The major in International Relations stresses integrated knowledge in the areas of politics, economics, history, and languages. The International Relations major provides focused training for students who plan to work in a wide variety of international career fields, including international diplomacy, international business, development work, non-profit sector work, international law, and graduate study in law, policy, international relations, and comparative politics.
Along with specific requirements for any major, all students in the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degree programs must meet all general education and graduation requirements under a single catalog.
Requirements for the International Relations major are 34 hours of IR and PSCI courses plus 12 hours of required supporting courses for a total of 46 hours.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Core Major Requirements | 18 | |
| Comparative Politics | ||
| International Politics | ||
| American Politics and Government | ||
or PSCI 145 | Political Philosophy | |
| Senior Seminar | ||
| Internship | ||
| Electives | ||
| Select 16 credits of elective at the 300-level or higher, 4 credits of which may come from PSCI courses at the 300-level or above. 8 credits must be from IR courses numbered 350-399. | 16 | |
| Total Credits | 34 | |
The major requires 12 hours of supporting courses from other departments. This includes 4 hours or its equivalent of a modern language beyond the 201 level. Students who plan to complete the language requirement off-campus, who are bilingual, or who have advanced proficiency in a second language other than English should see the Politics and IR Department for detailed guidelines about meeting the foreign language requirement. The other 8 hours of supporting courses must be taken from two of the following four categories. The four categories are Foreign Language, Economics, History, and Research:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Required Supporting Courses | ||
| Foreign Language | 4 | |
Another 4 credits beyond proficiency | ||
| Other Categories | 8 | |
Select 8 credits from two of the following three categories: | ||
| Economics 1 | ||
| International Political Economy (may be applied toward either the economics requirement or the upper division IR elective requirement, but not both) | ||
| Principles of Microeconomics | ||
| Principles of Macroeconomics | ||
| Intermediate Macroeconomics | ||
| Evolution of Global Economy | ||
| Wealth & Poverty of Nations | ||
| Health Economics | ||
| Economic Growth & Development | ||
| International Economics | ||
| Economics of Labor & Poverty | ||
| History | ||
History courses numbered 200 and above that focus on some part of the world outside the United States. | ||
| Research | ||
| Introduction to Statistics | ||
| Political Research (or approved equivalents) | ||
| Total Credits | 12 | |
| 1 | ECON courses may have prerequisites. AP credit in Economics will not count for major credit. |