Program Requirements and Opportunities

International Studies is the study of relationships among people and states affected by increasingly permeable borders and facing global issues. International Studies aims to prepare students to be responsible citizens by introducing them to issues of importance in an increasingly interdependent world of global dynamics in politics, economics, ideas, language, and culture. At Bryn Mawr, International Studies combines applied and theoretical approaches by drawing from disciplines in both the Social Sciences and Humanities. This broad conception of International Studies distinguishes our program from many others. It builds from a core of courses from politics, economics, and ethics, a branch of philosophy, and then incorporates electives from specified tracks that reflect areas of strength in faculty research and teaching. It allows students to explore the descriptive and normative aspects of living in a world characterized by the deep interconnections of a globalized world. It thus draws on Bryn Mawr's longstanding interest in promoting justice with its already established coursework at the undergraduate level and at the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research and on its well established programs in languages and cultures.

The curricular content is relevant in preparing graduates to participate critically and effectively in the many integrated transnational and global institutional networks of production, services, creative expression, research and governance. Thus students with specialties in the Humanities, Social Sciences, or Sciences can benefit from a visible and structured flow of courses in International Studies. The inter and multi-disciplinary approaches reflected in the structure for the major as well as for the minor reflect the kind of integrative thinking that is necessary for effective agency in the globalized world economy and society. Students in International Studies will be made aware of both the distinct modes of inquiry that may transcend disciplines and the cumulative effects of convergent examinations of phenomena from these different disciplinary perspectives.

International Studies engages students in the necessarily inter- and multi-disciplinary coursework that will prepare them for productive roles in transnational or intergovernmental institutions and in the areas of public policy, law, governance, public health, medicine, business, diplomacy, journalism, and development. International Studies at Bryn Mawr provides a foundation for students interested in pursuing career opportunities in these areas or in entering graduate programs such as International Politics/Relations, International Political Economy/Development Studies, International Law and Institutions, and Organizational Theory and Leadership.

A Bryn Mawr graduate in International Studies will be:

• Capable of integrative analysis from different disciplinary perspectives
• Ethically literate
• Prepared for work in related fields such as law, public health, medicine, business, and journalism as well as for graduate study in International Politics/Relations, International Political Economy/Development Studies, International Law and Institutions, and Organizational Theory and Leadership
• Able to contribute their knowledge and leadership skills within governmental and nongovernmental organizations at transnational, regional, or global levels or in cross-cultural settings.

Although language study is not required per se for the major or the minor, students can take advantage of Bryn Mawr's traditional strength in the study of language and culture to enhance their study of non-Anglophone areas of the world. Those intending to study abroad in a non-Anglophone area must meet the level of proficiency required by the Junior Year Abroad program involved; and those intending to undertake graduate work in international studies should plan to acquire the advanced level of proficiency in one foreign language (at the time of admission or graduation) required by the most selective programs here and abroad. Since it began in 2005, the minor in International Studies has attracted a significant number of language majors who use their study of a particular language to select a coherent set of electives under a relevant track in the minor in order to pursue career and study opportunities in the international arena.

Major Requirements

Students majoring in International Studies must complete a total of ten courses, which include a core of four courses, an elective track of four courses, and a senior capstone experience of either two courses (398 and 399) OR 398 and an additional 300 level course. Students should work with their major adviser to identify one writing intensive or two writing attentive courses to fulfill the major writing requirement.

Please note that some of the courses listed in the core have prerequisites, which may increase the total number of courses for the major in International Studies to eleven. Also note that no more than two courses in an International Studies major work plan can be used to satisfy another major, minor, or concentration requirement.

Minor Requirements

• INST B101- Intro to International Studies
• 3 courses in the Core disciplines
• 3 courses in an Elective track

Core 

The Core is a mix of 100-300 level courses in International Fields. Students must take at least one course from each of the four core areas: 1) Politics; 2) Economics; 3) Ethics and Philosophy; and 4) Historical and Cultural Studies. [Please note: If particular eligible core courses are unavailable in any given semester, substitutions will be allowed with the approval of an International Studies Faculty Advisor.]

Elective Tracks

Elective Tracks anchor the major in interdisciplinary work while also adding flexibility so that students may be creative and purposeful in structuring their own work. What makes International Studies at Bryn Mawr unique is that it draws upon its established faculty research, resources, and reputations in the individual tracks at the same time as it offers flexibility under clear advising for each of the individualized pathways of learning. Students should choose the four electives from the approved lists under one of the tracks identified below.

Examples of tracks that, in consultation with an advisor, students have pursued included constellations of the following:

• International Development
• Gender
• Human Rights and Social Justice
• Sexuality
• Global Environment
• Labor
• Empire
• Law, Governance and Political Institutions
• Health
• Migration

The FOUR elective courses (one of which must be at the 300 level) are to be selected from (but are not limited to) courses listed under the tracks on the Updated Core Courses web page. The listed courses are a starting point for collaboration between the student and the major advisor. Students should also check the International Studies Web site or the Tri- College Course Guide for information about courses that are offered in the current year.

Ethics and Philosophy

• Ethics (PHIL B221)
• Human Rights in a Global Perspective (INST B308)
• Humans & Non-Humans     (INST B315)
• Global Ethical Issues (PHIL B225)
• Human Rights and Global Politics (POLS H262)
• Applied Ethics of Peace, Justice and Human Rights (PEAC H201)
• Development Ethics (PHIL B344)
• Global Justice (POLS H362)

• Historical Imaginations (HIST B2XX)
• The Atlantic World 1492-1800 (HIST B200)
• Disciplining Bodies in Motion: Migration & Colonial Modernity (HIST B256)
• British Empire I: Capitalism and Slavery (HIST B257)
• British Empire II: Imagining Indias (HIST B258)
• Impact of Empire: Britain 1858-1960 (HIST B263)
• Culture, Power and Politics (ANTH B294)
• Cultural Memory and State-Sanctioned Violence in Latinx Literature (ENGL B237)
• Coal, Oil, Nuclear: Narrative Afterlives (RUSS B232)
• The Art and Architecture of Islamic Spirituality (MEST B210)
• Chornobyl (RUSS B220)

Senior Capstone Experience

The capstone experience consists of two 300 level courses, 398 and 399, OR 398 and an additional 300 level course in International Studies.

The 398 seminar will have students do research, presentations, and final essays that delve deeper into topics from relevant courses in previously taken tracks and may incorporate experiences in Praxis courses, Summer internships, or Study Abroad. Should a student select to take 399 instead of an additional 300 level course, the 398 seminar could also be the basis for students to identify and begin preliminary work on research projects for 399 – including the exploration of theoretical perspectives and research methods that will provide a framework for their research and the matching of students with faculty serving as individual supervisors.

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