International Relations Major

 

About the International Relations Major

The International Relations major is an interdisciplinary major drawing on the social sciences and history and combining theory with experiential learning.  It focuses on international politics, economics, and culture from a global perspective and is administered in cooperation with Houghton's Office of Off-Campus Programs.

Structure of the International Relations Major

The core consists of required introductory coursework in international relations and macroeconomics, as well as a course in research methodology.  All students take a course in intercultural competencies which prepares them for their later intercultural experience.  All students must also achieve basic conversational fluency in a foreign language.  Finally, students cap off their studies with the senior capstone seminar, in which they write and defend a major research paper on a topic of their choice.

Electives include additional coursework in international politics, international business and economics, international development, and non-western history and politics.

The Intercultural Experience is a critical piece of the curriculum for all majors.  Students do supervised work, reading, and writing in an off-campus location, typically (though not always) in a foreign country and often in combination with an internship.  The experience gives students the opportunity to apply their learning in an unfamiliar cultural context. Some students choose to attend one of Houghton's off-campus programs, or another off-campus program with which Houghton is affiliated. Others design their own programs. The Intercultural Experience is different for every student, individually designed to suit his or her interests and needs.

The major requires a total of 42 hours of coursework; the minor requires 18 hours.

Typical International Relations Schedule

(All courses are 4 hours unless otherwise noted.)

First Year:

  • POLS 230 Introduction to International Relations
  • ECON 201 Introduction to Economics (2 hours)
  • ECON 211 Principles of Macroeconomics (2 hours)

Second Year:

  • Conversational Level Foreign Language
  • POLS 212 Social Science Research Methods
  • INTR 310 Intercultural Competencies

Third Year:

  • Elective: International Politics
  • Elective: International Economics/Business (2 hours)
  • INTR 311: Intercultural Experience

Fourth Year:

  • Elective: International Politics
  • Elective: Regional History
  • POLS 480 Senior Capstone: Politics Seminar