Courses

Courses from many departments are available to International Studies students. Because some of these courses have prerequisites and not all courses are offered every year, students are advised to carefully plan their program of study in consultation with their faculty advisor, our Peer Advisors, and/or our Director of Undergraduate Studies. 

Course Plans

IS majors and minors should fill out their Course Plans as they enter the program and update them each semester. Bring your Course Plan with you to your advising meetings each semester, and compare it to your official course audit to make sure your classes are properly designated in the UIS registration system. Here are links to the IS Major Course Plan form and the IS Minor Course Plan form. (These forms must be downloaded and saved to your computer before you fill them out.) 

Pre-approved Courses

See below for a list of pre-approved courses offered in the coming semester for the IS major and minor. You can also view our central list of pre-approved electives, which lists all pre-approved courses but does not indicate whether they are taught in a given semester.  (This is most helpful if you want to search or scan by class title or theme; it lists about 300 pre-approved courses and notes the concentrations for which each counts.)

Course Audits

Course Audits are reports from the BC registration system (accessible through the Agora Portal) that chart a student's cumulative progress toward fulfilling graduation requirements. The IS Program's Advising Handbook describes how to read a Course Audit. If a class you've taken (e.g. an elective for an IS major concentration) doesn't appear in the proper part of your Course Audit, fill out a Course Substitution Form to say where it should be placed. Other important forms can be found at the Academic Forms & Diploma Information page at the Office of Student Services. 

 

International Studies Core courses

Pre-approved courses

The following Fall 2023 courses are pre-approved for the core requirements of the IS major.

**All sophomore majors must enroll in both "Where on Earth" courses.** 

Where on Earth? Foundations in Global History (INTL 2200) 
Prof. Devin Pendas    TTh 4:30 - 5:45pm (McGuinn 121)
 

Where on Earth? Foundations in Global Culture & Political Geography (INTL 2204) 
Prof. Joseph Getzoff   
** Students register for the lecture and one of four Geo Studios **

2204.01 Lecture: Tu 1:30 -2:45pm (Higgins 300) 

2204.02 Geo Studio: Th 9:00 - 10:15am (Stokes 361S)
2204.03 Geo Studio: Th 10:30 - 11:45am (Stokes 361S)
2204.04 Geo Studio: Th 1:30 - 2:45pm (Higgins 265)
2204.05 Geo Studio: Th 3:00 - 4:15pm (Higgins 265)

 

Principles of Economics (ECON 1101)
  Section 1  Lecture MW 3:00 - 4:15 + discussion (see EagleApps)
  Section 11  Lecture MW 4:30 - 5:45 + discussion (see EagleApps)
  Section 21  TTh 1:30-2:45pm + discussion (see EagleApps)

 

Upper-Level Economics Electives
The list below only includes ECON2xxx classes. Any ECON elective at/above the 2000 level can fulfill this requirement, but you may need to be an ECON minor or major to take ECON courses at/above the 3000 level

ECON 2000  The State of Affordable Housing in the States  Tu 4:30-6:30pm
ECON 2201  Microeconomic Theory - Multiple, see EagleApps (Prereqs: MATH 1100 Calculus)
ECON 2202  Macroeconmic Theory - Multiple, see EagleApps (Prereqs: MATH 1100 Calculus)
ECON 2203  Honors Microeconomic Theory     TTh 12:00-1:15pm (Prereqs: MATH 1100 Calculus, dept permission)
ECON 2204   Honors Macroeconomic Theory TTh 10:30-11:45am  (Prereqs: MATH 1100  Calculus, dept permission)
ECON 2212    Geographic Information Systems for Planning and Decision-Making    Mon 7:00 - 9:30pm
ECON 2228   Econometric Methods - Multiple, see EagleApps (Prereqs: MATH 1100  Calculus and ECON 1151 Stats)
ECON 2231   Financial Forecasting - Online Asynchronous
ECON 2242   Public Policy in an Aging Society   TTh 3:00 - 4:15pm
ECON 2246   Impact of News on Financial Markets. TTh 3:00 - 4:15pm
ECON 2269   Aspects of Economic GrowthTTh 9:00 - 10:15pm
ECON 2277    Environmental Economics and PolicyTTh 10:30-11:45

Notes on ECON electives:
You must take (or AP out of)  ECON 1101 before taking an ECON elective, but some ECON 2xxx classes have additional prerequisites (commonly, calculus and/or econ stats); double-check that you meet those requirements. If department permission required, please email the ECON administrator (Ms. Rowley) well in advance of registration..

 

Comparative Politics
POLI 2412  Political Parties, Voters and Party Systems in Comparative Perspective     MW 3:00 - 4:15pm
POLI 2440  A Continent on the Move: Immigration in Contemporary Europe     MW 4:30-5:45p
POLI 2442   Comparative Social Movements   MWF 3:00 - 3:50pm
POLI 3404  The Anatomy of Dictatorship   Wed 9:30am - 12:00pm
POLI 3406 Irish Politics 1916 to Present TTh 9-10:15

 

Ethics, Religion & International Politics  ["ERIP"] (INTL 5563)
Prof. Erik Owens 

Lecture: [choose one]:
  01 Lecture: MW 1:30 - 2:45pm (245 Beacon Street room 204)
  02 Lecture: MW 3:00 - 4:15pm (245 Beacon Street room 204)

Discussion:  [choose one]:
  03 Discussion: Th 1:00 - 1:50pm (Mcguinn 11)
  04 Discussion: Th 2:00 - 2:50pm (Mcguinn 11)
  05 Discussion: Th 3:00 - 3:50pm (Mcguinn 11)
  06 Discussion: Th 4:00 - 4:50pm (Mcguinn 11)

Conflict and Cooperation

Pre-approved courses

The following courses are pre-approved for the C&C concentration in the IS major and minor. Students may petition the Director of Undergraduate Studies to consider courses that are not on this list toward their elective concentration.

Fall 2023 pre-approved course list 

** See the "CC" tab on the linked spreadsheet for specific information about the Conflict & Cooperation concentration. 
** IS minors should also consult the "Minor" tab for a list of Foundation I and Foundation II courses.  

Ethics and Social Justice

Pre-approved courses

The following courses are pre-approved for the ESJ concentration in the IS major and minor. Students may petition the Director of Undergraduate Studies to consider courses that are not on this list toward their elective concentration.

Fall 2023 pre-approved course list 

** See the "ESJ" tab on the linked spreadsheet for specific information about the Conflict & Cooperation concentration. 
** IS minors should also consult the "Minor" tab for a list of Foundation I and Foundation II courses.  

Global Cultures

Pre-approved courses

The following courses are pre-approved for the GC concentration in the IS major and minor.

Please note: Majors and minors who concentrate in Global Cultures should take only those electives that are pre-approved for their cluster ("Cultures at Work" or "Cultures and Social Movements"). Students can seek approval to count other courses -- including courses from the other cluster -- as electives by sending a course abstract and/or syllabus to the Director of Undergraduate Studies (Prof. Nakazato) before the first week of that class (and ideally during registration period).   

Fall 2023 pre-approved course list

** See the "GC-CW" and "GC-SM" tabs on the linked spreadsheet for specific information about the Conflict & Cooperation concentration. 
** IS minors should also consult the "Minor" tab for a list of Foundation I and Foundation II courses.  

Political Economy & Development Studies

Pre-approved courses

The following courses are pre-approved for the PEDS concentration in the IS major and minor. 

Please note: Majors and minors who concentrate in Political Economy and Development Studies can take electives approved for EITHER the PE or DS cluster and count them for their own cluster.  Students can seek approval to count other courses as electives by sending a course abstract and/or syllabus to the Director of Undergraduate Studies (Prof. Nakazato) before the first week of that class (and ideally during registration period).

Fall 2023 pre-approved course list 

** See the "PEDS" tab on the linked spreadsheet for specific information about the Conflict & Cooperation concentration. 
** IS minors should also consult the "Minor" tab for a list of Foundation I and Foundation II courses.  

Senior Seminars and Thesis Courses

2022-23 course offerings

Senior Thesis

Senior Thesis writers enroll in INTL4951 (Prof. Hiroshi Nakazato)
** Your first semester of INTL4952 will count as an elective in your concentration; the second semester will fulfill your senior project requirement.

 

Senior Seminars:

Fall 2023:

Is Globalization Destiny? Historical Perspectives on Global Capitalism  
Prof. Danial Lashkari
INTL 4941.01
Mondays 3:00 - 5:20pm (Stokes 111S) 

Recent events like Brexit, the rise of nationalist leaders across the world, the pandemic, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have revived fundamental questions about the nature and future of globalized capitalism and the liberal order. Do these events portend the end of the current wave of globalization and democratization that had accelerated after the fall of the eastern bloc? Or do these events simply pose challenges that global capitalism and the liberal order will be able to overcome? Is globalization destiny or was it just a moment? This course aims to address these questions through a historical lens.  Since its inception in 17th century Britain and the Netherlands, global capitalism has faced many challenges and insurgencies. We will examine the ways in which political and economic crises helped shape and were shaped by globalization in the process, with a particular focus on the structural transformations happening in the last century. The course also emphasizes the genealogies of ideas and institutions that lie at the core of global capitalism.

 

Human Rights in East Asia

Prof. Ingu Hwang
INTL4941.02
Tuesdays 3:00-5:25 (Gasson 308)
This course introduces students to the post–1945 development of global human rights talk, activism, and politics from an East Asian perspective. Through an examination of specific conflicts over self-determination and sovereignty, economic development and disparity, democratization, the legacies of decolonization, and global justice, the course delves into how and why actors in China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and North Korea translated local struggles into international human rights agendas that gained attention on the global stage. In exploring this process of translation and appropriation, we will also analyze how these local conflicts transformed international human rights issues.

Contentious Iran
Prof. Ali Kadivar
INTL4941.03
Tuesdays 3:00 - 5:25

Abstract to come.... 

 

Spring 2024:

Critical Appropaches to Development 

Prof. Joseph Getzoff 
INTL4941.01
Time/Date TBA 
Abstract to come

 

Geopolitics, Religion & Security
Prof. Elizabeth Prodromou 
INTL4941.02
Time/Date TBA 
Abstract to come

New Courses offered in 2023-2024

Info to come soon:

 

Approved Summer Abroad Courses

[Summer 2023 courses will be listed here soon...] 

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