Oct 31, 2024  
Course Catalog 2024-2025 
    
Course Catalog 2024-2025

International Affairs Integrative Concentration


The integrative concentration consists of a minimum of 6 full courses (or the equivalent), 1 experiential component, and 1 learning portfolio.

Note: Students must earn minimum grades of C- or P for all courses that apply toward the integrative concentration.


The international affairs integrative concentration is designed to prepare students for careers and pursuits spanning national boundaries. It is grounded in the social sciences (though cross-cultural breadth may be derived from humanities courses) and focused on contemporary issues and their recent history in order to develop an understanding of the current dominant modes of international interactions, and the global nature and consequences of those interactions. The international affairs integrative concentration helps develop a student’s ability to analyze global issues, to understand the dynamics of cross-cultural communication, and to appreciate the characteristics of regions outside the United States. Students may choose from more than 100 courses across the curriculum dealing with factors shaping global affairs.

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Note(s) on Requirements


  • If a student wishes to count a course that is not listed below toward the concentration, they can petition the concentration chair(s) for approval to apply the completed or in-progress course toward their concentration.
  • In planning their schedules, students should be aware that some of the courses listed below have prerequisites.

Declaring the Integrative Concentration


Students wishing to complete the international affairs integrative concentration should consult with a member of the concentration advisory group and complete the integrative concentration declaration/change form. The form requires the signature of the concentration chair.

Chair
Zeinab Abul-Magd, Nancy Schrom Dye Professor of Middle Eastern History

arrow See the full list of International Affairs Concentration Advisory Group members.

Detailed Integrative Concentration Requirements


International Affairs Integrative Concentration Course Lists


Modern Foreign Language Courses


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One year (two full courses) of a modern foreign language is required. If completed outside the college, a certification by the chair of the appropriate language department is required.

The following departments or programs offer language courses that would satisfy this requirement:

International Affairs Elective Courses


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Comparative American Studies Courses

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Jewish Studies Courses

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Experiential Component


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Concentrators must complete one off-campus internship that deals with global affairs in any area. The minimum length for the internship is four weeks. It may also be possible for a Winter Term internship experience to count for this requirement; students interested in this option must first get the approval of their concentration advisor.

As part of the experiential component process, students are encouraged to join a relevant career community that offers them skills and expertise necessary for a career in global affairs. Concentrators may find the following career communities particularly suitable: Education; Law and Public Policy; Medical, Public, and Global Health Professions; and Non-Profit and the Public Sector. In addition, there are a number of national and international organizations with which internships may be accessible; see list below.

Organizations with Potential Internship Opportunities

Learning Portfolio


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Students will be required to maintain a learning portfolio which will include signature course work as well as pre- and post-internship reflection. The portfolio is a means for students to draw together the theory from the curricular component with the practice from the experiential component. It also works to  support students’ appreciation of global expertise as an area of rich intellectual engagement, as well as, how to launch from college to career. Vital to this integration is the student’s understanding of how the range of skills acquired through liberal arts learning are transferable to the workplace. The integrative component will be overseen by the student’s faculty advisor for the integrative concentration.  

International Affairs Concentration Advisory Group


Zeinab Abul-Magd, Nancy Schrom Dye Professor of Middle Eastern History; chair

Deanna Bergdorf, Director of Winter Term and Global Learning