The Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change is a campus-wide center at the University of Minnesota that seeks to foster an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural community of faculty and students committed to supporting and advancing research, education, and collaborative initiatives related to global change, with a focus on the Global South.
Our Philosophy
Our philosophy focuses on interdisciplinary perspectives, globally engaged scholarship, and a recognition of the necessary connection of diversity and academic excellence. We understand the Global South to include communities and people marginalized, exploited or negatively affected by globalization in Africa, Asia, Latin America and elsewhere. We also emphasize transnational knowledge flows and production.
Cross-Cutting Themes
- Arts and social change
- Children's lives and livelihoods
- Critical climate change studies
- Food justice
- Gender, power, and inequality
- Global public health and inequities
- Identities, representation, and power
- Perspectives on human-nature relationships
- Politics of death and violence
- Racial justice
- Social change and conflict
- Sustainable development and livelihoods
- Water access and governance
The Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change (ICGC) is part of the Global Programs and Strategy (GPS) Alliance at the University of Minnesota.
Partnerships and Collaborations
ICGC's graduate courses, research initiatives, and program governance are supported by an interdisciplinary group of more than 80 affiliated faculty members from six colleges and schools across campus.
Our primary academic partner units on the University of Minnesota campus include:
- College of Liberal Arts
- College of Biological Sciences
- College of Education and Human Development
- College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences
- School of Public Health
- Humphrey School of Public Affairs
- Office of the Vice President for Research
ICGC has a continuing collaboration in graduate education and faculty research with the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in South Africa. This partnership, based at the UWC Centre for Humanities Research and supported by grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, includes faculty and student exchange as well as joint seminars, collaborative research, and publishing initiatives.
ICGC is a member of the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes.