First Person: What It's Like to Be a Global Studies Major at St. Lawrence
When starting my college search I was asked on every tour “What are you planning on majoring in?” Every time I always gave the same hesitant answer of “I don’t know yet." I was more often than not embarrassed when all the other students on the tours knew their full plan and anticipated majors because I had no idea quite yet.
When I got to St. Lawrence, I was asked the same question and gave my same reluctant answer. I was met with the response of “That’s ok!” followed by a full explanation of SLU's solid support system for students who didn’t exactly know what they wanted to major in and study, which was music to my ears.
When I started fulfilling my distribution requirements and exploring the various classes that SLU has to offer, I found myself being incredibly curious about the global studies courses. Global studies was not a major I had heard of at many other schools, and I loved that each course pushed me to consider ideas in ways that I hadn't before in other classes I'd taken. Each course asked me to consider different aspects of my positionality, to better understand and apply my own life to the subjects we were learning about.
An example of a course I’ve taken before at SLU that has pushed me to become a better critical thinker was “Race, Culture, and Identity,” which explores how different aspects of our lives work together to sculpt our perspectives and how we fit into the box of our societal structure. This course was very different than anything I had taken before. We used a combination of current references as well as previous cultural trends to guide incredibly deep class discussions that time and time again had my brain stirring before and after class.
The global studies major offers a range of courses with professors that all work together to push their students to consider global perspectives and gain a well-rounded understanding of our society and world at large. Because of this, I feel as though my major is not only pushing me academically in a classroom setting but also consistently pushing me to think more deeply about the world beyond St. Lawrence.
I would argue that even if students don’t necessarily plan on majoring or minoring in global studies, it is 100% worth taking a course or two in the department to better understand and apply global considerations and different schools of thought. So, if you find yourself unsure about what to take for a class, consider taking a class in the global studies department!
