About
The International Studies Program offers a flexible and rigorous interdisciplinary undergraduate major and minor in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences that helps students develop keen analytical skills and ethical reasoning amidst complex global dynamics.
Our Academic Programs
Any undergraduate student who wishes to become an IS major should submit an application by February 1 of their first year. Majors complete 45 credits in 14 courses, demonstrate advanced proficiency in one non-English modern language (or intermediate proficiency in two non-English modern languages), and nearly always study abroad.
The IS minor is open to all BC undergraduates who submit an acceptable course of study at any point in their time as an undergraduate student. Our minors must earn 18 credits from six courses (including two foundations courses and four electives in one of four concentrations); they must demonstrate intermediate proficiency in one modern foreign language (even if their home school at BC doesn’t require it); and they usually study abroad.
- Students are expected to develop an interdisciplinary understanding of international affairs. Students should be able to apply basic analytical frameworks to analyze problems and interpret policy alternatives.
- Students also are expected to obtain a basic understanding of the core concepts and methodological tools used in the discipline(s) comprising their chosen track of the major. Students should be able to interpret and apply basic methods and understand empirical papers of an appropriate level.
- Students are expected to develop basic facility with theoretical and empirical applications of the discipline(s) comprising their track through a set of elective courses.
- When writing papers, students are expected to responsibly utilize data and research methods and to give appropriate attribution to original work and source material.
- Students are expected to understand the differences between positive and normative dimensions of international affairs, in particular as applied to instances for which ethical aspects conflict with, or reinforce, political and economic objectives.