International Studies Degree Interdisciplinary Initiatives at University Of Chicago
Interdisciplinary Initiatives
Transnational flows of capital, people, information and images are transforming our worlds- they are also challenging researchers to develop new theoretical and methodological practices to study and account for them. The Transnationalism Project takes on this challenge. An interdisciplinary research group of faculty and students under the direction of Saskia Sassen, Ralph Lewis Professor of Sociology, the TNP aims to foster collaborative and innovative research into these dynamics through the development of new theoretical perspectives and methodological frameworks. Toward this end, the TNP provides several forums — workshops, an annual conference, and informal discussion groups — for junior scholars studying transnational flows and processes.
The Center for International Studies houses the University’s Human Rights Program, which was established by an interdisciplinary group of faculty in 1997. The program’s mission is twofold: to direct research and teaching to the development of new approaches to human rights and to collaborate with practitioners to reconceptualize human rights activism.
The Human Rights Program offers a three-course core sequence, open to undergraduate and graduate students, that covers the philosophy and history of human rights as well as contemporary issues in the field. Students interested in human rights can also enroll in a variety of additional courses offered by a number of departments. The program offers internships in human rights organizations, both in the U.S. and abroad.
On-campus Collaboration
Thanks to the acknowledged eminence of its international faculty in the social sciences, humanities, business, and law–and to the vitality of the University’s own intellectual culture–there is a rich, collaborative environment in international studies at the University of Chicago. The Center for International Studies is perfectly situated to develop new modes of collaboration between disciplines and between those who study different regions of the world.
Tags: campus collaboration, contemporary issues, core sequence, course core, history of human rights, human rights activism, human rights organizations, intellectual culture, interdisciplinary group, interdisciplinary research group, junior scholars, methodological frameworks, ralph lewis, saskia sassen, theoretical perspectives, tnp, uchicago edu