The School of Global and International Studies is home to four departments and some 20 centers and institutes.
SGIS students can choose from a wealth of courses and programs, united by their multicultural, multidisciplinary approach.
Departments, Centers & Institutes
A long history of global engagement
The four departments and 23 centers, programs, and institutes at SGIS carry forward IU’s proud tradition of global involvement and leadership.
During the Cold War, for example, IU was one of the only universities to offer Russian language studies, at a time when such proficiency was vital to our national security. We founded our acclaimed Russian and East European Institute in 1953.
Since that time, we have been steadily expanding our Area Studies centers, which focus on regions or issues of vital commercial and diplomatic importance such as the Center for the Study of the Middle East or the Center for the Study of Global Change. Only last year SGIS established its brand-new Institute for Korean Studies.
And our four departments allow you to pair the study of the history, culture, and languages of a country or region with a close examination of pressing contemporary issues.
Our departments, centers, and institutes
- Departments
- Centers and institutes
- African Studies Program
- Center on American and Global Security
- Center for the Study of Global Change
- Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
- Center for the Study of the Middle East
- East Asian Studies Center
- Institute for European Studies
- Institute for Korean Studies
- Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center
- Dhar India Studies Program
- Islamic Studies Program
- Pan Asia Institute
- Polish Studies Center
- Research Center for Chinese Politics and Business
- Russian and East European Institute
- Sinor Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies
- Southeast Asian Studies
- Language Programs and Resource Centers
Cartoon from 1948 depicting the arrest of IU President Herman B Wells in East Berlin. Herman B Wells at the 12th General Assembly of the United Nations in 1957. Herman B Wells and a Philippine soldier in 1945.
From upper left: IU President John W. Ryan and Zygmunt Rybicki (Rector of Warsaw University) signing an agreement in 1977 to create the American Studies Center at Warsaw University and the Polish Studies Center at Indiana University. The executive committee of the Russian and East European Institute, circa 1961. Wadie Elias Jwaideh, founder of IU’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures.
IU President John W. Ryan and Zygmunt Rybicki (Rector of Warsaw University) signing an agreement in 1977 to create the American Studies Center at Warsaw University and the Polish Studies Center at Indiana University. The executive committee of the Russian and East European Institute, circa 1961. Wadie Elias Jwaideh, founder of IU’s Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures.
From upper left: Professor Robert Byrnes discussing Russia on television in 1958. Professor Charles F. Voegelin in a Turkish class in 1943. Chinese students at IU in 1935.
Professor Robert Byrnes discussing Russia on television in 1958. Professor Charles F. Voegelin in a Turkish class in 1943. Chinese students at IU in 1935.
School of Global and International Studies