Interdisciplinary Studies

Center for Africana Studies

The mission of the Africana Studies program is to serve as a centralized instructional, service, and research program for students, faculty, and the community to explore the history, culture, and ideas of peoples of African descent. The program broadens students’ understanding of the global community through transcultural opportunities and foster students’ talents for leadership, scholarship, and personal development. The program allows students to explore the vast and complex cultures of the African Diaspora by visiting civilizations of the past and examining the contributions of African people in world affairs. The program also allows students to capitalize on the unparalleled opportunities that exist in the southern region of Georgia to study African and African-American connections, as observed in the Gullah/Geechee cultures and the African influences on the culture of the southern United States.

Center for Irish Research and Teaching

An tIonad um Thaighde agus Theagasc Éireannacha

The Center for Irish Research and Teaching (CIRT) increases international literacy among our diverse student body through rigorous, relevant study of Ireland and the worldwide Irish diaspora. CIRT places special emphasis on undergraduate research into Irish and Scots-Irish legacies in Georgia and the American South.

Through full-credit courses offered on the Armstrong and Statesboro campuses - and also on study-in-Ireland programs - CIRT provides students with opportunities to explore Irish and Irish-diaspora history and politics; literature and theater; culture and art; society and business; and science and technology. A student can obtain an interdisciplinary Minor in Irish Studies by successfully completing 15 credit hours of approved courses. Irish Studies courses equip students with tools to think, analyze, and problem-solve in ways that cross academic disciplines and national borders. Among other outcomes, the courses enhance participants’ knowledge of universal human phenomena that resonate very particularly with the Irish experience, not least: colonization; emigration; food security; ethno-religious identity; and the tech economy. CIRT instills within students an ethos of civility, collaboration, and integrity; and it also fosters a commitment to lifelong learning.

Students are advised to consult the webpage of the Center for Irish Research and Teaching for information about additional, semester-specific courses that have significant Irish content and, thus, have been pre-approved for the interdisciplinary Minor in Irish Studies. Those courses may be offered either on a Georgia campus or through a study-in-Ireland program.

Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

The mission of the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) program at Georgia Southern is to introduce students to the definitions, theories, and methodologies in the study of gender, recognizing intersecting systems of power and oppression which impact identities of race, class, and sexuality. The WGSS program offers an interdisciplinary minor and major available to all undergraduate students. As an interdisciplinary major concentration and minor, the WGSS Program promotes collaboration across disciplines and among students, faculty, and the community to understand the ways in which ideologies of gender and sexuality permeate the fabric of society.

Guided by disciplinary standards, our course offerings promote academic study and dialogue on a broad range of topics including the history of women’s movements, feminisms, masculinities, race, class, sexes, genders, nationality, and sexualities, including LGBT+ or gender and sexual minorities (GSM).

The WGSS Program supports research, teaching, and outreach activities that analyze gender through the framework of “intersectionality,” which theorizes identity categories and the underlying systems of oppression that shape these categories. These intersecting identities influence experiences and complicate marginalization. WGSS supports the University’s mission by fostering research, teaching, and outreach activities that promote integrity, civility, empathy, and collaboration.

Programs

Associate Degree(s)

Undergraduate Program(s)

Interdisciplinary Studies, B.I.S.

Undergraduate Minor(s)