Undergraduate Degrees
Lower Division Requirement
All majors and minors must complete IR 210 International Relations: Introductory Analysis before attempting upper division course work and four semesters of a single foreign language.
Department Major Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts
IR 210 International Relations: Introductory Analysis is required. Also required are three upper division courses: to include one course from regional studies subfield; two courses each from different functional subfields (international political economy, international politics and security, foreign policy analysis, global issues and institutions, and theory and methods); and five elective upper division courses from the curriculum of the School of International Relations. With prior approval, two of these courses may be from other related fields.
Department Minor Requirements
The minor in international relations allows students to develop a specialty in the field without a full major. Requirements are: IR 210 International Relations: Introductory Analysis and four upper division courses from a minimum of two areas of study. Students must register with the director of student affairs in VKC 301.
Honors Program
Approximately 15 students are identified in the fall semester of their junior year to participate in the honors program in the spring semester of their junior year and the fall semester of their senior year. Those selected take IR 493ab Senior Honors Seminar and Thesis. If the program is completed successfully (B or better and an overall GPA of 3.5 in IR courses), the transcript reads "with Honors."
Interdisciplinary Russian Area Studies Minor
See Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures.
Interdisciplinary Peace and Conflict Studies Minor
See Peace and Conflict Studies Program.
Advisement
Advisement is required for all majors and minors. Students are encouraged to meet with the director of student affairs at least once a semester to review the direction of their individual programs. Students are also encouraged to seek the advisement of faculty members whose specializations are appropriate to their programs of study.
Academic Specialization
Students majoring in international relations should take a variety of upper division courses representative of the different subfields (history and analysis of international political systems, international political economy, regional studies, international politics and security, and foreign policy analysis). Those who wish to emphasize a particular regional area may establish with a faculty advisor, or with the director of student affairs, an academic program which will accomplish the students' objectives.
Next Section
Produced by the USC Division of Student Affairs, Office of University Publications, May 1, 1995
Joye Day
day@mizar.usc.edu