International and Intercultural Studies

The International and Intercultural Studies major is an interdisciplinary course of study designed to deepen and broaden a student’s understanding of global and local commonalities, differences, and power relations. Through course work at Pitzer, language acquisition, and an intensive experience away from the campus, the major seeks to make students aware of what binds them to, and separates them from, other peoples and other places.

In this field, students see how dominant and non-dominant groups interact and explore contentions that knowledge is socially constructed in character and that widely accepted claims to objectivity derive from local knowledge systems. Students are exposed to interdisciplinary methods in classroom study, experiential learning at an external studies site, language training, and a senior capstone seminar. As an outcome of study in IIS, students develop skills at respecting different cultures, at engaging with issues of social justice and political movements, and at recognizing the complex ethics and politics of building social relationships across differences.
 

Major Advisers: J. Parker, L. Tongun, S. Snowiss, B. Sarathy.