The Global Studies interdisciplinary graduate program at UBC’s Okanagan campus addresses prominent themes in a globalized world.
Concentrating on the intersection of global politics, economics, social policy, and culture, the program emphasizes both theory and the everyday applications of knowledge. Students will learn to analyze complex global issues in a practical manner, using both traditional and critical conceptual approaches.
Global Studies provides students with access to the knowledge, resources, and collaboration of three faculties and eight departments at UBC’s Okanagan campus.
The interdisciplinary master’s degree in global studies gives graduate students access to the expertise of diverse, nationally and internationally recognized researchers from a variety of faculties and disciplines in a coherent, thematic framework.
Graduates of the program will come away with a nuanced understanding of:
Interdisciplinary approaches to the study of global studies
Theoretical and practical aspects of global studies
The value of collaborative research across disciplines
Program milestones
Establishing a faculty supervisory committee
Completing coursework
Preparing, presenting, and defending a thesis research proposal
Completing thesis research and writing, and defending the work
Coursework requirements
18 credits of coursework are required, including:
Proseminar in Interdisciplinary Studies (IGS 524)
Theme Seminar in Global Politics, Culture and Theory (IGS 587)
Theme Seminar in Global Studies Panorama (IGS 588)
One research methods course
Additional coursework, selected in consultation with the student’s supervisor
The PhD degree is centred on conducting original, cutting-edge research in areas related to global studies. Graduates of the PhD program are prepared for careers requiring advanced independent research and teaching in academia, government, and industry.
Program milestones
Establishing a faculty supervisory committee
Selecting and completing coursework
Preparing, presenting, and defending a dissertation research proposal
Passing an oral candidacy exam
Completing dissertation research and writing, and defending the work
Coursework requirements
12 credits are required for the PhD degree, including:
Proseminar in Interdisciplinary Studies (IGS 524)
Theme Seminar in Global Politics, Culture and Theory (IGS 587)
Theme Seminar in Global Studies Panoram (IGS 588)
Methods course (3 credits, selected from the following: IGS 501, IGS 503, IGS 505, IGA 515, or another methods course approved by the student’s supervisory committee).
Research and Supervisors
Research Areas
Graduate students can pursue these and other faculty research and teaching interests:
Research Interests: African Literature, The New African Diaspora, Postcolonial Studies, Black Studies, Migration Studies, Memory Studies, Melancholy Studies
Courses & Teaching: ENG 153: Readings in Narrative; ENG 291: African Literary Canon; ENG 391: Afropolitan Literature; ENG 491/CULT 490: Black Intellectual Traditions; ENG 522: Literature and Memory
Research Interests: Political ecology; governmentality; environmental governance; forest-based climate change mitigation; wildfires; nature conservation; global development; community engagement; Nigeria, Ghana, Canada (British Columbia and Alberta).
Courses & Teaching: GEOG 129 Human Geography: Resources, Development and Society
GEOG 233 Climate Change and Society
GEOG 280 Development Geography/ Geographies of the Global South
GEOG 445 /ANTH 445 Political Ecology
IGS 585 Knowledge Mobilization and Sustainability Policy
John (Song Pae) Cho | Assistant Professor | Anthropology, Global Studies, Power, Conflict and Ideas | john.cho@ubc.ca | 250.807.8908 | LM4 623
Jonathan Cinnamon | Associate Professor | Digital Arts and Humanities, Geography, Global Studies, Power, Conflict and Ideas | jonathan.cinnamon@ubc.ca | 250.807.8014 | ART 264
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: digital geographies; data studies; GIS and society; science and technology studies; urban studies; surveillance; digital and visual methods; alternative urbanism.
Andrea Craig | Assistant Professor | Economics, Global Studies, Sustainability (IGS) | andrea.craig@ubc.ca | 250.807.9345 | ASC 265
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Urban Economics, Applied Microeconomics
Courses & Teaching: Principles of Microeconomics, Urban Economics
Research Interests: Chinese politics; social movements; labor; authoritarianism.
Courses & Teaching: Politics of China (POLI 314); Social Movements and Contentious Politics (POLI 413); Authoritarianism (POLI 322); Problems in International Relations: Chinese Foreign Relations (POLI 464H); Introduction to Comparative Politics (POLI 220); Global Studies Panorama (IGS 588).
Sue Frohlick | Professor | Anthropology, Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies, Global Studies | susan.frohlick@ubc.ca | 250.807.8525 | LM4 630
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Ethnographic writing, poetry; ethnographies of sound, hearing, listening; critical tourism studies; migration, subjectivities; feminist and sensory methodologies; community-based research; atmospheres.
Courses & Teaching: I teach courses in cultural anthropology and gender, women, and sexuality studies. Current UBC courses include: Tourism, Desire, Difference; Love, Marriage, Family: New Kinship Studies; Sounded Worlds; Okanagan Tourism and the Senses; Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Power 11: Everyday Life; Feminist Geographies of (Un)Belonging
David Geary (On Leave) | Associate Professor | Anthropology, Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Global Studies, Power, Conflict and Ideas | david.geary@ubc.ca | 250.807.8165 | LM4 631
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Buddhism; South Asia; geopolitics of heritage; space and place; pilgrimage; diaspora; transnational religious movements and networks; mobilities and critical tourism theory
Courses & Teaching: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology; Tourism, Desire and Difference; Anthropology of Religion; India in Motion: Ethnographic Perspectives; Ethnographic Research Methods; Debating Globalization; Tourism and the Senses
Monica Carolina Good, PhD | Associate Professor of Teaching | Global Studies, Indigenous Knowledges, Languages and World Literatures, Spanish | monica.good@ubc.ca | 250.807.8503 | CCS 367
Research Interests: Spanish Culture and Literature; Indigenous literature; Indigenous language reclamation and revitalization (specifically for the case of Mexico); Indigenous peoples rights to court interpretation (Case of Oaxaca).
Suzanne Gott, PhD | Associate Professor | Art History, Creative Studies, Digital Arts and Humanities, Global Studies | Suzanne.Gott@ubc.ca | 250.807.9671 | CCS 176
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Exploring issues of gender, comparative aesthetics, display, and performance; and in investigating continuities and/or transformations of precolonial art and aesthetics in colonial, postcolonial, and contemporary art and visual culture
Courses & Teaching: Art History & Visual Culture
Neha Gupta | Assistant Professor | Anthropology, Digital Arts and Humanities, Global Studies | neha.gupta@ubc.ca | 250.807.8403 | ART 259
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Geospatial and Digital Methods in Heritage; Postcolonial, decolonial, anti-colonial and Indigenous studies of heritage; Archaeology in India and Canada; Data Governance and community governance of data; anti-racism. I welcome interest from prospective graduate students for research supervision on topics related to these areas. Accepting graduate students for Sept 2024 start
Courses & Teaching: My teaching focus is in digital methods and archaeology. I have developed and offered the following courses; ANTH 103 Introduction to World Archaeology, ANTH 210 Archaeological Inquiry and Practice, ANTH 310 Digital Methods in Archaeology and Heritage, ANTH 319 Archaeology of Early State Societies, ANTH 490 Special Topics: Digital Anthropology, IGS 502 Seminar in Digital Arts and Humanities
Allison Hargreaves, PhD | Associate Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, English, English and Cultural Studies, Global Studies, Indigenous Knowledges | allison.hargreaves@ubc.ca | 250.807.8446 | CCS 331
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Indigenous literatures and theory; critical settler colonial studies; place-based approaches to literary and cultural studies; decolonization and reconciliation as discourse and material practice.
Courses & Teaching: ENGL 154 – Indigenous Narrative; ENGL 234/ CULT 250 – Foundations: Indigenous Literature; ENGL 385/ CULT 351 – Settler Studies, Literature, and Culture; ENGL 473/ CULT 450 –Studies in Indigenous Literature and Criticism
ENGL 531A – Place and Power
Thomas Heilke | Professor | Global Studies, Political Science, Power, Conflict and Ideas | thomas.heilke@ubc.ca | 250.807.8539 | ART 239
Research Interests: Political philosophy and theory; classical political thought; modern political thought; political theology; religion and politics; political ideologies; international relations in political philosophy.
Courses & Teaching: Political philosophy; history of political thought; religion and politics; international relations in political philosophy.
Courses & Teaching: Africa (commodities, cities, imperialism and decolonization); Southern and South Africa; British and Portuguese colonialism; political history; women's history; contemporary world history.
Min Hu | Assistant Professor | Economics, Global Studies, Sustainability (IGS) | min.hu@ubc.ca | 250.807.8381 | ART 334
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Health Economics, Applied Microeonomics, Labour Economics, Social Policy
Courses & Teaching: ECON204 Intermediate Microeconomics; ECON295 Managerial Economics; ECON360 Labour Economics and ECON363 Health Economics.
Research Interests: Genocide and structural violence; crimes against humanity; gender and violence; gender and international political economy; research impacts human rights policymaking and social activism, gender and development policies, humanitarian intervention and peacebuilding, and international law.
Courses & Teaching: Genocide studies; human rights; gender and international relations; mass media.
Research Interests: Pediatric sleep; Parent-child interactions; Infant and parental mental health; eHealth and precision health; Community engagement; Community and public health nursing; Mixed methods; Knowledge synthesis; Integrated knowledge translation and implementation science
Virginie Magnat, PhD | Professor | Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, English and Cultural Studies, Global Studies, Indigenous Knowledges, Languages and World Literatures | virginie.magnat@ubc.ca | 250.807.8441 | CCS 368
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Performance Studies; Qualitative Research; Arts-Based Inquiry; Indigenous Ethico-Onto-Epistemologies; Collaborative Eco-Cultural Practices for Collective Healing and Renewal; Occitan Language Revitalization and Cultural Resurgence.
Courses & Teaching: Performance Studies; Qualitative Research; World Performance Traditions; Experimental and Intercultural Theatre; Physically-Based Performance Practice; Body-Voice Integration; Traditional Singing.
Fiona McDonald | Assistant Professor | Anthropology, Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Digital Arts and Humanities, Global Studies, Power, Conflict and Ideas | fiona.mcdonald@ubc.ca | 250.807.8127 | ASC 266
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Visual anthropology; anthropology of art; sensory ethnography; material culture; curatorial studies; museum studies; textiles; oral history; contemporary Indigenous art; informal science learning and the environment; anthropocene; water rights; open access and digital publishing; North America & Aotearoa New Zealand.
Courses & Teaching: Visual & media anthropology; arts-based ethnography; anthropology of art; fieldwork methodologies; cultural anthropology; ethnography.
Laura A. Meek | Assistant Professor | Anthropology, Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Global Studies, Power, Conflict and Ideas | laura.meek@ubc.ca | 250.807.8574 | ART 274B
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Pharmaceuticals; Counterfeits; Embodiment; Sensoriums; Feminist Science and Technology Studies; Medical Anthropology; Leprosy; Critical Global Health; Ontological Politics; Dreams; Temporality; Tanzania; East Africa; Indian Ocean Worlds; Hong Kong; Fugitivity; Black Studies; African Studies; Postcolonial Theory; Ethnography
Courses & Teaching: I teach courses on African and Africana studies; global health; embodiment and the anthropology of the body; feminist, anti-racist, and decolonial science and technology studies; and cultural and medical anthropology. Courses currently offered at UBC include:
• ANTH 100: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology;
• ANTH 227: Introduction to Medical Anthropology;
• ANTH 330: Psychological Distress, Mental Health, and Well-being;
• ANTH 354: Imagining Africa Otherwise;
• ANTH 400: History of Anthropology;
• ANTH 429: Global Health and International Development.
Research Interests: Islam in Asia; The Persianate World; Historiography; Narrative Theory; Migration; Tribalism; Ethnic Identity; Empire and State Formation and Nationalism.
Courses & Teaching: HIST 160 – Introduction to Asian History; HIST 396 – History of South Asia; HIST 495 – Special Topics: History of Afghanistan
Research Interests: Oceanic and Archipelagic Studies; Indian Ocean and Caribbean Studies; Critical Race Studies Gender Studies; Contemporary literatures from the Global South, including Africa, South Asia and Latin America; Border Theory and Creolization; Theorising the relationship between History and Literature; Environmental Humanities; Medical Humanities. Research Languages:
French, Spanish, English, Hindi, Mauritian Creole.
Research Interests: Research Summary: Latin American security and political economy, Critical Security Studies, and Global Politics Theory.
Donna Senese | Associate Professor | Geography, Global Studies, Sustainability (IGS) | donna.senese@ubc.ca | 250.807.9372 | ASC 404
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: rural resilience, tourism and sustainability, landscapes of wine and food, international experiential education
Courses & Teaching: GEOG 129 Human Geography: Resources, Development and Society; GEOG/SUST 201 Research Methods in Geography and Sustainability, GEOG 318 Rural Geographies; GEOG 365 Parks and Protected Areas Management, GEOG 371 Research Strategies in Human Geography; GEOG 434 Tourism Geographies; GEOG 435 Wine Geographies; GEOG/SUST 491 Selected Topics in Geography and Sustainability: Rural Sustainability: Wine; Food and Tourism in Central Italy
Rallye Shen | Assistant Professor | Economics, Global Studies, Power, Conflict and Ideas | rallye.shen@ubc.ca | 250.807.8158 | ART 272
Research Interests: Urban economics, economic history
Courses & Teaching: Econometrics; Data and Statistics
Research Interests: A feminist anthropologist/archaeologist with field and historical research in Eastern & Central Europe, Siberia, South Africa, Dr. Tomášková is interested in knowledge production, particularly about places and spaces in the deep past, as alternatives to modernity.
Research Interests: Social epistemology, philosophy of language, translation studies, philosophy of social sciences.
Courses & Teaching: Philosophy of language, epistemology, philosophy of social sciences.
Shannon Ward | Assistant Professor | Anthropology, Community Engagement, Social Change, Equity, Global Studies, Indigenous Knowledges | shannon.ward@ubc.ca | 250.807.8695 | ART 270
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Linguistic Anthropology; language acquisition and socialization; language shift; language endangerment; heritage language education; language documentation; oral history; Tibet and the Himalayas; modern China; South Asian diasporas; migration
Courses & Teaching: Linguistic Anthropology; multilingualism; language documentation and revitalization.
Wendy Wong | Professor | Digital Arts and Humanities, Global Studies, Political Science | w.wong@ubc.ca | Landmark 4, 6th Floor, Rm. 624, 1628 Dickson Avenue V1Y 9X1
Courses & Teaching: Human rights; global governance; international relations
Helen Yanacopulos | Professor | Global Studies, Political Science, Power, Conflict and Ideas | helen.yanacopulos@ubc.ca | 250.807.8267 | Landmark 4, 6th floor, Rm 621, 1628 Dickson Avenue V1Y 9X1
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: International Development; civil society and NGOs; strategy and transnational networks; political communication; international norms; anti-slavery; conflict and development, Human Rights.
Courses & Teaching: International Development; Governance and Public Policy, International Relations; Conflict, Global Studies, Global Citizenship.
Kyong Yoon, PhD | Professor | Cultural Studies, Digital Arts and Humanities, English and Cultural Studies, Global Studies | kyong.yoon@ubc.ca | 250.807.8897 | CCS 175
Graduate student supervisor
Research Interests: Digital media, mobile communication, migration, Korean popular culture, and youth culture.
Courses & Teaching: CULT 215 Cultural Industries; CULT 312 Internet Culture; CULT 313 Transnational Asian pop culture; CULT 410 Asian cinema
The Global Studies theme currently includes students at the M.A. and Ph.D. levels. View our list of students and alumni profiles for you to discover more about them and their research.
Connect with your peers
The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) cares about the experiential learning and well-being of our students, and about fostering their academic and research excellence. Follow our Faculty Facebook and Instagram to keep up to date on events and connect with our community on campus and beyond.
Theses and Dissertations
Find all UBC Okanagan student publications on the University’s digital repository for research and teaching materials. EXPLORE STUDENT PUBLICATIONS
Careers and Outcomes
Students graduating from the program will gain:
The analytical skills required for employment in non-governmental organizations, as well as the private and public sectors.
The conceptual, methodological, and research skills required to advance to the PhD or Post-Doctorate level for those pursuing an academic career.
Graduate student stipends are funded through a combination of internal and external funding awards, Teaching Assistantships, and Research Assistantships.
Although funding and stipend amounts are not guaranteed, UBC’s Okanagan campus has a number of assistantships available for qualified students. Talk to your potential supervisor about funding opportunities.
Students are expected whenever possible to apply for relevant scholarships and fellowships.
GRADUATE ENTRANCE AWARD
The Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences offers a $15,000 merit-based entrance scholarship to three exceptional individuals entering their first year of thesis-based graduate studies under a supervisor from the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, or an Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies program with a supervisor who is a member of the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences.
All applicants to Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences graduate programs who have submitted an application by January 31 will be automatically considered for the award. No additional application is required. Successful applicants will be notified by March 15.
Assistantships
Teaching Assistantships (TA)
Paid TA positions allow graduate students to develop skills in teaching, supervision, facilitation, and student assessment. Teaching assistants may lead seminars, help teach undergraduate courses, or assist in student evaluations and marking. Teaching assistants are mentored by their supervisor and via the Centre for Teaching and Learning.
Research Assistantships (RA)
As paid research assistants, graduate students assist their supervisor or other researchers in conducting high-level research, which often contributes to the student’s thesis. RAs are typically funded by the supervisor’s external grants, contracts, and sometimes, other sources of funding.
SCHOLARSHIPS
UBC Awards
The College of Graduate Studies administers merit-based graduate awards at the Okanagan campus. The College manages a number of award competitions each year and administers payment of all internal awards and selected external awards.
External Awards
All prospective graduate students (Domestic and International) should explore and apply for external awards and fellowships, including awards offered by Canada’s three research councils: CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC.
Graduate scholarships and awards may also be available from foundations, private companies or foreign governments (check with your country’s education authority).
Admission and Applying
Applicants are encouraged to contact potential supervisors before starting their application. Admission to the program requires the support of a faculty supervisor, as well as meeting program-specific criteria for admission requirements.
Admission Requirements
A complete application package will contain:
Online application and application fee
Official transcripts for all post-secondary institutions attended
Statement of Intent
English language test (for non-native speakers of English)
CV or resumé
Two reference forms or letters
How to Apply
Applying takes time. Students are advised to start the application process two months in advance of the application deadline.
For full consideration, students should submit all application materials by the following deadlines:
Intake
Application Deadline
Domestic applicants
September
January 15
International applicants
September
January 15
In some circumstances, at the request of a theme coordinator, the Dean or Dean designate in CoGS may approve an off-cycle admission for a student who would be significantly disadvantaged by having to begin their studies in September.
Inquire
Dr. James Rochlin
Global Studies Theme Coordinator
250.807.9388 james.rochlin@ubc.ca
At UBC Okanagan, you gain all the benefits of attending a globally ranked, top 5%
university while studying in a close-knit learning community. 50% of graduates,
from all across the globe, choose to stay in the region.
A diverse natural region with sandy beaches, beautiful farms, vineyards,
orchards and
snow-capped mountains, the
Okanagan is an inspirational landscape perfect for those seeking leisure or
outdoor
adventure.
UBC's Okanagan campus borders the dynamic city of Kelowna, a hub of economic
development with a population of
more than 150,000 people— the fourth fastest-growing population in
Canada.
