International Relations BA

The major in International Relations introduces students to the complex and fascinating world of politics beyond the United States and provides them with essential tools for understanding and analyzing it. In an increasingly interdependent world of nations and international organizations, such understanding is important for a variety of internationally oriented careers, inside and outside the United States, as well as for its own sake as part of a liberal arts education. Rather than constructing a major that offers vague introductions to many different aspects of world affairs, this major draws fully on the Political Science Department's analytical tradition of undergraduate education. Students will gain great breadth in their understanding of world affairs, but with analytical rigor and depth.The core of the major consists of four courses that introduce the concepts and theories of the subfields of international relations (relations between nations) and comparative politics (political processes and policymaking within nations).