Are you interested in pursuing a graduate degree examining two of the most pressing issues of our time in one program? In a top-ranked university known for its small class sizes and accomplished faculty? In a location that is out of the ordinary but well-placed for analyzing global trends?

Then the MA International Studies with its focus on Global Development and Environment is for you!

Program. Faculty. Location. This is what UNBC offers.

Our program was revised in 2018 to reflect changing global issues and how they are analyzed. Building on our 20 plus years of experience, the new program brings both sharper focus to the program as well as offering students more choice. Designed for students with broadly defined social science backgrounds, the program is structured so that students are introduced to key concepts, theoretical analysis and practice in Global Development and in Global Environment as well as taking a course in Research Methods for Global Studies. Students may choose from a wide range of electives and the program draws on courses from 11 different departments; an interdisciplinarian’s dream. Many courses offer critical perspectives.

Analyzing Global Development as processes, the program allows students to choose from courses focusing on the Global South, on the High North, on Indigenous issues, and on global-local dynamics. The connections between development and environment are explored and addressed. The vibrant Global Fridays Speakers Series brings global issues and speakers regularly to your classroom.

Students are all admitted into a coursework-based program allowing them to complete the program in two years. It is anticipated that most students will complete the coursework-based program. Depending on coursework performance and research topic, students can also apply during their studies to follow a traditional thesis based program in which they have the opportunity to work in depth on a topic under the supervision of a faculty member. Or they may apply for the innovative major research paper-based program where students work with a faculty supervisor on a shorter piece.

Whichever option you take you will be provided with the flexibility to pursue a program you are passionate about while also providing you with the rigorous theoretical and methodological training required to be successful during your course of study and in your future workplace. International Studies is one of the most sought after graduate degrees for individuals with professional interests in international and public policy, diplomacy, social science research, and non-governmental organizations. Our students have gone on to careers in the Canadian Foreign Service, federal and provincial governments, child rights advocacy, international business relations, international environmental NGOs, climate change research institutes, academic institutions, and community development, to name a few.

The MA program is coordinated jointly by the Department of Global and International Studies and the Department of Economics and also includes faculty from a number of other departments. This core faculty, available as potential supervisors, have research interests spanning Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Arctic and have conducted research in each of them as well as locally. They have research interests in areas such as globalization, critical/alternative development, health, environment, gender, feminism, extractivism, civil society, rural development, natural resources, human rights, Indigenous issues, business practices and forms of security. They have experience working for international organizations (such as the Asian Development Bank, the International Labour Organisation and the World Bank) and for NGOs (including founding one supporting rural development in Uganda). They include teaching award winners (including national 3M level) and research award winners (including national level awards). They have been successful in obtaining grants from bodies such as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the International Development Research Centre which have included funding for graduate students.

As for location UNBC is not like most Canadian universities. According to Statistics Canada “in 2016, two out of three people (66%) lived within 100 kilometres of the southern Canada–United States border, an area that represents about 4% of Canada's territory” (The Daily, Feb 8, 2017) and that’s where most of Canada’s universities are also found. UNBC is not; it is found in a part of the 96%. Located in Prince George, British Columbia, it is a hilltop campus situated on the Traditional Territory of the Lheidli T'enneh with a spectacular view of mountains far off to the east. Here you will discover a region that is beyond the experience of many Canadians. A region where Indigenous cultures are strong, where pristine wilderness confronts industrial resource development, where global influences and trade from rising Asia are re-shaping the economy, and where the impacts of climate change can be readily understood. A unique and compelling location from which, and in which, to study Global Development and Environment. Don’t settle for the ordinary; go the extra kilometre to UNBC.

Program. Faculty. Location. The MA in International Studies at UNBC.

International Studies MA Program - Graduate Calendar

International Studies MA Program 2024-2025 Graduate Handbook