Minors & Certificates

What Is the European Studies Minor?

The European Studies minor is a multidisciplinary program in European history, politics, and culture designed to provide undergraduate students with a broad understanding of European ideas and institutions over time. The minor is open to students in all major fields.

Why Learn About Europe?

Europe today is a complex and fascinating region of the world undergoing significant change. It is grappling with an array of fundamental political, socioeconomic, and cultural challenges, from charting the future for the European Union to how to reform the European welfare state to integrating newly arrived immigrants into national society.

Who Should Declare a Minor in European Studies?

• Students interested in European society, culture, art, history and politics in any time period 
• Students who have studied in Europe or want to study in Europe
• Students preparing for careers in the arts, international politics, international business, teaching or the foreign service
• Students who wish to show employers or graduate schools their expertise in a region outside of the United States
• Students who want to become global citizens

How Do I Find Out More?

For additional information or advising, contact the European Studies program coordinators, Prof. Scott Siegel by email at snsiegel@sfsu.edu. You can also visit Scott Siegel's website.

Requirements

Students who declared the European Studies minor in or after Fall 2018 must complete the revised minor requirements.

Students who declared the minor prior to Fall 2018 have the option of completing the old minor requirements or the revised minor requirements.

Faculty for European Studies

Scott N. Siegel, Program Coordinator, Department of International Relations
Office: Humanities Building 331
Email: snsiegel@sfsu.ed

Overview

Drawing on a multidisciplinary faculty with a broad range of experience in the region, the Latin American Studies minor is designed to develop understanding of the varied aspects of Latin American societies. This focus encourages students to critically evaluate the inter-relationships among history, language and literature, social, economic and political developments and their influence on the place that the nations of the region occupy in the international order. The versatility of the Minor provides the opportunity to explore a wide range of subjects - from the ancient Maya civilization, to doing business in present-day Latin America—as well as to specialize in particular areas such as the Caribbean, Central America, Mexico and South America.

Visit the Latin American Studies Program website to learn more about this minor.

Faculty for Latin American Studies

Juanita Darling, Department of International Relations
Office: Humanities Building 427
Email: juanitad@sfsu.ed

For Academic Year 2024-25, please reach out to:
Burcu Ellis, Chair, Department of International Relations
Office: Humanities Building 280
Email: bellis@sfsu.edu

Program Scope

The African Studies Minor is a multidisciplinary program in African history, politics, economics, and cultures, designed to provide students with a broad understanding of the issues facing African communities, societies, and nation-states in the past as well as the present. Courses from multiple departments and programs are incorporated into the African Studies Minor, offering different disciplinary bases for the examination and analysis of African contributions to world civilizations. It enables students to integrate and apply knowledge in the evolution of African societies from being the cradle of humanity to providing labor for the use of other civilizations and through colonial and post-colonial linkages, technological expansion, and economic liberalization. Students will examine African accomplishments, mores, traditions, cultures, and civilizations to finish the minor with a greater degree of understanding of, and tolerance for, cultural differences and ethnic pluralism as well as the problems inherent in the process of social change in Africa and the African Diaspora.

Students who select this minor are presented with different disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives. Common to all these perspectives is the critical examination of social change, modernization, development, and globalization. It is hoped that students will be provided the tools to enable them to build their own frames of reference, syntheses of concepts, data, and theories, to enrich their social attitudes and cultural values concerning Africa, and to appreciate its richness and its unity in diversity.

View the SF State Bulletin for more details on the African Studies minor.

Program Scope

As its title demonstrates, the Global Peace, Human Rights, and Justice Studies Minor is closely aligned with the mission and core values of San Francisco State University. We live in a world fraught with warring and ecological devastation and threatened by the frequent failure of governmental and financial powers to fashion just and effective solutions. Yet there are historical and contemporary examples of individuals, groups, and countries working productively and creatively within and across national boundaries to stop violent conflicts, form affirmative alliances, and ensure that basic rights and freedoms are available to all.

Global Peace, Human Rights, and Justice Studies is an all-university, interdisciplinary minor in which students and faculty cooperatively study and explore the problems, issues, challenges, and opportunities to prevent war and to make this a more just, peaceable, and sustainable world.

View the SF State Bulletin for more information on the Global Peace, Human Rights, and Justice Studies minor.

Program Scope

The Minor in Middle East and Islamic Studies is a multidisciplinary minor designed to provide undergraduate students with a broad understanding of the history, politics, and culture of the Middle East and Islamic world. Students are required to fulfill both core and elective requirements designed to give a background of the complexity and diversity of the region as well as offer more specific, in-depth studies of select issues of the region. This program covers regions and peoples from or in the Middle East from the founding of Islam in the seventh century to the present. In concert with the “Islamic Studies” aspect of this program, this minor also extends beyond the Middle East to those cultures, societies, and areas that are associated with the historical and current spread of Islam. Students can select from a variety of courses across multiple disciplines, including history, religion, politics, culture, art, music, language and literature.

The minor is useful to students planning careers in politics and government, business, education, international organizations, journalism and art, as well as for those who simply desire a better understanding of the Middle East and Islam. The multidisciplinary nature of the program also prepares students for further study in a number of academic fields at the graduate level.

The Middle East and Islamic Studies Minor consists of a core curriculum of three courses that deal with the region as a whole from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, plus three upper-division courses taken upon advisement.

View the SF State Bulletin for more information on the MEIS minor.

Faculty for Middle East and Islamic Studies

Lucia Volk, Department of International Relations
Office: Humanities Building 576
Email: lvolk@sfsu.ed

Program Scope

Pacific Asia refers to the regions of Asia bordering the Pacific Ocean, including East and Southeast Asia. Historically, East Asia has been under strong influences of Confucianism and Mahayana Buddhism, and Southeast Asia has been under strong influences of Islam and Theravada Buddhism. Diversity is more characteristic than commonality in describing the cultures and societies of East and Southeast Asia. But East and Southeast Asia can be regarded as a meaningful unit of global studies when we consider the two regions’ commercial, cultural, and diplomatic interactions, as well as their common experiences with Western and Japanese imperialism. In the twenty-first century, an economic community that connects East and Southeast Asia has been taking shape with marked Chinese initiatives, making these two regions more closely integrated than ever. The Pacific Asian Studies Minor is designed to give students an introduction into the exuberantly rich and diverse cultures of East and Southeast Asia, their inter-regional relations, and their relations with the rest of the world. In what some are now calling the Asian century, the rising tide of immigration of people from Pacific Asia into the United States, the rapidly increasing trade and financial transfers with nations of the Pacific Rim, and the growing attention to Asian arts, literature, philosophy, medicine, environment, and human rights signal the need to study Pacific Asia in earnest. At a time when this part of the world has become increasingly important to Americans, the minor serves the need to gain a better understanding of the complex Asian scene by offering an inviting opportunity for students to develop career and life-enhancing academic experiences at the University.

The Pacific Asian Studies Minor is an interdisciplinary program designed for students seeking a more intensive and extensive knowledge and understanding of East and Southeast Asia than their major discipline would offer. The Pacific Asian Studies Minor will be useful to students interested in pursuing further study at the graduate level as well as those planning careers in education, foreign services, international organizations, overseas corporations, and banking. Participants in the Study Abroad program at San Francisco State are welcomed to join Pacific Asian Studies and bring their Asian experiences to SF State classrooms.

View the SF State Bulletin for more details on the Pacific Asian Studies minor.

Faculty for Pacific Asian Studies

See-Won Byun, Department of International Relations
Office: Humanities Building 267
Email: sbyun@sfsu.ed

Program Scope

South Asia refers to Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. These countries are members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The Minor in South Asian Studies is multidisciplinary and designed to provide students with a broad understanding of the culture, history, economics and politics of South Asia and its diaspora. The region of South Asia is a crucial area of study given its linguistic, ethnic and religious diversity (its traditions draw from Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Christianity and others), its experience of British colonial rule and independence, its recent economic expansion and technological influence globally, and the widespread migration of South Asians over the last century. The study of South Asia thus offers students opportunities to explore pressing questions concerning colonialism and nationalism, political conflict and government, economic liberalization, cultural diversity and its expression in literature, art, and popular culture and globalization.

The South Asian Studies minor is useful for students planning careers in education, social service, law, politics, government, business, media and art, both nationally and internationally. It also prepares students for graduate study in a number of academic fields.

View the SF State Bulletin for more information on the South Asian Studies minor.

Overview

Migration and Refugee Studies (MRS) Certificate provides a foundational and interdisciplinary framework for understanding economic, political and environmental displacement of people within countries and across state borders. The goal of the certificate is to provide professionally relevant coursework about the global impact of migration and refugee movements as well as an understanding of immigrant and refugee experiences.

The MRS certificate (14-18 units) requires a foundational course on Migration and Refugees as well as a culminating internship experience. Electives constitute three clusters: Politics of Migration in the US, Migrant and Refugee Experiences: Equity, Dignity and Community, and Cultures of Migration and Diaspora. Please see the Bulletin and the Department's MRS form for possible coursework options.

View the SF State Bulletin for more information on the MRS Certificate

The Migration and Refugee certificate is open to students outside of SF State through enrollment in Open University. Please check this list to see if your state of residence is authorized for courses at SF State. If you would like to enroll in the Migration and Refugee Certificate, please contact Prof. Ellis at bellis@sfsu.edu. We look forward to working with you!

Faculty for Migration and Refugee Studies

Burcu Ellis, Chair, Department of International Relations
Office: Humanities Building 280
Email: bellis@sfsu.ed

Instructions to Receive the Certificate

Upon Advisement:

1. The student must pay the CAP application fee ($7.00) for the award of the certificate online via the Student Center.
2. The student prepares a general Certificate Approved Program (CAP) Form and the Department's MRS form and submits the forms and unofficial transcript(s) as evidence to the certificate advisor (and/or chair) for an approval signature.
3. The chair confirms all requirements for the certificate have been completed by signing the CAP form and submits the CAP form via email to Khaled Ezzat in Graduate Studies.

Processing Notes:

• CAP forms submitted through DocuSign are preferred.
• Students can attach a receipt of payment to the DocuSign envelope. 
• Forms routed outside of DocuSign must be submitted by the academic department directly to Khaled Ezzat (khaled@sfsu.edu) via email.

The current address on your student center is the address where we will send your paper certificate. It is the student's responsibility to update their address in your Student Center. For more information, please visit The Division of Graduate Studies - Certificate Programs webpage.