International Affairs, B.A.

The College of Liberal Arts, Political Science department offers the International Affairs program. The program administers the interdisciplinary major in international affairs as well as minors in Asian Studies and Latin American Studies, a Model United Nations program, the Adriano Lucatelli scholarship program and an internship program. It also serves as advisor to the International Affairs student organization.

The major in International Affairs comprises an “expanded field of concentration” involving 33 credits plus corequisites. Students who select this major may, under appropriate circumstances, use up to three courses from this major to simultaneously fulfill minor or second major requirements. Both Capstone courses may be taken within the major if taught in different departments. The diversity of options within the major and stress placed upon study abroad experiences means that advisement should be sought prior to enrollment each semester.

Entering students should plan to take ECON 102 - Principles of Microeconomics  and ECON 103 - Principles of Macroeconomics , and foreign language courses during their first two years. In some cases, introductory courses at the 200-level may be recommended in the second semester. International students should consider the 100-level survey courses in European and American history or politics as ways of improving their performance in the Core Humanities sequence and in other courses in the major which assume some familiarity with history, society and government in Europe and North America.

The courses comprising the International Affairs major provide extensive training in analysis, synthesis, writing and speaking in a public setting. They may lead toward a broad range of careers, depending upon interests, specializations within the major, and tools acquired such as language fluency. In many cases, an additional professional degree will be required to enter attractive careers. Optional internships may provide the experiential basis for choosing or rejecting careers.

The major in International Affairs consists of an 18-credit required component and a 15-credit emphasis. The latter may include a senior thesis supervised by an appropriate faculty member, with topic and supervisor approved by the program director. Area study options require an appropriate language.