Global Migration and Refugee Studies (GMS) is an interdisciplinary minor built from courses in several departments, plus approved Study Abroad, that also satisfy distribution requirements for courses outside a student's major.  The minor rests on basic methods (ethnographic and statistical) of social analysis that already root a liberal art education, focusing their applications and analysis of migration, transnational cultures, and addressing issues such as citizenship and security.

The GMS minor provides a focus for selecting distribution requirements and free electives around a theme. Approved electives may change as course offerings change.

Students minoring in Global Migration and Refugee Studies satisfy three requirements:

  1. Research methods
  2. Elective courses
  3. Independent work/internship project

1. Research Methods

This requirement could be satisfied by passing one (1) of the following courses:

  • SOC 202:           Research Methods (every Fall Semester)
  • ANTH 201:         Research Design and Conduct in Anthropology (every Spring Semester)
  • SOC 301:           Statistical Analysis for Social Sciences (every Fall Semester)

2. Elective Courses

Minors also complete four (4) courses approved by the program director. No more than two (2) courses may be from the same department, and no more than two in the student’s major department. The following is a suggested list of courses:

  • ANTH 217: Migrants, Refugees and the Homeless
  • ANTH 355: Latinos and Latinas in the US
  • CHN 250:  Chinese Migration
  • SOC 204:  Transnational Crime
  • SOC 361:  Migration and Immigrant Communities
  • SOC 365:  Controlling America’s Borders: Issues and Problems
  • HIST 229:  Global Migrations to the New World, 1492-present.
  • HIST 360:  US Immigration and Ethnicity
  • IRSH 380/HIST380:  The Irish in America        
  • SPAN 310:  Contemporary Hispanic Issues
  • SPAN 312:  US Latino/a Literature, Film, and Music
  • SPAN 313:  Performing US Latino/a Identity
  • SPAN 356:  Latino/a American Popular Song: Socio-Political Movements
  • POL 501:  Globalization
  • POL 557A:  Transnational Security Challenges
  • TRS 330:  The Church & Social Issues

Upon consultation with the Anthropology or Sociology Department Chairs, it is possible for students to complete up to two of the required courses studying abroad.

3. Independent Work/Internship Project

After completing the methodology and elective courses, Global Migration and Refugee Studies minors engage in independent research (ANTH 493, SOC 493) or appropriate internship (ANTH 495, SOC 495) that will result in a research paper or report. To complete the research paper project, students will work closely with a faculty mentor and a second reader.

Students pursuing the internship option work with a faculty and an on-site supervisor who together oversee the study.

For Anthropology and Sociology majors, these projects would normally satisfy those Departments' requirements for Senior Capstones conducted through Senior Seminars, independent research, or supervised (for-credit) internships.  Majors in other disciplines should consult their major-department advisors on these arrangements.