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Message from the Chair, Dr. Banu Gökarıksel
 The UNC Curriculum in Global Studies has been a leader in the field of Global Studies with its rigorous undergraduate and Master’s programs that train the next generation of leaders and problem-solvers. Recent years have only deepened the need for global understanding and CGS meets this need. Our notable international faculty are producing groundbreaking research on the most pressing topics of our world, including human rights, racial and gender justice, economic inequality, challenges to democracy, war and conflict, nationalism, migration and diaspora, environmental crisis, and social movements. Global Studies students analyze these issues with an understanding of their root causes, long histories, and connections to distant places in their classes, research projects, internships, volunteer opportunities, and work. The perspectives they gain in CGS serve them well in their careers. CGS educates thousands of students each year and fosters global perspectives and engagement between the university and the public, communities, and organizations.
After my inaugural semester as Chair of CGS, I welcome this opportunity to reflect on the past couple of months, share news, and invite your participation in the coming years as we continue to build Global Studies as one of the most vibrant programs of its kind. As a joint faculty of CGS since 2005, Global Studies has provided a uniquely stimulating interdisciplinary academic home for me, an immigrant scholar who grew up in Turkey with training in economics, sociology, and geography and a feminist political geographer with long-standing interests in the uneven effects and power dynamics of global processes, including neoliberal consumption, political Islam, feminism, borders, and migration. I have been inspired by the brilliance, creativity, and dedication of CGS students, faculty, staff, and alumni over the years and am thrilled to work more closely with them in my new role.
Read more here
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Congratulations Spring 2022 Graduates!
The Curriculum in Global Studies congratulates our Spring 2022 BA & MA graduates on this important milestone in your lives and the perseverance you have displayed during these unusual and trying times. We look forward to following your future journeys and the ways in which you will impact communities across North Carolina, throughout the United States, and around the world.
Global Studies celebrated our first in-person commencement ceremony since 2019 on May 8th in Memorial Hall. An electronic version of our commencement program can be accessed here.
Spring 2022 Honors Recognition
Twelve Global Studies seniors completed senior honors theses during the Spring 2022 semester. Faculty advisors and readers universally praised the original research, theoretical frameworks, and writing in these projects. This strong & resilient cohort (listed below) should feel a great deal of pride & accomplishment for this outstanding achievement!
Cassandra Alvarino- Turks in Germany: Analyzing the Voting Behavior of Germany's Largest Minority
Meagan Beacham- 8-Bit and BitChute: How the Radical Right Creates Propaganda from Video Games
Jamie Cummings- A New "Age" of Global Climate Governance: The Role of Youth in the UNFCCC Process
Journey Dreyer- Grassroots to Government: The Extraordinary Evolution of Germany's Green Party
Alexandra Durham- In the Best Interests of the Children? An Analysis of Romanian Adoption Policy and the Situation Facing Unparented Children Today
Kamil Ewais-Orozco- An Analysis of the Efficacy of Water Sanitation in Mitigating Developmental Stunting in Rural Western Uganda
Erin Lee- K-Pop Beyond Borders: The Contradictions of Nationalism, Music, and Global Identity
Anne Majerus- The Continuum of Genocide
Jaya Mishra- The Power of Women's Global Health: A Comparison of Multi-Purpose Prevention Technologies
Mallory Sokolove- Divided Belonging: An Analysis of Media Depictions of the Korean Diaspora in Germany
Ashley Wade- Hard Choices and Centering Voices: Healthcare Access for Human Trafficking Survivors in the United Kingdom
Isabel Williams- Why Can't Hijabs be Hygge Too? The Development of Islamophobia in Denmark Through Politics & Media
MA Capstone/Thesis Projects
Global Studies graduated a cohort of seven MA students in the Spring 2022 semester. These students persevered through a remote first year in our program and displayed such resilience, excellence, and originality in completing a diverse and dynamic array of capstone/thesis projects (listed below). We celebrate their achievements and contributions to our program and look forward to following their bright futures.
Nathalia Contreras-Pardo- Hybrid Tribunals and the Rule of Law: The Cases of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the Special Panels of the Dili District Court
David Gagnidze- Formation of a Nation: Ramifications of National and Political Identity Formation in Abkhazia
George Hendrix- Laclau’s Approach: A Better Understanding for Online Populism as Demonstrated Through AMLO's 2018 Mexican Presidential Campaign
Greg Kyle- Singaporean Authoritarianism: The Civic Mask, Fused Nationalism, and Authority Legitimation
Cat Haas- Translating the Rights of Nature: the Role of Indigenous Leadership and Pluriversality in Globalizing a New Earth Jurisprudence
Alex Zoretich- The Nexus of Climate Variability, Food Insecurity, and Migration in rural Guatemala: Challenges and Potential Sustainable Adaptations
Ekaterina Khokhrina- Boris Vasil′ev’s and the Dawns Here are Quiet…: Between Realism and Idealism
Eyre Award
Each year, the Curriculum in Global Studies presents the Douglas Eyre Award for Excellence to the Global Studies major who produces the best senior honors thesis. We are proud to recognize Ashley Wade as this year's recipient of the Eyre Award. Ashley graduated in May 2022 with a double major in Global Studies and Interdisciplinary Studies with a Spanish for Medical Professions minor.
Ashley's thesis, Hard Choices and Centering Voices: Healthcare Access for Human Trafficking Survivors in the United Kingdom, was universally lauded for its overall significance and interdisciplinary approach to such an important and complex issue. Ashley was supported in her thesis project by her advisor (Dr. Erica Johnson) and reader (Dr. Rebecca Macy). A Morehead-Cain Scholar as well as a member of the UNC Honors College and Phi Beta Kappa, Ashley is taking a gap year to teach in Spain before attending the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Scaff Award
The Anne Scaff Award is presented each year to a Global Studies senior who has committed themselves to serving the Curriculum and the overall internationalization of the University. We are proud to recognize Eleanor Murray as this year's recipient of the Scaff Award. Eleanor graduated in May 2022 with a double major in Global Studies and American Studies.
During her time at UNC, Eleanor served as a Phillips Ambassador and studied abroad in South Korea. She has worked as an intern at CUBE and served as the Undergraduate Fellow with the Humanities for the Public Good Initiative. Eleanor has taught a course entitled "Gender Relations in South Korea" through the C-START program here at UNC as well as being selected as an Eve Carson Scholar and Buckley Public Service Scholar.
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The Global Gazette
By Kim Spurr, College of Arts & Sciences (originally published May 9, 2022)
Catherine Haas loves the interdisciplinary nature of UNC’s master’s program in global studies. Now she and fellow graduate students are leaving their mark on campus by creating a publication that celebrates that same diverse mindset.
The forthcoming Global Gazette will be more than an academic student journal.
“We wanted something that would be academic and creative, that would allow people to express their experiences in whatever form that took shape,” said Haas, who is from Winston-Salem and majored in international studies and Spanish at UNC-Asheville before coming to Chapel Hill. “I thought about how compelling Richard Powers’ Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Overstory is, for instance, or films that evoke emotion.”
Haas and Greg Kyle are second-year M.A. students who helped to create the publication, along with first-years Eleni Econopouly and Scarlett Hawkins. The team won a 2022 Arts Everywhere Arts Innovation Grant to support their efforts.
“Undergraduate and graduate students have valuable insights and perspectives, and we wanted to offer them a platform to share their engaging ideas with the world,” Kyle added. “We want to connect with the community through shared experiences.”
Haas said the first edition includes academic papers, a reflective essay, some poems, a painting, a photo collection and op-eds from The Global Gazette team.
Read more here
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Global Studies Faculty Awards
 Dr. Renee Alexander Craft received a Tanner Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching in Spring 2022. This award recognizes five professors for their inspirational teaching of undergraduates, with an emphasis on first-years and sophomores. The professors are nominated by members of the University community. The awards were created in 1952 with a bequest by Kenneth Spencer Tanner, class of 1911, and his sister, Sara Tanner Crawford (and by them on behalf of their deceased brothers, Simpson Bobo Tanner, Jr. and Jesse Spencer Tanner), establishing an endowment fund in memory of their parents, Lola Spencer and Simpson Bobo Tanner. We celebrate this recognition of Dr. Alexander Craft's devotion to and impact on undergraduate education on our campus!
 Dr. Michal Osterweil was recognized in Spring 2022 with a University Diversity Award for her efforts to support diversity and decolonizing efforts in Global Studies. In her role as professor and diversity liaison in Global Studies, Dr. Osterweil has lead retreats and workshops focused on how to include diversity, equity, and inclusion into course curricula and has advocated a more transformative, decolonizing pedagogical approach to the delivery of Global Studies course content. In addition to this work. Dr. Osterweil has also hosted listening sessions on issues of race and the racial climate on our campus with Global Studies majors and serves as chair of the Curriculum in Global Studies Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee. The Curriculum celebrates Dr. Osterweil's passion and impact in Global Studies and across our campus and community. |
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Thirteen Global Studies students inducted into Phi Beta Kappa
Two hundred and thirty-six UNC students were recently inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most honored college honorary society. Of those two hundred and thirty-six, thirteen were Global Studies majors. The names of our inductees appear below and we offer them our sincerest congratulations on this wonderful recognition.
- Kayla Cook, a senior with sociology and global studies majors and a history minor, of Wake Forest, North Carolina.
- Anna Olivia Herbert, a senior with economics and global studies majors and a Spanish for the business professions minor, of Asheville, North Carolina.
- Julia Rose Hirschfield, a senior with global studies and peace, war, and defense majors and an Arabic minor, of Mooresville, North Carolina.
- Zachary Johnston, a senior with media and journalism and global studies majors and a philosophy, politics, and economics minor, of Brentwood, Tennessee.
- Ludmila Viviane Louise Leveque, a junior with a global studies major and Arabic and conflict management minors, of New York, New York.
- Caroline Calloway Lewis, a senior with a global studies major and geography and French minors, of Atlanta, Georgia.
- Elisabeth Robson Maxwell, a senior with a global studies major and business administration and Spanish for the professions minors, of Atlanta, Georgia.
- Eleanor Spalding Murray, a senior with global studies and American studies majors, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
- Madison Nicole Parks, a senior with global studies and peace, war, and defense majors, of Wake Forest, North Carolina.
- Samantha Quiroz-Gutierrez, a senior with global studies and history majors, of Wake Forest, North Carolina.
- Harper Caroline Slusher, a senior with global studies and studio art majors, of Monroe, North Carolina.
- Preston Charles Smith, a senior with a global studies major and chemistry and Spanish for the medical professions minors, of Wilmington, North Carolina.
- Alexander Lee Waters, a senior with political science and global studies majors and a Hispanic studies minor, of Charlotte, North Carolina.
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Alumna Receives 2022-2023 Fulbright Award
Fifteen students and recent graduates from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have been selected to receive the Fulbright U.S. Student Program award for the 2022-2023 academic year.
The UNC-Chapel Hill recipients are among more than 2,100 U.S. citizens who will study, conduct research or teach abroad for the academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Recipients are selected by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board on the basis of academic and professional achievement, as well as their record of service and leadership potential in their respective fields.
Global Studies is proud to recognize alumna Megan Busbice (BA '22) as one of the fifteen recipients. Megan will serve as an English Teaching Assistantship in Spain. Congratulations Megan!
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Featured Faculty: Elena Trubina
 Elena Trubina, a visting lecturer sponsored by the Center for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies (CSEES), is a professor of social theory and philosophy at the Ural Federal University in Yekaterinburg, Russia, where she also directs the Center for Global Urbanism. Her book Gorod v teorii [City in Theory] took issue with the Eurocentrism of urban theories and has become widely read and used in universities across the post-socialist space. Her research focuses on social and urban theory, the relationship between urban space, politics, memory and subjectivity. She is the recipient of several prestigious fellowships, including those from the Fulbright Program, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Carnegie Foundation, among others. She taught a course for Global Studies in Spring 2022 entitled “Globalized and Deglobalized Russia”. Elena reflects on her Global Studies course and the events of the Spring 2022 semester below.
"When I began my course, I was keen to demonstrate that the globalization impacted the everyday life and attitudes of the Russian citizens and that its influence didn’t start only after the collapse of the Soviet Union. I intended to spend most of time in my class discussing different fascinating cases and tendencies based, in part, on my interdisciplinary scholarly work on the contemporary Russian mass-media, cultural policy, urban development, and intellectual history and, second, my experience of giving lecture courses on contemporary Russia in Tampere, Lyon, and Marseille as well as working for eight years in the framework of the English-speaking MA program for the international students at my home university. Then the moment of enormous rupture struck and our classes began oscillating between the course sources written “before” and rushed thoughts “after” the start of Russia’s current war in Ukraine. I was impressed with my students’ erudition and indeed the global scope of their reflections towards the war, for instance, they, quite compellingly, stated that the war may become a pretext for other authoritarian leaders to claim bigger influence in the international politics and compared the ongoing war with the ones fought in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria. In the last weeks, the Russian invasion of the Ukraine has been followed by frightening repressive actions by the government against news media organizations, intellectuals, journalists, writers, et al, and many have left the country in haste and desperation, in the last few weeks. People are being dragged in for interrogations, tortured, intimidated and fired for signing anti-war petitions and participating in anti-war rallies. Repressive laws have been passed and severe censorship introduced. The “global” training that the students already had was obvious when we discussed these events in my class on the protests in Russia when, again, they juxtaposed these with similar events happening elsewhere to claim that seldom the local opposition succeeds in consolidating power. Classes apart, I got invited to the public debates in which my students participated and had a chance to meet their parents and relatives. Directly and indirectly, this class not only offered me unique insights into the opinions, attitudes and outlooks of the students but helped me to cope with the shock produced by the first weeks of the war by donating money and actively speaking about it in this class and elsewhere."
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Student Spotlight: How Eleanor Murray Connects Daydreaming to Diplomacy
by Rawan Abbasi, UNC Global (originally published April 14, 2022)
 Ever since she was young, Eleanor Murray has been a daydreamer, and it’s what led her to become so fascinated with the world. “These expansive daydreams are fueled by an interest in the world that was instilled in me through my education,” said Murray. “I chose global studies because my curiosity about the world is relentless.” Eleanor Murray ’22 is a global studies and American studies double major from Chapel Hill, NC.
In high school, she read “The Kite Runner,” a New York Times bestselling novel about a young boy from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul, Afghanistan during the Soviet military intervention. “While the messages of hope, sacrifice and love the main character heralded rang true to myself, the context of religious and ethnic conflict was unfamiliar,” said Murray. Learning about a world that was so different from her own inspired her passion to study global relations.“Through classes that help to expand my imagination and daydreams, to books that touch my heart in new ways, global studies fuels my curiosity in the most exhilarating way possible.”
Read more here
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Faculty Promotions
Global Studies proudly recognizes the following recently promoted faculty members. These professors impact Global Studies students in such profound ways and we are appreciative of their teaching, mentoring, and scholarship in the Curriculum in Global Studies and across the University at large.
 Dr. Erica Johnson- Teaching Professor
Dr. Johnson's research and teaching interests are in comparative politics and political economy, with particular focus on post-Soviet state-society relations. She has an ongoing research focus on government and citizen uses of new information and communication technologies in post-Soviet Central Asia and on civil society development in the post-Soviet region. Before coming to UNC, Dr. Johnson was a post-doctoral fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies. She also serves as Director of Graduate Studies in the Curriculum in Global Studies.
Dr. Michal Osterweil- Teaching Professor
Dr. Osterweil's research focuses on contemporary social movements and their knowledge production. Her dissertation focused on the theoretical-practice and political imaginaries of the Italian “Global Justice Movement” and related transnational networks, in particular those affiliated with Zapatismo. She has also published on World and Regional Social Forums, as well as other actors active in contemporary anti-capitalist movements. She is interested in the “new political imaginary” being developed at the intersection of the Counter-Summits, World Social Forum and Zapatista movements. In addition to her research, she is committed to cultivating new knowledge production practices in the university community and beyond. Dr. Osterweil also serves as the Internship Coordinator and Diversity Liaison in the Curriculum in Global Studies.
 Dr. Brigitte Seim- Associate Professor (Global Studies & Public Policy)
Dr. Seim's research examines the relationship between citizens and political officials, with a particular emphasis on accountability in developing countries. She is particularly interested in two related but distinct threads of research: one considers how accountability mechanisms can be perverted or disrupted when states are developing politically or economically; and the other considers the methods and data used to study accountability relationships around the world. Dr. Seim also serves as the Project Manager of Experiments for the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project and is a founding Principal Investigator of the Digital Society Project, both cross-national data projects providing publicly available political data.
 Dr. Chad Bryant- Professor (Global Studies & History)
Dr. Bryant’s interests include nationalism and the urban experience in modern Central and Eastern Europe, with a particular focus on the lands of today’s Czech Republic. His most recent book, Prague: Belonging in the Modern City, focuses on the capital city and questions of belonging in the modern era with a poignant reflection on alienation and belonging, told through the lives of five remarkable people who struggled against nationalism and intolerance in one of Europe’s most stunning cities. He is, with Kateřina Čapková and Diana Dumitru, embarking on a study of the Stalinist-era show trials in Czechoslovakia.
Dr. Renee Alexander Craft- Professor (Global Studies & Communication)
Dr. Alexander Craft's research and teaching examine the relationship among sociohistorical constructions of Blackness, Black cultural performance, and discourses of Black inclusion and exclusion within a hemispheric American framework. With an intersectional approach attentive to class, colorism, nationalism, nationality, language, gender, sexuality, history, religion, and region, her research reflects an interest in the following questions: How has Blackness come to mean what it does in discrete countries of the Americas? How have African descended communities used the power of creativity and imagination to build community, preserve culture, inspire collective action in the service of social justice, and call new futures into being by troubling the fault lines of structural domination?
 Dr. Meenu Tewari- Professor (Global Studies & City and Regional Planning)
Dr. Tewari works on the political economy of economic and industrial development, poverty alleviation, small firms, and the urban informal economy from a comparative, institutional perspective. She teaches in the areas of economic development, historical and institutional analysis of development processes, and microeconomics. Dr. Tewari’s research focuses on comparative local economic development, and upgrading and adjustment in developed and developing countries. She is particularly interested in the implications of global competition for firms, workers, public sector institutions, and local economies, as well as the prospects for upward mobility in regions that are restructuring. Her research explores why, and under what conditions, are some regions, firms, workers, and institutions more able to deal resiliently and innovatively with the pressures of globalization than others; and what kinds of institutional arrangements and circumstances help diffuse these capabilities widely within the regional economy.
 Dr. Milada Vachudova- Professor (Global Studies & Political Science)
Dr. Vachudova specializes in European politics, political change in postcommunist Europe, the European Union and the impact of international actors on domestic politics. Her recent articles explore the trajectories of European states amidst strengthening ethnopopulism and democratic backsliding – and how these changes are impacting party systems and the European Union. Dr. Vachudova served as chair of the Curriculum in Global Studies from 2014 to 2019.
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Support the Curriculum in Global Studies
We are very grateful for all gifts to the Curriculum in Global Studies to help students pursue global opportunities, near and far.
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