Program Director: Dr. Kay

Students preparing for careers related to international studies and for graduate study in international relations programs or who wish to pursue international studies as a field within the liberal arts tradition may adopt an international studies major. The major will consist of at least 12 units including a core curriculum and a concentration in either general studies or area studies. An integrative Senior Seminar is required as part of the core curriculum. In addition, some proficiency in a foreign language is required as are two cognate/humanities electives. See the international studies program booklet for a detailed description of the major. The booklet and further information can be found on the International Studies Program website (https://owu.edu/internationalstudies).

Each international studies student is strongly urged to spend one semester on either an approved program of study abroad or an approved international internship program. No course in the major program may be taken credit/no entry. One directed reading or independent study course may be substituted for an elective. Students are encouraged to undertake such study, particularly when it is interdisciplinary in nature.

An International Studies Committee composed of four faculty members, one each selected by the departments of economics, history, politics and government, and modern foreign languages, must approve the student’s precise program and subsequent modifications. Current committee members are Chairperson Sean Kay (Politics and Government); Goran Skosples (Economics); Jeremy Baskes (History); and Thomas Wolber (Modern Foreign Languages).

Learning Objectives

Specific intended student goals are to gain:

• knowledge in the disciplinary categories of the field broadly or regionally/comparative and in related language and cognate courses;
• skills in critical thinking and qualitative and quantitative analysis, and in written and oral communication;
• value knowledge in a global context
• ability to build upon existing knowledge and synthesize interdisciplinary thinking via capstone
• intercultural skills that are attained via study abroad, travel-learning courses, theory-into-practice grants in addition to participation in on campus lecture series, Global Studies Institute, on-campus international living experiences and student club participation (i.e. Model United Nations), and national and international internship opportunities.

Core Curriculum

The core curriculum consists of four units: PG 112  Global Issues or PG 113  Comparative Political Issues; PG 360 - International Politics  or PG 344  Comparative Political Topics: Democratization; PG 499B Senior Seminar in International Relations; and ECON 370 - Economic Systems  or ECON 372 - International Economics .

Concentrations

Concentrations are offered in general international studies or in particular areas of the world (Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, Middle East). The latter concentrations occasionally involve one country.