MA Global Studies

Global Studies (GS) is an academic field of inquiry focusing on the study of globalisation through transdisciplinary and critical perspectives. Among other concerns, Global Studies is interested in emergent forms of geopolitics, economic and cultural globalisation, social movements, and global environmental change. The concrete and conceptual problems of our era do not come in neatly packaged scalar or disciplinary boxes. Global studies therefore attempts to investigate the diverse historical trajectories and causal factors of globality by deploying a variety of intellectual tools and methods.

The MA in Global Studies fosters a ‘global perspective’ among students, leading to appreciation of the connections and relationships of globalism, globalization and globality. Key programme objectives are to illuminate hidden histories and geographies of globality that are often subsumed within the dominant stories of colonial, postcolonial and neoliberal globalization; and to understand processes through which perceptions of ‘local’ and ‘global’ are co-produced within a multitude of locally embedded contexts.

The programme seeks to engender a culture of self-conscious and reflective learning through a suite of compulsory, elective courses and independent projects. The programme does not assume that all its graduates will follow academic career trajectories. Rather, it presumes that there is useful and critically engaged work to be done in various organizations, institutions and social spaces.

Features of the MA in Global Studies

The programme attempts to foster a critical perspective that challenges conventional wisdoms around the notions of globalization.
The programme seeks to engender a culture of self-conscious and reflective learning through a suite of compulsory and elective courses and learning situations. Students will be mentored through the programme with an eye to their aspirations beyond it.
The programme does not assume that all its graduates will follow academic career trajectories. Rather, it presumes that there is useful and critically engaged work to be done in various organizations, institutions and social spaces.
Seminars, workshops, and field trips are designed to maximize peer learning and inculcate leadership skills.
By foregrounding themes rather than academic ‘subjects’ or tools, the programme encourages students to explore both the possibilities and limits of established disciplines. Students will learn that debates can be entered, discourses produced and real-life situations changed by different kinds of and differently ‘positioned’ knowledge producers and practitioners.

Academic Community: Faculty

MA Global Studies

The MA Global Studies programme is transacted over four academic semesters and one summer intersession. It consists of five ‘core’ courses (total of 20 credits), two 4-credit courses on Research Methods, and electives (total of 30 credits) to be taken in the second and third semesters. The students may opt for specialization in one of four thematic areas and complete this by choosing electives offered through other MA programmes in AUD.

Programme requirements also include 14 credit worth of ‘independent’ (self-directed) work as follows: a 2-credit Summer Research Project (during the summer following the second semester), a 4-credit Student Seminar (third semester), an 8-credit Dissertation component (fourth semester), and a 2-credit Capstone Workshop (fourth semester).

Semester	Core	Elective	Research Skill	Research Practicum	Credits
I	Knowledges in a Global Perspective (4) Cultures and Identities (4) Global Environment & Society (4)	--	Research Methodology I (4)	--	16
II	Contesting Globalization (4) Wealth, Inequality & Capitalism Accumulation (4)	Elective Courses (4-8)	Research Methodology II (4)		16-20
Summer Intersession				Guided Research Project (2)	2
III		Elective Courses (12-16)	Seminar (4)		16-20
IV			Capstone Workshop (2)	Dissertation (8)	10
Credits	20	20	14	10	64

Eligibility

Applicants need to have a Bachelors degree in any discipline with minimum 45% marks or equivalent grade from a recognised university (Relaxation of 5% marks for SC/ST/PwBD/D-OBC (NCL)/Defence/KM)
Entrance Test (weightage 100%)
Total number of seats: 53
Core Courses

1. Knowledges in a Global Perspective

Knowledges in a Global Perspective: Knowing the global is central to the MA in Global Studies. However, is there one way of knowing the global? Is there one global? This course aims to alert students to the plurality of knowledge systems in which knowledge about the world operates and that these plural systems may serve complementary or opposing purpose. ‘Western’ scientific knowledge has shaping the modern social sciences and in the process directly facilitated global patterns of domination down to the present time. How has the modern Western-origin knowledge order been consolidated in late globalisation? From which spaces and through whose voices have current forms of global domination been challenged? How will people in today’s world find or create forms of knowledge that promote liberation, harmony and sustainability, instead of domination, wounding or exterminating competition, waste and suffering? This course offers a critical introduction to hegemonic and alternative knowledge production systems.

2. Global Environment and Society

The course would help develop an understanding of globality through environmentalism, and vice versa, how the idea of a global environment and subsequently the mechanisms of global environmental governance developed, as well as responses and contestations. It also equips students with frameworks to understand the environmental concerns.

3. Cultures and Identities

This course examines how processes of globalization interact with different cultures and how these multilayered, multidimensional interactions influence, transform and rearticulate the multiple meanings of culture and identity in contemporary world. In other words, how is it that cultures and identities become the toolkits that allow people in a globalized world to be same or different? This course intends to explore the domains of culture and identity in their dynamic multiplicity and deterritorialised fluid appropriations/articulations instead of monolithic portrayals. It aims to motivate students to critically engage with the impacts of globalization on human lives and be able to better comprehend and situate phenomenon, people and current issues within a globalizing context. In short, the purpose and objective of the course is to explore and critically evaluate the dynamics and effects of contemporary globalization and its varying impacts across, between, and within societies

4. Contesting Globalisation

course will expose students to myths and realities of globalisation while making them aware of the philosophical foundations, contextual histories and genealogies of the concepts and issues that these myths and realities derive from. Students will be provoked to problematise and critically engage with issues pertaining to state, sovereignty, democracy, governance, empire, justice, identity, hegemony, and social movements.

5. Wealth, Inequality and Capitalist Accumulation

The course focuses on the use of political economy to study the accumulation of wealth and the cumulative production of inequalities under global capitalism. The invisible hand of the market under capitalism is commonly understood to throw up efficient solutions in terms of employment outcomes and resource allocations – and this is what would give rise to the wealth of nations. In reality however, certain social groups continue to find themselves at the lowest rungs of the economy and society, while the miniscule minority keeps expanding its share and retains power, often globally. Students will be encouraged to explore how capitalism often employs pre-existing fissures to retain profit shares and power

6. Research Methods

Two research methodology courses induct students into the traditions of research, and build capacities for the generation and analysis of diverse kinds of data, from the numerical to the qualitative. Techniques include cross tabulations, measures of central tendency, index numbers, PRA, questionnaire schedules and interviews, and ethnographic methods.

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On successful completion of the programme a student will be able to:

develop and understand disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives informing the field of global studies, and use these perspectives to analyse the lived experiences of globalisation and globality
critically analyse the complex ways in which the local, regional and global are interwoven, impinge upon and influence each other
critically analyse events, processes and trends that lead to globalisation
identify the multiple ideas and vison of globality
place experiences in a global and historical perspective, and be able to frame concrete situations conceptually
become responsible global citizens and be able to work in diverse cultural contexts.

Faculty The core faculty is trained from premier institutions in India and abroad and worked in diverse fields and locations. Distinguished academics and practitioners will also contribute to teaching and guidance as Visiting and Adjunct Faculty.

Careers The programme does not assume that all its graduates will follow academic career trajectories. Rather, it presumes that there is useful and engaged work to be done in various organizations, institutions and social spaces. The graduates will be well prepared to work in diverse organizations and locations.

Course Code	Course Name	Credit
SGA2EL413	Ecocritical Perspectives for Literature	4
SGA2EL411	Urban Agriculture	4
SGA2GS407	Contesting Globalisation	4
SGA2GS404	Global Environment and Society	4
N/A	Global South Asians: Communities, Cultures, Representations	4
SGA2GS402	Knowledges in a Global Perspective	4
SGA2GS401	Research Methodology - I	4
SGA2GS405	Research Methods 2	4
SGA2GS406	Wealth, Inequality & Capitalist Accumulation	4
N/A	Technology-Human Interface	4
SGA2EL407	Agrarian Change and Exclusions	4