A hub for interdisciplinary global scholarship and teaching
Research/Partnerships/Initiatives
Comparative and Historical Social Science
Co-sponsored by the Departments of Political Science and Sociology, the Program in Comparative and Historical Social Science (CHSS) supports training for graduate students interested in comparative and historical research.
East Asia Research Forum
This interdisciplinary group provides a setting for intellectual exchange among faculty, graduate students, and visiting scholars who work on East Asia at Northwestern University. EARF serves as a venue for outside speakers, discussion of work in progress, and other activities to augment the vibrant atmosphere of scholarship and teaching at Northwestern.
French Interdisciplinary Group
The French Interdisciplinary Group (FIG) was created in 1996 to promote familiarity with French language scholarship at Northwestern, in all fields, by supporting scholarly exchanges with the French academy at all levels - undergraduate, graduate, and faculty.
Global Capitalism and Law
The Global Capitalism and Law Research Group investigates the political, social, legal, and normative underpinnings of successful and politically sustainable local, national, and global markets.
Global Religion and Politics Research Group
The Global Religion and Politics Research Group brings together innovative thinkers in search of new understandings of and creative responses to the challenges of socially and religiously diverse worlds.
Research Initiative in Russian Philosophy, Literature, and Religious Thought
The NU RPRT Research Initiative is an international forum for interdisciplinary research and scholarly collaboration. In recent decades the study of Russian philosophy and religious thought has become an intellectual enterprise of global reach and stature, attracting a wide range of scholars.
Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies (REEES)
The Program in Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies (REEES) at Northwestern University brings together faculty and students bound by a shared interest in the vast region between Prague and Vladivostok.
South Asia Research Forum
This collaborative group provides a setting for intellectual exchange among faculty, graduate students, and other scholars who work across interdisciplinary fields in South Asia at Northwestern University. SARF provides a venue for speakers and events, work-in-progress workshops, reading new scholarship, and other activities that engage a dynamic community of South Asianists on campus.Curricular Programs
Programs of study with global and regional concentrations
Environmental Policy and Culture Program
The Environmental Policy and Culture Program offers students an interdisciplinary approach to environmental studies, focusing on the social sciences and humanities in the global commons. The interdisciplinary nature of the program makes it compatible with many other programs at Northwestern.
Roberta Buffett International Studies Program
The International Studies program is the gateway to the study of global affairs in the Weinberg College at Northwestern. Our mission is to encourage and support student education and scholarship in international affairs. We are open to all Weinberg students and to students from across the university.
Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program
Northwestern's Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program (LACS) has a dual purpose. One is to support a spirited and diverse community of faculty and graduate students whose research covers the culture, history, and politics of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Middle East and North African Studies Program
The MENA faculty trains students in the latest critical approaches to social, cultural, political, and economic forces in the region, and provide an understanding of their histories and global interconnections. Our trademark is an embrace of comparative approaches—which for us means both cross-regional and cross-disciplinary approaches—to this large and diverse area of the world.The Global Lunchbox Series
The GLOBAL LUNCHBOX is a weekly forum featuring conversations with scholars in the social sciences and humanities about their current research on a range of critical global issues. Tackling everything from global events to academic controversies, the series convenes live on Zoom (most) Fridays at 12pm CT and is also a podcast available on SoundCloud. Check our events calendar for upcoming GLOBAL LUNCHBOX programs.
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Recent Posts
Events
Jan
14
2026
EDGS Talk | Asia as Conjuncture: Theory and Praxis
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM, Evanston
Join the Roberta Buffett Institute for a discussion on Asian scholarship with Inaya Rakhmani, Director of Academics of the Asia Researc...
Jan
15
2026
East Meets West Speaker Series | How Ukrainians See Their Future:...
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM, Online
The Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies (REEES) Research Program at Northwestern University invites you to a Zoom talk as part...
Jan
16
2026
Absolute Resolve & Its Aftermath: Assessing US Action in Venezuel...
12:30 PM - 1:45 PM, Evanston
“Operation Absolute Resolve”—the recent US military operation in Venezuela resulting in the capture of its president Nicolás Maduro and...