Japan, or South Asia.

Caribbean and Latin American Studies

The Caribbean and Latin American studies major allows students to explore this vast region from a variety of perspectives, including history, literature, music, religious studies, economics, and educational studies.

Middle East Studies

The Middle East Studies major engages the region extending from Morocco to Kazahkstan. Through an interdisciplinary approach, we acquaint students with the complex hopes and struggles that animate the diverse peoples and cultures of this vast territory.

Russian and Eurasian Studies

From the borders of Germany to the eastern coastline of Russia, from the North Pole to the border of Afghanistan, the vast area and diverse peoples of Russia and Eastern Europe are central to an understanding of the 21st century.

Global Studies

The Global Studies major encourages students to grapple with the fundamental dynamics of our time through an interdisciplinary framework. We are interested in the social processes that cut across regions, the global flows that have local impacts, and the local initiatives that have global resonances.