Academic Programs
Humanitarian Affairs
Dr. Mary Tacy, Coordinator
Phone: (540) 568-6722
Email: tacymb@jmu.edu
The interdisciplinary Humanitarian Affairs minor provides students with a global perspective on the major issues facing the human community today. Students will investigate the impacts of natural disasters, disease, poverty, conflict, and local, national, and international policies on the welfare of human communities around the world. They will also explore solutions to various humanitarian crises and some of the organizations that address these crises. Finally, students will acquire knowledge and skills that prepare them for careers in governmental or non-profit organizations that address humanitarian issues such as poverty, hunger and malnourishment, conflict, human rights violations and natural disasters. Potential links: Justice Studies, International Affairs, Africana Studies, Sociology, Geographic Science, Health Sciences, Psychology, Social Work, Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication and Political Science majors and Nonprofit Studies minors.
The minor program in Humanitarian Studies is open to all undergraduate students at JMU. The requirement is the successful completion of 18 credit hours. Three of the 18 hours must include HUMN 201, Introduction to Humanitarian Studies. In addition, students are strongly encouraged to choose GEOG 491 International Studies as three of the other fifteen credits needed to complete the minor. The international experience must be one that will enhance the student's knowledge of humanitarian issues and approved by the Humanitarian Affairs Minor coordinator. This experience can be completed abroad or with an international organization in the United States.
| Core Requirements | Credit Hours |
| HUMN 201. Introduction to Humanitarian Affairs | 3 |
| Choose five of the following, with no more than two from | 15 |
| any single discipline: | |
| GEOG 215. Geospatial Tools I - Cartography and GIS | |
| GEOG 322. Agricultural Systems and Global Food Production | |
| GEOG 300. Population Geography | |
| GEOG 345. Geography of Poverty | |
| GEOG 350. Topics: The Geography of Human Genetics and Infectious Disease | |
| GEOG 366. Introduction to Geographic Information Science | |
| GEOG 375. Political Geography | |
| GEOG 491. International Studies1 | |
| JUST 235. Justice in the Global Community | |
| JUST 341. Gender and Justice | |
| JUST 375. Genocide in the 20th Century | |
| JUST/POSC 392. Peace Studies | |
| NUTR 380. Global Nutrition | |
| POSC/JUST 331. Human Rights in Theory and Practice | |
| POSC 340. Third World Development | |
| POSC 347. Comparative Public Policy | |
| POSC 348. The Politics of Cultural Pluralism | |
| POSC 395. International Law | |
| POSC 396. International Organizations | |
| POSC 397. Politics of International Economic Relations | |
| PSYC 460. Community Psychology in Developing Societies | |
| SOWK 288. Social Welfare | |
| SOWK/SOCI 348. Introduction to Developing Societies | |
| SOWK 375. Grant Writing for Agencies | |
| WRTC 322. Making a Difference: Service Learning Writing | |
18 |
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1 When used for credit in the Humanitarian Affairs minor, the international experience must be approved and supervised by the Humanitarian Affairs coordinator or designated faculty.
