The B.A. in international affairs is designed to provide students with an applied understanding of international relations, comparative politics, and global economics. The program places a unique emphasis on the development of transferrable job skills such as critical thinking, interpersonal communication, cultural understanding and adaptiveness, writing, problem-solving, persuasion, and public speaking. Students will develop mastery of content areas in the fields of political and economic development, national security, and diplomacy. In addition, the program places a particular emphasis on the role of women in economic and political development and the necessity for sustainable economic and environmental socio-politico systems.
Graduates will be well-positioned for work with national governments, international organizations, the private sector, think tanks, non-governmental organizations, multi-national corporations, or further graduate study at top-tier programs.
Students in the B.A. international affairs program must complete 121 interdisciplinary credits to complete the major. The program consists of courses in political science, national security, and economics. Additionally, students are required to take two semesters of a foreign language and encouraged to pass an approved foreign language proficiency exam certification. Finally, students must participate in at least 3 approved semester-long high impact experiential learning courses.
PROGRAM OUTCOMES:
1. Understand how diplomacy shapes contemporary international issues.
2. Apply knowledge of economic principles to national security.
3. Assess solutions to contemporary global problems.
4. Evaluate national security problems.
Program Goals:
1. Explain how diplomacy is related to contemporary issues.
2. Appraise the comparative strengths and weaknesses of different economic policies with respect to national security objectives.
3. Evaluate national security public policies that address contemporary global problems.
4. Create a research design/paper, policy analysis brief, or national security brief using qualitative and/or quantitative methods.
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