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International Studies Major

• Overview
• Major Requirements
• Information for Transfer Students
• Honors and Distinction in the Major
• Course Lists
• FAQ

Overview

The International Studies (IS) Major offers an interdisciplinary approach to international affairs. The major draws on courses from an array of departments in the College of Letters and Science and across campus. The courses you take will expose you to historical and current issues in international studies, providing the skills you need to be competitive in the global professional workforce.

The IS Major is a rigorous academic program. Students complete a series of prerequisites designed to introduce them to the field, ground them in economics, and increase their foreign-language competency. For the major, students have the opportunity to specialize in one of four Options: Global Security, International Political Economy & Policy Studies, Culture in an Age of Globalization, Global Commons/Global Environment) and complete a minimum of 35 credits of major coursework in that Option. Study abroad is a natural combination with the IS Major, and we expect all students to pursue a significant international experience during their undergraduate career.

The IS Major complements numerous majors across campus. Many of our students choose to double major in Political Science, History, or a foreign language. Others enhance their studies with one or more certificates, such as the Global Cultures Certificate or those offered by the area studies centers within the International Institute.

Major Requirements (Effective Fall 2009)
Prerequisites | Options | Major Requirements | Rules | Course Lists

Prerequisites
Students must complete (or be in progress of completing, i.e. registered for) the first two pre-requisites before declaring the major. GPA accumulated from the pre-requisites will count in the overall major GPA.

1. Introduction to International Studies: INTL ST 101

2. Introduction to Economics - Principles of Micro- and Macroeconomics (choose one of the following three options):

a. ECON 101 and ECON 102
b. AAE 215 and ECON 102
c. ECON 111 (accelerated version of 101 & 102)

3. Fifth-semester college-level foreign language course

Once you are in the last semester of completing the first two pre-requisites, you should see the IS advisor to declare your major. At that time, you will choose a specialization from four Options within the major.

Have questions about these requirements? Please visit the FAQ page!

Options

Global Security
In this Option, majors explore conditions that challenge the ability of people and societies to survive. Students consider the causes of and solutions to political crises and violent conflicts in interstate, transnational, and domestic settings. Using historical and regional approaches, students develop a better understanding of the dilemmas state and the global community face when confronted by threats to peace and stability.

Politics and Policy in the Global Economy
This Option offers a multidisciplinary survey of inter-national economic and political institutions and transactions, as well as the policy issues pertaining to international commerce and trade, international finance and monetary relations, international macro-economic policy coordination, US trade imbalances, aid and development, and related environmental and natural resource problems.

Culture in the Age of Globalization
In this Option, majors investigate cross-cultural interactions at different levels: local, national, and transnational. Students engage in such issues as cosmopolitanism; international and global flows of images, ideas, and people; questions of identity; changing assumptions of what it means to be indigenous and foreign; globalization and technology; and the impact of globalization on cultures.

Global Commons / Global Environment (No longer declaring new majors)
This Option focuses on the understanding and management of international and trans-boundary environmental resource problems and solutions. Students take courses in environmental science, preservation, conservation, environmental justice and law, environmental ethics, green politics, world hunger, and the effects of population on societies.

Major Requirements
Total credits: 35

Core Courses (3 total)
Target: Specialization. Students begin to focus in their Option's theme and become further exposed to one region in the world.

1. Area Studies course: select one from list
2. Track Core courses: select two from your Option's list (these courses must be completed at UW-Madison)

Issues
Target: Depth. The courses in this list provide students exposure to the various issues encompassed in their Option.

Select enough courses from your Option's list to total a minimum of 15 credits.

Electives in the Major
Target: Breadth. Students select courses across the field to gain some basic knowledge of issues outside of their speciality.

Select courses from any Option's ISSUES list to bring the major up to 35 credits. Students typically need 3-4 courses in this category.

View the IS course lists

Rules
Students are limited to a maximum of four courses from any one department. This rule excludes prerequisites. Students should be mindful of cross-listed departments, because the cross-listed departments also count toward the four-course rule. For example, IS 318 (cross-listed with Poli Sci) will count in the IS and in the Poli Sci groups.

Have questions about these requirements? Please visit the FAQ page!

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