a c a d e m i c p r o g r a m sCollege of Arts and Sciences - Curriculum Guide
International Affairs
Advisory Board
T. Anthony Jones, PhD
Sociology and Anthropology
Harry Kuoshu, PhD
Modern Languages
Felix V. Matos Rodriguez, PhD
History
Adam McKeown, PhD
History
Gordana Rabrenovic, PhD
Sociology and Anthropology
Harlow L. Robinson, PhD
Modern Languages
David E. Schmitt, PhD
Political Science
Denis J. Sullivan, PhD
Political ScienceThe major in international affairs provides students with the opportunity to develop a deep understanding of both regional and global issues. It is intended to prepare students for the interdependent world in which they will live, work, compete, and cooperate upon graduation.
Students wishing to complete the major in international affairs will take seventeen courses; in addition, students must fulfill a Foreign Language Proficiency requirement, an International Experience requirement, and the Bachelor of Arts core curriculum. Students majoring in international affairs should maintain a minimum 2.75 QPA until the beginning of their international experience. Current Northeastern students wishing to declare an international affairs major must have a minimum 2.75 QPA.
See course descriptions for more information.
Bachelor of Arts Curriculum
Required courses. IAF 1100, Introduction to International Affairs; IAF 1104/SOA 1104, Cultures of the World; IAF 1112/POL 1112, Introduction to International Relations; IAF 1113/POL 1113, Introduction to Foreign Governments; IAF 1122/HST 1122, World Civilization Since 1648; IAF 1300, International Conflict and Negotiation; IAF 1190/ECN 1190, The Global Economy; and IAF 1500, Senior Seminar in International Affairs.
Foreign Language Proficiency is defined as passing the Intermediate 2 level of a foreign language or meeting a comparable criterion approved by the Department of Modern Languages. (This requirement in the major also parallels the language requirement for the Bachelor of Arts degree in the College of Arts and Sciences.)
International Experience requires that students spend at least one term abroad. Students may fulfill this requirement by choosing at least one of three options: (a) study abroad, through enrollment in a Northeastern University study-abroad program or (with prior approval) through another university; a maximum of two courses taken as part of study abroad may be counted in fulfilling the number of electives, and these courses must fall within the proper elective categories; (b) internship abroad, which the student may develop individually or which may be sponsored by a major department and/or a Northeastern University study-abroad program; the internship may carry academic credit, with prior approval; (c) international co-op, which may be arranged through the Division of Cooperative Education.
Students must also satisfy requirements for the BA core curriculum. (The international affairs major is part of the social sciences.)
Elective categories. Students must select a total of eight courses from Global Dynamics and Development and four from Regional Analysis, with at least three from the same subcategory.
Minor Curriculum
Students take seven courses, plus fulfill an International Experience. Foreign language proficiency is not required but strongly recommended, and students are also advised to undertake foreign language study while abroad during fulfillment of their International Experience as appropriate. Northeastern students must have a minimum 2.75 QPA to declare an international affairs minor and must maintain a minimum 2.75 QPA until the completion of their international experience.
IAF 1100, Introduction to International Affairs; IAF 1500, Senior Seminar in International Affairs; five electives chosen from categories of Regional Analysis and Global Dynamics and Development and to be distributed as described (see below). International Experience, fulfilled by choosing one from among four options: (a) study abroad, through enrollment in one of the Northeastern University study-abroad programs, or, with prior approval, through another university; a minimum of one term is required, with two terms encouraged; a maximum of two courses taken as part of study abroad may be counted in fulfilling the number of electives, and these courses must fall within the proper elective categories; (b) internship abroad, which the student may develop or which may be sponsored by a major department or CAS International Study Programs Office; the internship may carry academic credit (with departmental approval); (c) international co-op, arranged through the Division of Cooperative Education; or (d) directed study on campus (when the foregoing are not feasible), to be supervised by faculty specialized in a specific country or region of the student's interest; a minimum of eight credits is required.
A total of five elective courses is required from the categories of Regional Analysis and Global Dynamics and Development, as listed below. Students must take at least two courses from each category. Students must select two or three courses from Regional Analysis and these courses must be chosen from at least two different regional subcategories. All electives must be taken from outside the student's major.
I Regional Analysis. Africa: AFR 1156/MUS 1181, Music of Africa; AFR 1191/HST 1620, Early African Civilization; AFR 1193, Africa Today; AFR 1195, Identity and Nationalism in Africa; AFR 1197/HST 1621, Modern African Civilization; AFR 1342/POL 1342, Crisis and Conflict in Black Africa; AFR 1402/HST 1623, History of West Africa; AFR 1405/HST 1625, South African History.
Asia: HST 1581, American Images of China; HST 1610, Topics in Asian History; HST 1633, Modern China; HST 1634, Contemporary China; HST 1637, Modern Japan; MUS 1183, Music of East Asia; PHL 1250, Chinese Philosophy; PHL 1255, Indian Philosophy; PHL 1275, Eastern Religions; PHL 1293, Eastern Philosophy; POL 1332, Government and Politics of Japan; POL 1371, Government and Politics of China; SOC 1104, Sociology of Japan.
Europe: ART 1204, Renaissance Architecture; ART 1205, Renaissance Art; ECN 1333, European Economic Development; ENG 1652, Twentieth-Century English Literature; HST 1301, Topics in European History; HST 1390, Population in European History; HST 1473, Women in Modern Europe; HST 1481, The Culture of Europe; INT 1321, Modernism; LNF 1521, French Film and Society; LNG 1554, Modern German Film and Literature; LNS 1500, Backgrounds of Spanish Culture; LNS 1550, Spanish Civil War in Spanish Film; POL 1306, Politics in Western Europe; POL 1340, Crisis and Change in Central/Eastern Europe; POL 1343, Politics and Violence in Northern Ireland; POL 1347, Russian Politics After Communism; SOC 1105, Society and Culture in Russia and the Former Soviet Union.
Latin America: AFR 1196, The Black Experience in the Caribbean; HST 1537, Latin America and the Caribbean in Boston; HST 1538, History of Latinos(-as) in the United States; HST 1604, Modern Latin America; HST 1605, The Modern Caribbean; INT 1121, Introduction to Latino, Latin American, and Caribbean Studies; LNS 1501, Backgrounds of Latin American Culture; LNS 1511, Introduction to Caribbean Literature; MUS 1184, Music of South America, Latin America, and the Caribbean; POL 1368, Government and Politics of Latin America; SOA 1430, Latin American Society and Development.
Middle East: HST 1612, The Modern Middle East; HST 1613, The Contemporary Middle East; HST 1614, The Middle East Today in Fact, Fiction, and Film; MUS 1182, Music of the Middle East; PHL 1285, Introduction to Jewish Religion and Culture; POL 1345, Government and Politics in the Middle East; POL 1346, Gender in the Middle East.
II Global Dynamics and Development. AFR 1294, Third World Political Relations; ECN 1150, Economics of World Energy and Primary Resources; ECN 1190/IAF 1190, The Global Economy; ECN 1335, International Economics: Finance; ECN 1336, International Economics: Trade; HST 1644, Third World Women; HST 1652, Islam Resurgent; INB 1338, Introduction to International Business; INB 1735, Import and Export Management; PHL l130, Ethics: East and West; PHL 1137, Philosophical Problems of War and Peace; PHL 1280, Islam; POL 1309, International Political Economy; POL 1338, Religion and Politics; POL 1355, Ethnic Conflict; POL 1369, Political Violence; POL 1384, Arab-lsraeli Conflict; POL 1386, International Law; POL 1411, Seminar in International Relations; SOA 1120, Camera on Culture; SOA 1310, Global Markets and Local Cultures; SOC 1171, Race and Ethnic Relations: A World Perspective.