International Affairs (B.A.)
The Bachelor of Arts with a major in international affairs is designed to help you develop a highly valuable set of skills and academic knowledge – tools needed to understand, explain and interact with a complex and rapidly changing global environment that together will enhance your chances of success in your future career.
Concentrating your studies in a major region of the world (East Asia, Europe, Latin America, or North Africa & the Middle East), you will become an “expert” in that particular part of the world. Accumulate in-depth knowledge and practical experience through a combination of studies in political science, history, and modern languages focused on your chosen region both inside the classroom as well as outside the classroom via completion of both an International Affairs internship as well as an Education Abroad Program at a non-US university.
By the time you complete our program, you will have gained a deep understanding of world politics and how the international system operates, and achieved insight into the myriad sub-fields of international relations including diplomacy, international law, political economy, and international organizations.
Degree Type
Campus Availability
Why International Affairs at 51勛圖厙
Several areas distinguish the Political Science & International Affairs Department from others offering similar programs.
- Our small class sizes allows for focused instruction and engagement between students and faculty and a more personal interaction between your instructors, your classmates and you.
- Our students regularly receive accolades and scholarships for advanced study from several national-level organizations including Fulbright, Boren, Gilman, and Freeman-Asia.
- Our students have participated in an Education Abroad Program in nearly 30 different countries around the world.
- Our students have interned with organizations across the globe - organizations as diverse as NATO, foreign Consulates, the State Department, and variety of non-governmental organizations such as the International Red Cross.
What Your Journey Could Look Like
Your First Year
Having already selected one of the six concentrations available within the major at Registration, during your first year you will focus mostly on coursework in the core curriculum including POLS 1101 -- American Government and POLS 2401 -- Global Issues which are prerequisites for all upper division courses.
You will meet with your professional academic advisor to help plot the next three years of your journey. In addition, take the time to visit 51勛圖厙’s Center for Global Engagement to discuss ideas and options for your international experience (whether you are considering a study abroad program or an international internship).
Sophomore Year
During your second year you will be getting close to finishing your requirements in the core curriculum and will start taking upper-level courses in your major and in your chosen field of concentration.
As you transition from meeting with your professional academic advisor to your faculty academic advisor, it is a very good idea to become acquainted with the faculty who teach in the Department of Political Science & International Affairs and find out what their research interests are and what their previous employment experiences are.
It is also a good idea to “join” one or several of the different social media platforms of the department to keep informed about your major. Be sure to meet with the Center for Global Engagement to finalize plans for your required international experience. Consider joining our Model UN program on select campuses to help increase your research, presentation and inter-personal skills.
Junior Year
During your third year you will finish the remaining requirements in the core curriculum (seven common curriculum classes) along with continuing to take courses in your concentration (remember no grade lower than a “C” in a POLS course counts toward graduation).
While not required to do so, generally, you will complete your study abroad by the end of this year. You will also meet with the IA Internship advisor to begin the planning process for your required internship, which normally is completed during the summer following Junior year.
Senior Year
During your final year you will complete your internship if you haven’t already done so, and finish the remaining coursework in your major, particularly the Capstone course, which will bring together your entire program.
Now is the time to work with Career Services starting in the Fall semester to help prepare a CV and do a practice job interview, as well as, help you develop the skills necessary to successfully enter the workplace after graduation.
Make sure to contact your professors along the way and ask them to write letters of recommendation for you or to receive their support as employment references.
Define Your Own College Experience
Make Your Money Count
Take control of your personal finances. Attend budgeting workshops, make a financial action plan or connect with a money mentor.
Where All Are Welcome
We're all different, and we encourage and empower you to be you. We provide a welcoming environment to celebrate all identities and encourage all to learn from one another.
Feed Your Wanderlust
Travel and work toward your degree at the same time. There's a fun study abroad program for any major on almost any continent.
Where Can This Program Lead You?
Where Our Students Have Interned
- International Rescue Committee
- NATO Defense College
- Consul General of Belgium
- Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies
- Fundacion por la Educacion Multidemensional
Where Our Students Found Jobs
- US Armed Forces
- Foreign Policy Think Tanks
- Georgia State Defense Force
- GA Dept of Public Safety
- Atlanta International School
Where Our Students Have Gone to Grad School
- 51勛圖厙
- Vesalius College, Brussels
- University of Bath, England
- Renmin University, Beijing
- Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, CA
