Skip to main content
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF GLOBAL INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES

Mural painted by Alloyius Mcilwaine outside of the GIS office in Garey Hall.

The Department of Global Interdisciplinary Studies (GIS) provides students with skills, knowledge and values that foster critical thinking, problem solving and preparation for responsible global citizenship.

Our students gain an understanding of global and digital literacy, cultural diversity and intercultural competences, interdisciplinary research, and a passion for social justice, nurtured in experiential learning.

The department is comprised of three majors: GlS (with 10 specializations), Gender and Women's Studies (GWS), and Peace and Justice Studies (PJ). Students in the GIS major are required to declare a specialization in one of the following interdisciplinary area studies: Africana Studies, Arab and Islamic Studies, Asian Studies, Chinese Studies, Cultural Studies, Irish Studies, Japanese Studies, Latin American Studies or Russian Area Studies. A student may also opt for an Individually Designed Specialization after meeting the requirements. We also offer four Critical Language and Cultural Studies minors in Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Russian and a minor in Sustainability Studies.

Chiji Akoma, PhD
Associate Professor
Chair, Department of Global Interdisciplinary Studies
chiji.akoma@villanova.edu
(610) 519-6967

Andra Cain
Administrative Assistant
andra.cain@villanova.edu

WHO WE ARE

Camryn Allen ’21 CLAS

Camryn Allen ’21 CLAS earned double majors in GIS: Africana Studies and in Communications. In 2018, she was one of six Villanova University representatives at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, a conference in which activists, students, academics, and other agents of change gathered to address issues on social justice on American campuses. Having written her GIS senior thesis on the intersections of culture and politics between indigenous and Black peoples in Australia and the United States, Camryn is planning to pursue a career in diplomatic service in the US State Department.

JACKSON SWEENY '21 CLAS

Jackson Sweeney ’21 CLAS was a Fulbright Recipient and earned the Matteo Ricci, SJ Medallion Award for academic excellence and exemplary citizenship. Sweeney was a GIS: Asian Studies and Political Science double major. Over the years, he has discovered his love for agriculture and farming. With the wonderful education and experiences from the GIS department, he hopes to work in creating an agricultural system in which we can nourish the world, while utilizing practices that will benefit the environment for future generations. But before he can get to that work, he’ll be setting off to Taiwan as a Fulbright Recipient!

JULIANA COSENZA '21 CLAS

Juliana Cosenza ’21 CLAS earned the ABD Al-Qadir Al-Jazairi Medallion award and is a GIS: Arab and Islamic Studies major with a minor in Peace and Justice. She has a passion for immigration law and Middle Eastern policy. She plans to attend law school, where she will pursue immigration and international public interest law. She could not be more excited to begin this new chapter and bring her energy and passion to the legal world. “A sincere thank you to all the outstanding professors and mentors in the GIS department that have challenged, supported, and encouraged me throughout these last four years.” Fun fact: she studied abroad in Amman, Jordan during her junior year!

STEPHEN J. SCHEIDLY '21 CLAS

Stephen J. Scheidly ’21 CLAS earned the Alexander Pushkin Medallion Award. Scheidly majored in GIS: Russian Area Studies and minored in Naval Science. He studied abroad in Prague, Czech Republic.

WELCOME DANA LLOYD, PHD

Dana Lloyd, PhD, joined Villanova University as assistant professor of Global Interdisciplinary Studies in fall 2021. A scholar of law, religion, and indigeneity, she has an article, “Storytelling and the High Country: Reading Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association,” in the forthcoming issue of Journal of Law and Religion, as well as an article, “Law, Religion, and Paradoxes of Sovereignty,” which serves as an introduction to a symposium she guest-edited, in the forthcoming issue of Political Theology. She also has two chapters in the forthcoming edited volume Indigenous Religious Traditions in Five Minutes (Equinix, 2022): “Is Indigenous Law Religious?” and “What is a Land-Based Religious Tradition?”

EDUCATION WITH IMPACT

 

AN EDUCATION IN THE LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES promotes intellectual curiosity and rigor; instills the fundamentals of critical insight, mature judgment and independent thinking; and strengthens students’ sense of their moral responsibility for others and for the betterment of society.